Just in time for EAA AirVenture, several aviation companies offered updates on their apps. This week’s updates cover everything from electronic flight bags to pilot test prep. These are not endorsements of any apps.
Garmin Pilot (free in iTunes and Google Play, but subscription required)—Garmin has added worldwide coverage optons for iPad and iPhone, allowing for global flight planning capabilities, comprehensive weather information, and full-featured navigation. Users also receive expanded coverage of European charts, including geo-referenced FliteCharts and SafeTaxi airport diagrams.
Jeppesen FliteDeck Pro EFB (free in iTunes, but subscription required)—The enhanced version of this electronic flight bag for iPad, designed for airlines, fractional business jet operators, and military fleet programs, features new standard instrument departure (SID) and standard terminal arrival route (STAR) depiction renderings on the enroute map. A new Flight Info Drawer feature creates, loads, views, and saves active flight data from either the terminal charts or the enroute view.
Naviator 3.0 (free in Google Play, but subscription required after 30 days)—The latest version of this moving map app adds two new features: 3-D synthetic vision and obstacle/tower warnings. The 3-D synthetic vision feature offers a 3-D head-up-display-like view of the surrounding terrain and obstacles. Terrain above the aircraft is shaded red to warn pilots of potential danger, and obstacles are displayed using their real-world elevations, enabling enhanced situational awareness. The obstacle database is available for the United States and its territories, as well as parts of Canada and Mexico. Obstacles are shown in both the 2-D map and 3-D synthetic vision views. Audio warnings are spoken if Naviator determines that the aircraft is on a collision course with an obstacle.
King Schools Companion App (free in iTunes)—Pilots can watch their King Schools video lessons on their iPads and iPhones even when disconnected from the Internet with this app. A new feature of the app allows pilots to connect to their King iLearn online account and download videos from any of their courses and watch them later offline. The app now also keeps track of the viewer’s progress and will return them to the last-viewed point in each video.
NRST: Descent Rate & Airport Finder ($4.99 in iTunes)—Users of this flight navigation app for iPhone and iPad can easily determine descent rates required and find airports. Data used by the app is updated in real time as a pilot flies. Users can choose a nearby airport or select an airport by identifier, and then filter by runway length and surface type and choose any of the following: airports, seaplane bases, heliports, balloon ports, and closed airports. Version 1.5 includes only showing open runways on the course indicator and other updates.
This week included two Google Play and one Windows app, so please keep sending your favorites here. Meanwhile, please share apps in the following categories: charts and maps, FBOs/services, games, maintenance, radar, and weight and balance. A complete list of the apps reviewed is here.
