Glenn Westfall ) wrote:

snip
Does anyone use Aeroplanner and have and good comments about it? Is
it worth the $119/year for the subscription?

Glenn, you may want to ask this question over in rec.aviation.piloting, or
take a look at this thread from that group, dated last April:

http://makeashorterlink.com/?N3BD62DB5

There are a few VFR-only pilots who have publicly praised it.

I am going on my second year of using Aeroplanner and for the most part I
have been very happy with it. I do not, however, print the en route maps
or approach plates as I do not want to blow through my printer cartridges
like potato chips!

Actually, in a few instances I have printed off their charts, but always
for very specific needs: The NY terminal chart specifically over the
Hudson River, NY, VFR corridor and a small section of the Montreal
sectional chart containing Lake Placid airport, as this airport is right
off the edge of the lower NY sectional chart, are two that come to mind.

For me, the advantages of using Aeroplanner is that it saves me a lot of
time in planning either VFR or IFR flights. Fuel estimates, time en route,
and routing are all easier (IMO) using Aeroplanner.

Also, I do create Trip Ticks specifically for the LEG table that is
produced and the relevant NOTAMS, both of which I print off and take with
me to the cockpit.

Another advantage is the graphical representation of TFRs and special
airspace overlaid on the route planning map.

Some negatives I have discovered over the last year or so:

Often their weather seems way behind. For example, winds aloft typically
are only available out 12-18 hours or so (at least in the several times I
use AeroPlanner). Many times they are not even available that far out,
which makes preplanning via AP a multiple step process (Log in the day
before to create the route, then log in the day of the flight to get a more
accurate forecast of en route speeds, times, etc).

In addition to this, their METARs and TAFS also seem to be behind by
several hours. I have confirmed this several times by going to DUATS first
to browse current METARS and TAFS, then built a trip tick in Aeroplanner.

Aeroplanner is in the process of replacing their current planning interface
with one that has a lot of potentially nice features. However, there are
also some crucial pieces missing. I had reported several of these in their
BETA forum, only to watch my post go unanswered for several weeks now.
This discouraged me from providing any additional feedback of their beta.


--
Peter