AOPA Flight Planner - I preferred the earlier one

I preferred the earlier one because it was web based and allowed me to run
it wherever I was on whoever's system I was using (including my friend's
Macs where I've planned and filed dozens of flights).

What really is irritating me is the fact that my home 'port, 8NC8, is not in
the airport database. Making it a waypoint still doesn't seem to allow me
plan a flight to and from it. A minor but irritating problem. It wasn't a
problem with the earlier tool.

Going to have to call them since there doesn't seem to be any online help or
support on the topic.

I called AOPA to inquire about the fact the Flight Planner didn't allow
a user defined route; it's direct or airways. They said they had to keep
it simple. You can go and strech the rubber band route.

You know, for simple flight planning, the DUATS Cirrus dial-up
application cannot be beat. Gives you interface with DUATs winds, can
plan airways, direct, user defined. I have my plane profiled and I
usually am within 5 to 10 minutes of my flight time and a couple of
gallons of fuel burn. I get a real simple printable flight plan to take
away with me.

Ross
N7905U

Maule Driver wrote:

I preferred the earlier one because it was web based and allowed me to run
it wherever I was on whoever's system I was using (including my friend's
Macs where I've planned and filed dozens of flights).

What really is irritating me is the fact that my home 'port, 8NC8, is not in
the airport database. Making it a waypoint still doesn't seem to allow me
plan a flight to and from it. A minor but irritating problem. It wasn't a
problem with the earlier tool.

Going to have to call them since there doesn't seem to be any online help or
support on the topic.

I agree that DUATS planning is simple, fast and very adequate. Oh, yea, and
it's free. I almost always use it for advance planning. For one thing, I
know that I have access no matter where I'm staying at the other end.

The new AOPA planner does a couple of things that I love. First, the airways
are marked with the MEA and the navlog indicates the MEAs for airways. I can
rubber band the route so that the MEAs are acceptable to me. Second, the
TFRs are shown so that I can verify that I am clear. With the radar overlay,
it is a pretty good planning aid.

If it turns out to be a VFR flight, I can follow my planned route and not
have to worry. If it turns out to be an IFR flight, I'm also set.

The one feature that would make me a dedicated user would be to have fuel
prices displayed.

--
-------------------------------
Travis
"Ross Richardson" wrote in message
...
I called AOPA to inquire about the fact the Flight Planner didn't allow
a user defined route; it's direct or airways. They said they had to keep
it simple. You can go and strech the rubber band route.

You know, for simple flight planning, the DUATS Cirrus dial-up
application cannot be beat. Gives you interface with DUATs winds, can
plan airways, direct, user defined. I have my plane profiled and I
usually am within 5 to 10 minutes of my flight time and a couple of
gallons of fuel burn. I get a real simple printable flight plan to take
away with me.

Ross
N7905U

Maule Driver wrote:

I preferred the earlier one because it was web based and allowed me to
run
it wherever I was on whoever's system I was using (including my friend's
Macs where I've planned and filed dozens of flights).

What really is irritating me is the fact that my home 'port, 8NC8, is
not in
the airport database. Making it a waypoint still doesn't seem to allow
me
plan a flight to and from it. A minor but irritating problem. It
wasn't a
problem with the earlier tool.

Going to have to call them since there doesn't seem to be any online
help or
support on the topic.

"Maule Driver" writes:

I preferred the earlier one because it was web based and allowed me to run
it wherever I was on whoever's system I was using (including my friend's
Macs where I've planned and filed dozens of flights).

I flight plan on whatever machine I have handy. Often is borrowed.

It continues to amaze me that companies try *so* hard to avoid making
applications that just work on the Web.

What really is irritating me is the fact that my home 'port, 8NC8, is not in
the airport database. Making it a waypoint still doesn't seem to allow me
plan a flight to and from it.

From the related thread, I gather this means that AOPA assumes that only
a small fraction of their members would ever want to use that airport so
it's not worth spending resources to support it.

--kyler

Kyler Laird wrote:


From the related thread, I gather this means that AOPA assumes that only
a small fraction of their members would ever want to use that airport so
it's not worth spending resources to support it.

Laugh

Uh oh. A small fraction of AOPA members use any airport.

- Andrew

Kyler Laird wrote:

From the related thread, I gather this means that AOPA assumes that only
a small fraction of their members would ever want to use that airport so
it's not worth spending resources to support it.

I could be wrong, but I think you should blame Jeppesen, not AOPA. The download
page says that Jep provides the software.

George Patterson
Battle, n; A method of untying with the teeth a political knot that would
not yield to the tongue.

In a previous article, "Maule Driver" said:
I preferred the earlier one because it was web based and allowed me to run
it wherever I was on whoever's system I was using (including my friend's
Macs where I've planned and filed dozens of flights).

Isn't the old AOPA one just http://www.duats.com/ with the AOPA name
plastered on it?

What really is irritating me is the fact that my home 'port, 8NC8, is not in
the airport database. Making it a waypoint still doesn't seem to allow me

It's on duats.com.


--
Paul Tomblin http://xcski.com/blogs/pt/
Microsoft - Where quality is job 1.0.1

"Paul Tomblin"
In a previous article, "Maule Driver"
said:
I preferred the earlier one because it was web based and allowed me to
run
it wherever I was on whoever's system I was using (including my friend's
Macs where I've planned and filed dozens of flights).

Isn't the old AOPA one just http://www.duats.com/ with the AOPA name
plastered on it?

What really is irritating me is the fact that my home 'port, 8NC8, is not
in
the airport database. Making it a waypoint still doesn't seem to allow
me

It's on duats.com.

You are right. It was just duats.com with AOPA on it. I think I'll go back
to it. The 8nc8 omission is a real pain.

AOPA seems to be paying a lot of attention to the airspace restrictions so
maybe that's what it's good for.

What really is irritating me is the fact that my home 'port, 8NC8, is
not in the airport database. Making it a waypoint still doesn't seem
to allow me plan a flight to and from it. A minor but irritating
problem.

I see it more of as a major flaw. It's a pretty useless tool to me.

********* Shameless Plug ************

While not free, my Win32 planner is low cost compared to the
competition and it includes digital sectionals. It will run on
any version of windows from 95 on, and can run under Virtual PC
on a Mac. It may run under WINE on a Linux machine. It was
developed using Delphi, and I can easily offer it in a .NET
version. Rumor has it that .NET will soon be supported on both
Linux and Mac machines.

Download the demo and give it a try:
http://www.razorsedgesoft.com/airplan

I will have a booth at Oshkosh this year, so stop by and see me
there.

Dean Wilkinson

"Maule Driver" wrote in message m...
I preferred the earlier one because it was web based and allowed me to run
it wherever I was on whoever's system I was using (including my friend's
Macs where I've planned and filed dozens of flights).

What really is irritating me is the fact that my home 'port, 8NC8, is not in
the airport database. Making it a waypoint still doesn't seem to allow me
plan a flight to and from it. A minor but irritating problem. It wasn't a
problem with the earlier tool.

Going to have to call them since there doesn't seem to be any online help or
support on the topic.