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RedBullGaveMeWings
22nd Mar 2017, 23:42
I know there are plenty of apps capable of tracking the route being flown and I don't know any. Any suggestions? Preferably for iOS but Android will suffice too.

9 lives
23rd Mar 2017, 02:17
I've had great success with a SPOT, with the added benefit of emergency locating if required.

http://i1294.photobucket.com/albums/b617/jim246/SPOT%20route%20reduced_zps5uz8ueub.jpg

rcsa
23rd Mar 2017, 04:39
I use GPS MotionX on my iPhone.

glider12000
23rd Mar 2017, 07:12
I use RocketRoute app. Works on both iOS and Android. No subscription needed for the app, just sign up.

compressor stall
23rd Mar 2017, 08:32
+1 GPS Motion X.

ETOPS
23rd Mar 2017, 08:50
Hey STEP Turn that's a pretty impressive flight. I've coasted in over the Torngat Mts for 25 years - but at FL370 :ok:

Always wondered what it would be like lower down..........

Snyggapa
23rd Mar 2017, 18:39
Runtastic mountain bike app. Just ignore the bit at the end of your journey when it tells you how many calories you burned :rolleyes:

9 lives
24th Mar 2017, 02:50
Always wondered what it would be like lower down..........

It's beautiful! Some photos later in my post here:

http://www.pprune.org/private-flying/548496-photos-private-flying.html

but at FL370 http://cdn.pprune.org/images/smilies/thumbs.gif

I was about 350 flight levels lower than that for some of it!

As for the topic at hand, I'm really an app neophyte, and unsure of how a smartphone would work that way if out of range of a cell service. I do know that very low in many remote areas, and more than a few thousand feet up in others, will put one out of cell service. Do the apps still work then? I'm unfamiliar...

The SPOT I use is first generation, and does the job, though I know that there are newer versions with more capability. I know that there are other brands too, with other features. I like the SPOT, as it has the simplicity that my 13 year old daughter can send a distress message on her own, should she need to, when I take her camping to a more distant lake (no cell service). And, my wife already knows that we are there. With that tracking, as a flight safety tool, a lot of answers (who/where/when) precede questions like "what?" Though, I agree, that it's probably low tech compared to what's available now.

I don't use 406 ELTs (yet), seeing the SPOT as a very suitable alternative, when coupled with a good briefing to my wife and flying colleague, as to what my plan is. Even when we had an ELT presentation by the SAR service, though not endorsing the SPOT, and similar technology, they did not knock it either. They explained a few ideas to make it more effective for them to help find you.

I do credit the 406 ELTs as well. For a period, an aircraft in Norway, equipped with a 406 ELT, was registered to me (it was Canadian registered, long story). One Saturday morning, I got the call, 'ELT's going off, what do I know about that? I gave the two locations where the aircraft could be expected to be parked (both lakes, it's a floatplane). The Norwegian SAR confirmed it was at the second lake, but that was not assurance that it had not been crashed there, rather than being safely parked. A few worried long distance calls later, and it was confirmed pilot and plane safe and sound. Eager kid allowed to sit in the pilot's seat flicked switches unobserved. Apologies, and lessons learned - but it works!

glider12000
24th Mar 2017, 14:35
Here is an example from a track on the RocketRoute app. This one was taken from an android phone left in my pocket.

1st example how it looks on a browser, second in the Android app. I`ve not yet tried this on iOS.

(I realise I didn`t provide an example earlier)

n1sK
27th Mar 2017, 10:01
I use Cloudahoy, great for route tracking + debriefing. Its not free but you get a lenghty trial period to check it out and the yearly subscription is not very expensive.
With the added feature that if you fly a plane with a G1000/950 you can just put an SD card on the top slot of the MFD and it will record all flight data, which you can later upload to the site and debrief on pretty much every parameter of the flight.

EDIT: Added a screenshot