Mobile Flight Planning apps...

[Chuckles]

I’m starting research on a mobile flight planning app – something for a tablet. I do not yet have the tablet so iPad or Android tablets are both options. I want something I can use for planning at home, then use while in flight. I’ve put together a list of what I would like to have. I also realize I probably won't get all, but 1-6 are a must. I’ve done a lot of net searches but can’t find anything that does a side by side comparison. I primarily fly VFR but am working on my instrument rating at the moment. Thoughts?

1. Raster graphics (not just pdf scans of charts) with zoom in/out
2. Rubberbanding that will let me choose user defined waypoints, not just pre-defined ones.
3. Moving map using a portable GPS antenna
4. Weather overlays - XM wx preferred - but rendered so that it doesn't obscure the flight plan and other graphics
5. Optimizing flight plan for current wx
6. Airport information
7. Decent library or downloadable aircraft performance numbers so I don't have to enter every aircraft I fly. Editing of the data would be good too for aircraft weight, etc.
8. Weight/Balance
9. Rocky Mountain pass information
10. FAA Flight Plans
11. Ability to detect where you are on plan and update your flight planning - start plan, eta vs. actual, etc..
12. I don't have the device so iPad or Android are both options though the Android is a lot cheaper.

[WLIU]

This is turning into a really competitive market. Do you intend to use this in flight? What type of airplane? Will you have a 10" screen or a 7" screen?

A 10" screen seems to get you the widest range of applications but that size does not fit in all airplanes. I only have room for a 7" screen like an iPad mini or a Galaxy Tab 7.0.

My informal survey leads me to believe that all of the available apps out there will cover your list of wants. Jeppesen is likely the heavy hitter now that they are in the market but all of the apps are low cost so you could try one a month until you find the one that you like.

My observation is that they all have more features than you will absolutely need so I suggest not getting hung up in "analysis paralysis" and just try one, Jeppesen, Garmin, Naviator, whatever. Every one covers more than 90% of what you need so dithering about those last few features that you will use only 10% of the time when the cost is so low makes no sense.

Best of luck,

Wes
N78PS

[Chuckles]

It will be used in flight with an external GPS antenna. I will probably go with a 10" screen. We fly a 172 and a Diamond DA40. Yes, the diamond has a G1000 with both traffic and weather in it, but it's kind of nice to be able to do all your flight planning at home and take the thing with you. When I fly cross country, I usually have my wife with me and she will be the one primarily using the thing in the air. I think the biggest gripe I have had with a lot of the current apps is that they just plan on chart scans. The new Jeppesen app actually looks pretty good and it has raster graphics so you don't lose any detail when you zoom in. I just want to try to narrow the field before I go out and drop $$$ for a device and find out I should have bought a different device. I have also seen apps that display weather and just obliterate anything else on the screen under the weather. I used to be a software engineer and am now an IT project manager (most of that time in airline stuff) so the analysis is sort of what I do for a living...

[WLIU]

If you are flying G1000, I would start by looking at the Garmin software. I suspect that you will want to upload your flight routes into the G1000 directly if it supports that. You won't want to key the info in twice.

If you have 10" screen device, it looks to me like all of the vendors support iPad and Android devices with that screen size.

Oh, if you have an iPad, do not wear polarized sunglasses if you want to be able to read the screen from all angles.

Best of luck,

Wes
N78PS