ForeFlight - Australia launch?
ForeFlight - Australia launch?
I can see that ForeFlight was approved by CASA as an EFB in December, with ForeFlight announcing this on a fairly understated page in their FAQs.
According to a podcast I listened to earlier this week, they're working on getting Airservices charts etc in - at the moment Jeppesen is the only option. Though I can't seem to find any information about this or if it's just a rumour?
Does anyone have any further information? Whilst OzRunways and AvPlan are solid products, from what I've seen ForeFlight looks incredible and it will really encourage the incumbents in the Australian market to lift their game.
According to a podcast I listened to earlier this week, they're working on getting Airservices charts etc in - at the moment Jeppesen is the only option. Though I can't seem to find any information about this or if it's just a rumour?
Does anyone have any further information? Whilst OzRunways and AvPlan are solid products, from what I've seen ForeFlight looks incredible and it will really encourage the incumbents in the Australian market to lift their game.
You will be able to chat with them at Avalon next week if you’re there.
Why would anyone in their right mind want the Airservices charts?? They are extremely poorly designed.
Used both for thousands of approaches, both have their quirks. Unless you are an international operator you are just paying too much using Jepps. Jepps also have a few little issues with compatibility with Australian design layouts, like how they depict an IAF especially when arcs are involved. In any case I use what's cheapest as they are both safe and easy to use, and there's no real question over that as the Jepp is just a copy of the Airservices chart in Jepp language.
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The last Company I flew for, before giving the game away, had a Company policy of using Jeppesen charts.
And this was nearly 15 years ago now.
And this was nearly 15 years ago now.
I've had a bit of "analysis paralysis" when it comes to choosing between the EFB options. Even though they have similar top-level features, there are so many factors where they each offer slightly different advantages, disadvantages, platform support (e.g. Android, desktop, web) etc. I sprung for Garmin Pilot (which is the other CASA approved option) because I thought it would play well with all the Garmin gear, but in other ways it is quite underbaked from an Australian perspective. I did notice Foreflight had also got CASA approval and looked at it but I too am not really interested in ponying up for the Jeppesen chart subscription. I hadn't heard about the possibility of AIP chart support until now though. That would be great, as a currently VFR-only pilot they are what I am used to and that's what's used in all the other EFBs. MagnumPI, where was that podcast you heard?
Garmin Pilot is entirely unfit for purpose for Australia. You can’t even file a domestic flight plan from it! Sure you can upload it to your navigator but that’s it’s only party trick.
The other two domestic options are light years ahead of it for this reason alone. I suspect G has zero interest in the Australian market so can’t be arsed integrating with NAIPS.
Given FF plays well with G avionics then there’s an easy opportunity for them here.
from discussions with one of the locals, G won’t allow them to wirelessly upload even to experimental avionics which is a real shame.
The other two domestic options are light years ahead of it for this reason alone. I suspect G has zero interest in the Australian market so can’t be arsed integrating with NAIPS.
Given FF plays well with G avionics then there’s an easy opportunity for them here.
from discussions with one of the locals, G won’t allow them to wirelessly upload even to experimental avionics which is a real shame.
I used Foreflight in North America, I went back to using Ozrunways when I was there and just used Foreflight for radio frequencies. I am a bit of an incompetent when it comes to putors, might have been because I was just more familiar with Ozrunways. Seems more intuitive and simpler than Foreflight.
Can't find them on Google Playstore.
Is there a special keyword to search for or are they ignorant to half of the world?
Just "googled", they have no plans for android version..
Well good luck to them....
Is there a special keyword to search for or are they ignorant to half of the world?
Just "googled", they have no plans for android version..
Well good luck to them....
We had a company policy of Jepp charts but as the EFBs got better and more widespread, I adopted 43 Inches view. I don't need Jepp charts to be a "real" IFR pilot and I am beginning to suspect I don't need them for my airline career, either.
The following 2 users liked this post by mcoates:
Same here.. but the lack of active traffic display (because everyone else is on Avplan) frustrates me a bit. Foreflight would be worse in this regard, relying completely on external ADS-B In... but maybe that's a good thing!
I'll keep my OzRunways subscription for now but from what I've seen in the USA ForeFlight is a very impressive product.
I have made some feature suggestions to OzRunways (things that were standard on ForeFlight) and I was generally unimpressed with their response, but maybe I just got lucky with a negative support person.
ForeFlight was one of the first iPad apps and has scaled through creating a product that pilots love, before being acquired by Boeing in 2019. Yes, they've raised capital along the way. This is not uncommon for SaaS companies as the cost to build such a great product requires lots of expensive engineers.
On the other hand, OzRunways seems to have bootstrapped the whole way, and I respect that too.
I think ForeFlight's entry will force everyone to lift their game. I'll certainly be giving it a spin when it launches.
I have made some feature suggestions to OzRunways (things that were standard on ForeFlight) and I was generally unimpressed with their response, but maybe I just got lucky with a negative support person.
ForeFlight was one of the first iPad apps and has scaled through creating a product that pilots love, before being acquired by Boeing in 2019. Yes, they've raised capital along the way. This is not uncommon for SaaS companies as the cost to build such a great product requires lots of expensive engineers.
On the other hand, OzRunways seems to have bootstrapped the whole way, and I respect that too.
I think ForeFlight's entry will force everyone to lift their game. I'll certainly be giving it a spin when it launches.
So far very pleased with AvPlan.
(*not affiliated with any of companies)
The following 2 users liked this post by Bosi72:
I realise a competitive market requires a two-horse race.. maybe the introduction of a far more experienced horse will be a good thing - in a year or two.
Doesn’t the US have Garmin Pilot too?
