OzRunways 2.whoa!

[baswell]

Was just about top order a dual from sporty's, us$99.95
Any local suppliers/cheaper?

We're trying to talk to Dual, but they haven't been very responsive. We'd love to re-sell them in Aus because they are the best option for getting good accuracy out of OzRunways.

[baswell]

GNS 5870 MFI GPS Bt Receiver ("WAAS" Enabled)

WAAS doesn't work in Australia. In fact, if you manage to pick up a signal on the east coast on a good day, you are more likely to decrease your accuracy. So if your GPS supports WAAS, make sure it is disabled in Australia!

Other than that, the receiver should do the job quite nicely.

[nitpicker330]

Used it today whilst flying in a PA28 and it worked a treat!!
The GPS locked on quickly and was exactly the same as the Garmin GNS430.

However, I'm not sure how it will go on a knee pad, the yoke would bash the screen easily and that wouldn't be good

[b_sta]

Had a play with this in the air yesterday, very impressed! Only thing I noticed is that it seems that position on the map, completed track etc doesn't update unless I manually move/touch/zoom in or out of the map. I assume that's not supposed to be the case? Any ideas?

[Shagpile]

I noticed is that it seems that position on the map, completed track etc doesn't update unless I manually move/touch/zoom in or out of the map

Yeah sorry that's a stupid bug that we missed because we did all our testing with the "moving map mode" on [the button that turns blue in the bottom left].

I've fixed that for v2.0.1 coming out soon. In the mean time just make sure moving-map mode is enabled.

[VNE405]

WAC charts

Bas, my understanding of WAC charts is that they are individual snapshots from the globe rather than a 'cut' map (like falconview can do) and are never meant to be stitched together. What backs this up is I had a wall of paper WAC charts. None of the charts lined up and interpretation was needed to draw accurate pencil tracks for planning.

Cheers

[PyroTek]

VNE, that is because they are Lambert projections. - They should line up edge to edge (not top to bottom) but in an arc...

[VNE405]

Thanks champ. Do you always value add.

[baswell]

Bas, my understanding of WAC charts is that they are individual snapshots from the globe rather than a 'cut' map (like falconview can do) and are never meant to be stitched together. What backs this up is I had a wall of paper WAC charts. None of the charts lined up and interpretation was needed to draw accurate pencil tracks for planning.

That's correct in the printed versions. However, if you know the actual positions in the corners, you can make them square and cut them into tiles for use in an electronic mapping application.

That's what we do for OzRunways and it works very well. The only downside is cut-off labels (town names) on some stitches. Nothing that will get you lost.

Hopefully one of these decades electronic maps will become the standard and we won't have those problems. Instead, AsA will create a perfect full-country electronic WAC and it's the dinosaurs using the printed versions that will have sub-optimal cut outs!

[VNE405]

Cheers Bas. I was chatting to Shagpile about it this afternoon. Busy times!

[Xcel]

Have you guys seen flight guide?? Few ideas from them would go down a treat. Specifically the option to add jepp plates and other goodies to the mix... I would even pay more for the privilege...

[Shagpile]

they are Lambert projections

We get the WAC charts from Airservices in WGS84. Warp them into Mercator, stitch them together then tile them. Takes about 8hrs for my Macbook to process them all.

Have you guys seen flight guide??

Only pics online - Note that the USA has open access to all their aeronautical data, which is also has geo-referenced approach plates. We will have to do all this manually.

What this means is that you see a lot more different, innovative apps coming out of USA as there isn't the massive startup risk involving $10k+ just to buy the data.

I doubt Jepp will give anybody their charts (correct me if I'm wrong?) as they have their own app they are pushing. They aren't sharing the DO-160E testing (rapid decompression to FL510) either, instead keeping it as a company asset they can share to customers to help them work with the FAA to get approval to use Jepp/iPad.

We've donated to paperlesscockpit.com who are about to conduct a "community sponsored" decompression testing. We'll have the results in a month or two hopefully. I'd encourage anybody else who is interested in the results to donate too (so you get a free copy of the testing report).

[rattly_spats]

Comparison to Garmin Aera 500?

From the preceding discussion about OzRunways (which sounds like a sensational app) this might appear a silly question, but I have been saving up to buy myself a Garmin Aera 500 sometime this year. Now I wonder if I should buy myself an iPad and this app/subscription, for a similar all-up price -- and you've the iPad for all the other stuff you can do with it, both aeronautical and otherwise.

Is this a no-brainer? How does OzRunways compare to the Jepps-based stuff in the Aera 500? Have specialised units like the Aera had their day?

Thanks in advance, Rattly.

[AussieNick]

dumb question, but you mention that you don't need an active internet connection to view the maps, you can download them before hand. I take it you mean caching, where I have to view the maps on an interne connection before hand, eg browse and let load the entire Darwin WAC before I can use it offline? How long does the cache last and will I be able to zoom the map offline?

[VH-XXX]

Nick - the cache lasts until the new map is released. I wouldn't call it "cache" but rather a "download."

You don't have to browse the map beforehand (like Google earth), you simply go into the download section of the app and choose the relevant VTC / VNC etc. Those are roughly 12-13 MB each. The WAC is a one-piece download somewhere in the mid 200 mb's. You can download all VNC's etc or none, your choice. If you're on a good connection it's pretty quick, or drop by McDonalds on the way home from work.

Yes, indeed you can zoom all of the maps offline, assuming they have been pre-downloaded.

As someone that knows a little about IT, the only risk I see with it is when there are thousands of subscribers and it ticks over the new map period, everyone will hit the downloads page and bring the OzRunways ISP down, but I'm assured that the boys at OzRunways have taken this into consideration and increased their download limits

[Keg]

Do I get a spotter's fee? With version 1.0 I signed up a whole bunch of QF drivers. Now with the WACs and other charts everyone who has a look and has an Ipad (and didn't already have Ozrunways) is looking to sign up. Those that don't have an ipad are seriously thinking about getting one on the basis of this app alone.

It certainly makes trans continental flying much more enjoyable. Now all I need is a bluetooth GPS for the ipad because plotting via lat/long is giving me a sore neck looking at the overhead panel and then back down to the ipad every few minutes or so.

[blueloo]

Forget the sore neck...go with the RSI KEG - press a few more buttons on the modern FMC and get your LAT LONG from there...

[nitpicker330]

Hey Keg doesn't the 76 have a Pos page on it's FMC?

[blueloo]

yup nitpicker it does ...hence my post above to KEG .... but methinks its easier to bend your neck back and look up at the IRS display rather than flipping through the FMC index...

[nitpicker330]

Lay the ol seat back and rest your head on the head rest........zzzzzzzzzzz

After you wake up from controlled rest check the Lat Long