ForeFlight 12.7 includes Weather in 3D Preview, Visual Approaches and Traffic Pattern Altitude, Internet Traffic Search, and more.
Weather in 3D Preview
Enhance your preflight weather planning with interactive Icing and Turbulence forecast layers in 3D Preview. Weather in 3D Preview is available with ForeFlight’s Performance Plus and Business Performance subscription plans.
Access 3D Preview by loading a planned route onto the Maps or Flights views and tapping the 3D button in the Flight Plan Editor.
Tap the layer selector in the bottom left to access forecast weather layers in 3D Preview. 3D Preview supports US and Global Icing and US and Global Turbulence. All four weather layers use the same data as their corresponding layers on the overhead map, and are depicted in 3D as colored tiles along your route.
Enabling any layer will add an altitude slider on the right to control which altitude weather is displayed at. Enable the RTE button at the top of the altitude slider to only show weather at the same altitude as your route, which creates a stair step effect if weather is present during your climb and descent.
From the outside, forecast weather appears as solid rectangular blocks, colored to indicate severity. When the aircraft is inside these blocks they become transparent except for the edges to provide better visibility. Moving the 3D camera outside the blocks preserves a window of transparency around the aircraft. When the edge of the window is sharp it means the aircraft is within the blocks at that altitude, and when the edge is soft it means the aircraft is outside the blocks on the other side, which you can confirm by moving the camera.
In addition to the color of the blocks, the severity of forecast weather is also indicated by the color at the very top of the route line, as well as in the info panel in the top-left. These allow you to easily compare the severity of weather at your planned altitude with other nearby altitudes by adjusting the altitude slider.
Like Profile View, 3D Preview combines all forecast periods that will be active during your flight in one seamless display. If a portion of your route’s planned active time lies beyond the selected weather layer’s forecast range, ForeFlight will display a hatch pattern in place of the colored blocks to indicate where data is not available. It will also provide a tappable warning below the altitude slider letting you know that forecast data is not available for some or all of your flight.
Visual Approaches with TPA
Specify the pattern altitude for a new visual approach or traffic pattern entry in Procedure Advisor to add a prominent waypoint with the TPA in your route.
Access visual approaches in Procedure Advisor’s Traffic Pattern or Approaches menu. Enter a custom traffic pattern altitude in either MSL or AGL formats, or tap the Select button to choose from a list of recommended pattern altitudes.
Select the type of traffic pattern entry or a straight in approach and tap Add to Route to insert the pattern entry with marked TPA waypoint into your route. Tap the pattern entry in the FPL Bubble Editor and tap Set Pattern Altitude to change the selected altitude and update the TPA waypoint.
Internet Traffic Search
Find active Internet Traffic targets anywhere in the world by typing a tail number or call sign into the Search bar. ForeFlight displays matches for partial and complete search terms under an “Internet Traffic” header in the Search results list. Tap on any traffic result in the list to reposition the map and highlight the aircraft, which will also enable the Traffic layer if it isn’t already.
You must have an internet connection and be on the ground to search for Internet Traffic. Searching for aircraft while connected to an ADS-B In receiver will only show traffic targets received by that device.
FBO Detail View Enhancements
The FBO detail view now displays self- and full-service fuel prices for both 100LL and Jet-A or Jet-A+ in a more compact table. Information about contract Jet-A pricing via your JetFuelX fuel cards is also now available above the retail fuel prices at the top of the Information tab, rather than in a separate tab. Integrating your JetFuelX fuel cards into ForeFlight is available with ForeFlight Performance plans.