SkyDemon GPS
 

Good evening, another question!
I'm looking into buying a GPS, and can't decide as there are so many, but I have been pointed in the direction of the SkyDemon GPS unit, my question is, has anybody has any experience with the flight planning software. I like the way NOTAM,TAFs and METARs can be uploaded before commencing flying incase a diversion is needed, which I think is quite smart, my mind isn't made up and I'm open to ideas too.
Many thanks, Jim:ok:

I fly a PA28 and Cessna 172 (VFR) and in my view Sky Demon flight planning is brilliant.

I put all the routes in beforehand and on the day in question just input the flight times and a plog is produced, which includes every frequency I could possibly need, bearings for each leg together with times.

If it works for me it'll work for anyone!

Oh, and if you have any questions you can ask Sky Demon direct (to which you'll get a quick answer) or there is an excellent forum.

I don't think Airbox is anywhere near as good (and I've got both).

James

You can pop round and have a look at the full software, I have it on my computer at home. Planning and interface is identical to the GPS - just that's on a smaller screen!

Lee

I run Sky Demon on a GPS I bought from Hong Kong for £60 and it works just fine.

I have the sky demon device, and even though I have a full IFR panel, Garmin 430W, and a yoke-mounted Garmin 795, I still can't bring myself to leave the SkyDemon at home. The three things it does really well are NOTAMs, Airspace warnings and the fabulous side view nav which shows you airspace above and below you rather than just around you.

As JW411 alludes, though, you don't need to buy the actual device. You can try running it on pretty much any windows enabled GPS device - such as a GPS enabled laptop. But for me, I just liked the peace of mind that the device was specced specifically for the software, so I didn't need to think about it.

I am another fan of SkyDemon. Apart from the advantages mentioned by other contributors, one big plus for me was being able to use it with my HTC HD2 Windows Smartphone, without having to buy a specific GPS device. Planning is done on my PC, then I just Sync to my phone, and take it into the cockpit. I print out the plog from my PC, and use the phone for a moving map display. The windscreen mount I bought from E-Bay to attach the phone to the window must have cost me all of £5. This was another plus, as I could use it in any hired aircraft, before I bought a share.

I gather that new HTC phones only run windows 7 or Android neither of which is supported by Skydemon.
Are there any phones currently produced which will run SD?

Skydemon runs fine on Windows 7, certainly it does on my MacBook Pro running W7 under Parallels - I presume (though you might want to check with Tim) that it's also fine on a mobile device with W7.

Think we need some clarification here:

SD (Plan) will run fine on Windows 7.
It won't (ever) work on Windows Phone 7.

The desktop software is bloody fantastic, especially considering the price/subscription fee.

I already checked with Tim some time ago. Apparently SD will run on Win CE devices only, not Win 7. Just wondered whether anything had changed or whether perhaps they had now started supporting Android or Ios.

Pprune is loading posts in the wrong order at the moment

It's getting the post times wrong!

To clarify,

SkyDemon works just fine on Windows 7. It does not work fine on Windows Mobile 7.

If you have a Windows Mobile 6.5, then SkyDemon will run quite happily. I dont know exactly what Microsoft changed, but I wish they hadn't...

And I wish Skydemon would accommodate the change what ever it was, and then crack on with Android and Ios.

Lag - I use Skydemon and I think it an astonishing piece of software which I would heartily recommend. Tim Dawson and his team have that rare knack of being able to write software that is both a pleasure to use and does the biz. The most cost effective config I think it to buy the PC/mobile version and then synch onto a cheap WinCE enabled GPS device. You can get oriental versions of these devices for about £60 from eBay. I think they offer a trial of 30 days on the software which you can download.

Stop Press.
Skydemon to be launched for Ipad!

Yep, an iPad version is on its way. That's what I've been waiting for!

An iPad version would be interesting, where did you see that? I can't find any mention on the SkyDemon website.

I bought a new HTC Touch HD2 (which runs Windows Mobile 6.5) a few weeks ago to replace my old HTC HD. I'd rather have an older model of phone that runs SkyDemon than a newer model that can't run it :)

Confirming the earlier posts, SkyDemon will not run on Windows Mobile 7 phones, but it runs happily on 32 and 64 bit Windows 7 on your PC/laptop/tablet. Tim has told me that they have no intention of porting SkyDemon to run on Windows Mobile 7.

Hi Jim,

Don't know if your "so many" has included PocketFMS....the Origianal and still the best :8

There is a 30 day free trial available too. PocketFMS

(I should point out in the interest of clarity that I'm a Beta Tester for PocketFMS, but have no financial links.

If you're looking for something cheaper and simply want a GPS system which will help you avoid unintended airspace incursions then you might consider Airspace Avoid for iPhone/iPad/Android. It's just €13!
Airspace Avoid

dp

Apparently they had a trial version running at the Flying Show at the NEC. Nothing official announced yet but I gather it is on its way.