Flight Planning Software

I used FliteStar for a number of years. In my opinion it is the best quality
and easiest to use. The downside is like everything else Jeppesen sells they
get an awful price for it. Over the years I've tried just about all the
other flight planning software and none of them did it for me in terms of
functionality and usability. The usability piece I'm sure has a lot to do
with what you get used to. This year I tried and switched to Voyager. It had
a lot of neat features and it came close enough for me in terms of
usability. I had some discussions with the President of the company about
some shortcomings that might stop me from using the software and at the end
of the conversation I wound up purchasing the product and wound up as a beta
tester. They have a free download of their software and I recommend giving
them a try. http://www.seattleavionics.com/default.asp
I would suggest trying a bunch of different programs and seeing which one
meets your needs and is easist for you to use.
"Chris G." nospam@noemail wrote in message
eenews.net...
I'm considering purchasing flight planning software, such as the Jeppesen
FliteStar or the RMS software or some other flight planning software after
I finish my flight training. I don't intend to have it plan the route for
me, but I do want the ability to change my mind "on the fly" and see how
that impacts my flight planning. I still prefer to do the final planning
by hand on paper with the software as a backup to make sure I didn't make
a large error in my calculations.

What have your experiences been with the different software? What did you
like and dislike about the software you used?

Thanks,

Chris

I am using PocketFMS for preliminary flight planning. It's an amazing
piece of software, especially since it doubles as a VFR GPS solution.
However, it is being produced in the Netherlands and while their
European data appears to be very reliable, the US mapping has some
glitches. For example airports are stored twice (e.g. LAX and KLAX),
weather info is not always updated and it's hard to find out whether
you did indeed get current weather. Also the Navlog printing may or may
not work. I'd recommend using PocketFMS to quickly plan your route,
then print it out and finish it by hand or using other software to add
wind correction.

I have also tried out aeroplanner.com and found it passable. My main
complaint is that it's entirely web-based and their server is not very
responsive. Planning a flight from scratch just takes too long.

On 24 Jun 2005 13:05:53 -0700, "grubertm"
wrote:

I am using PocketFMS for preliminary flight planning. It's an amazing
piece of software, especially since it doubles as a VFR GPS solution.
However, it is being produced in the Netherlands and while their
European data appears to be very reliable, the US mapping has some
glitches. For example airports are stored twice (e.g. LAX and KLAX),
weather info is not always updated and it's hard to find out whether
you did indeed get current weather. Also the Navlog printing may or may
not work. I'd recommend using PocketFMS to quickly plan your route,
then print it out and finish it by hand or using other software to add
wind correction.


Much of the data for this prog comes from DAFIF which is soon to be
unavailable to the public. This has prompted a system being developed
where selected users around the world will provide the information to
update the database. The result should be more accurate and up to date
information. At present the update cycle is 28 days but for
contributors it is updated every 2 hours.

Navlog printing works fine with me. Just print in landscape then fold
in two.

Since the authors of PocketFMS respond to queries and suggestions this
is developing into a superb prog. It is being developed to allow
individuals to customise many aspects of its use making it very
flexible.

David

Chris G. wrote:
Thank you for the comprehensive review. Before you chose Flitestar, did
you try any other software or evaluate any other software?

Do you or anyone else have much experience with the Golden Eagle
software from the DUAT/DUATS (can't keep 'em straight)? I've not yet
tried that program. Hopefully it is better than the AOPA Planner.

Has anyone tried the RMS program?

Chris


Jimbob wrote:

My experience is with FliteStar and while it has some neat features,
there are a few nits.

#1) It doesn't have the ability to print a NavLog without wind info.
Example would be if you got to your destination and the route back had
different winds, you have to scribble through it's calculations to put
in your new ones. I would like it if you could print a blank one with
your waypoints and fill the wind info in later. If you had it on a
laptop and could reprint, it would be ok. For those of us that have a
computer at home, it's annoying.

#2) It took me a while to figure out that you had to download winds
aloft to get the wind info updated in the navlog. (DUH) I think it
should warn you if you forget to select the right DUATS download
options. You winds would be out of date and you wouldn't know it.
Maybe a note in the remarks section about when the wind info was
updated.

