Aviation Youtuber and long-time ForeFlighter Flight Chops (@FlightChops) shares a bit about how the app helps him fly such a diverse range of aircraft confidently and safely.
As a relatively low time private / instrument-rated pilot, I’m lucky to be in the position to have access to many types of aircraft. I’m currently flying a T6 / Harvard regularly, but find myself in anything from a PA-32 Cherokee Six, to a DHC-2 Beaver, or a Van’s Aircraft RV-14. Systems, procedures, and performance vary wildly between these platforms, but the one thing that doesn’t change is ForeFlight, the EFB that is onboard with me regardless of what I am flying.
It truly makes the whole process of assessing go / no go decisions almost too easy.
– Flight Chops
The peace of mind that consistency affords in an otherwise unfamiliar cockpit environment is significant. Everything I need is within one app, from planning, to briefing, to filing and executing the mission, and even my multiple aircraft-specific checklists; it is all there.
Lately, most of my flying has been low altitude in warbirds with poor forward visibility and no modern avionics to speak of. Enroute I enjoy reviewing ForeFlight’s Synthetic Vision with the Hazard Advisor showing me terrain and obstacles such as radio towers that I might otherwise have a hard time spotting. And of course, weather layers make it easy to avoid getting into unfavourable conditions.
As I get into more high speed, high altitude IFR flying in the newly built RV-14, ForeFlight will help me assess wind, turbulence, and icing risk in the easy to visualize Profile View.
The Glide Advisor removes all doubt about where I can go in the event of an engine failure. In some cases it is not pretty as it accounts for wind and terrain making it super clear if you are boxing yourself in; I like to use that to remind myself to keep my options open.
Another feature I look forward to using as I expand my cross country mission flying is the Takeoff and Landing Distances capability for pistons – this too is of course specific to your aircraft performance and weather conditions, so it truly makes the whole process of assessing go / no go decisions almost too easy.