#3) The reverse route function sucks. It does wierd things like
insert new climb and descent profiles. I don't know why.

#4) I wish is was smarter about inserting mandatory waypoints, It
just puts then in at fixed intervals vs. setting them close to VFR
features. Might be OK for the IFR guys, but I can't speak for that
myself.
Beyond that, It's pretty nice. I like the profile view that lets you
see your flight path relative to the airpsaces. The printouts at 2
per page make nice booklets for a kneeboard. A lot of cool routing
features. The graphical representation of sigmet and airmet
boundaries is very nice.



Jim
http://www.unconventional-wisdom.org
I have used RMS Flightsoft (and Flightsoft express) for many years. Very
stable and easy to use. Excellent user support.

Ross wrote:

I have been using Cirrus for DUATS for a long time. Simple to use. I
have my aircraft profile loaded and get my weather, flight plans, and
file flight plans. I do not have the Golden Eagle upgrade, just the free
Cirrus. Just finished planning a trip. Getting ready to go to the
airport soon.

I've used both, Golden Eagle is much improved over Cirrus and is still
free for downloading...

wrote:

Since the authors of PocketFMS respond to queries and suggestions this
is developing into a superb prog. It is being developed to allow
individuals to customise many aspects of its use making it very
flexible.

XM Weather compatibility... Its the only thing I'm missing...

I went over to a friend's house this weekend and played around a bit
with his Jepp FliteStar progran, but the functionality I want it going
to set me back $249 initially. I don't even know if that comes with any
updates? If not, then I have to add even more money to that
figure...ugh. I really liked the profile view of my flioght that Jepp
has compared to the Golden Eagle software.

In messing around with the software, I have found that I prefer to plan
it on a paper sectional and use ther software to plan a general route
that I think I want to fly. In filling out my nav log, I can put on
there reference points tha I might not otherwise be able to mark in the
computer generated plan. (Example: 1 NM W of KSPB, 3 NM E of KKLS,
BTG 300 FROM)

I found it interesting that none of the software I have selected so far
is more specific on a PA-28 than to be a "generic" pa-28. I fly the
Cherokee 140, which does have a different performance than a Cherokee
180. Minor gripe, I guess, but a little annoying because the POH for
the Cherokee (1969) really sucks.

Long story short, I'm going to hold off on buying any software for a
while becvause I don't really need it. The Golden Eagle does a passable
job of helping me "rubber band" the routes so I can find a better route.
to tweak on paper.

Chris


Chris G. wrote:
I'm considering purchasing flight planning software, such as the
Jeppesen FliteStar or the RMS software or some other flight planning
software after I finish my flight training. I don't intend to have it
plan the route for me, but I do want the ability to change my mind "on
the fly" and see how that impacts my flight planning. I still prefer to
do the final planning by hand on paper with the software as a backup to
make sure I didn't make a large error in my calculations.

What have your experiences been with the different software? What did
you like and dislike about the software you used?

Thanks,

Chris

It it free to use, also?

Regards, Ross
C-172F 180HP
KSWI


Darrel Toepfer wrote:
Ross wrote:

I have been using Cirrus for DUATS for a long time. Simple to use. I
have my aircraft profile loaded and get my weather, flight plans, and
file flight plans. I do not have the Golden Eagle upgrade, just the
free Cirrus. Just finished planning a trip. Getting ready to go to the
airport soon.


I've used both, Golden Eagle is much improved over Cirrus and is still
free for downloading...

Have you ever tried AirPlan? You can download the 30 day demo from
http://www.razorsedgesoft.com/airplan.zip

I found it interesting that none of the software I have selected so far is
more specific on a PA-28 than to be a "generic" pa-28. I fly the Cherokee
140, which does have a different performance than a Cherokee 180. Minor
gripe, I guess, but a little annoying because the POH for the Cherokee
(1969) really sucks.

Most decent packages allow you to edit the aircraft performance profiles.
Jeppesen's FlightStar/FlightMap allows extensive modifications and you can
swap data files with other users.