Our latest release features a Reported Turbulence Map Layer, US Lowest-Tilt Radar, Landing Factor Selector and TOLD Card for Runway Analysis.
Reported Turbulence Map Layer
Plan smoother and safer flights by seeing where pilots are actually encountering smooth air or turbulence with the Reported Turbulence map layer in ForeFlight.
Utilizing data from Sentry and Sentry Plus devices, this new layer in the ForeFlight Mobile app displays the measured intensity of turbulence at multiple altitudes, making it easy to find the smoothest altitude along your route.
Enable the Reported Turbulence layer in ForeFlight from the layer selector, just below the turbulence forecast layers.
Individual turbulence reports are displayed as colored dots on the Maps tab in ForeFlight: gray to indicate smooth air, and a progression of yellow, orange, and dark orange to indicate light, moderate, and severe turbulence, respectively.
Pilots can tap any report to see the reporting flight’s altitude, airspeed, and aircraft type as well as the age of the turbulence report, up to about six hours.
An altitude slider is available to filter turbulence reports on the overhead map by altitude.
ForeFlight’s Profile View feature also offers a visualization of turbulence reports at all altitudes along a planned route, making it easy for pilots to see which altitudes offer smoother air and plan enroute altitude changes accordingly. Reported Turbulence and other weather layers in the Profile View are accessible with a Performance Plus subscription.
Reported Turbulence is available as two add-ons for Pro Plus subscription plans and above: Reported Turbulence (Low) provides access to turbulence reports up to 14,000 feet, while Reported Turbulence (All) grants access to reports at all altitudes.
Reported Turbulence (Low) is available free of charge with ForeFlight’s Pro Plus and Performance Plus subscription plans for individual customers who register their Sentry or Sentry Plus device at plan.foreflight.com/account using the “Register a new Sentry” button at the bottom of the page.
A 50% discount on the Reported Turbulence (All) layer is also provided to customers who register their Sentry or Sentry Plus. If you don’t have a Sentry to register then you can still purchase either Reported Turbulence add-on as part of a Pro Plus or Performance Plus subscription via foreflight.com/buy.
ForeFlight Business customers may contact Sales for pricing on both Reported Turbulence add-ons.
US Lowest-Tilt Radar
See where precipitation is likely reaching the ground with the return of this popular map layer sporting lower latency and improved spatial resolution.
The Radar (Lowest-Tilt) layer only depicts radar returns obtained at the lowest angle of the radar’s sweep, which better correspond to where precipitation is reaching the ground in the form of rain or snow.
The new layer benefits from significantly reduced latency of 6 minutes or less and also provides enhanced spatial resolution, although the layer doesn’t yet support storm track markers.
Enable this new layer just below the existing one in Layer Selector > Radar (Lowest Tilt).
To help pilots understand the value of the Composite and Lowest Tilt radar layers, we asked KOKI-TV Chief Meteorologist James Aydelott – who is also an instrument-rated pilot and longtime ForeFlight customer – to explain the benefits and differences of each.
Coverage for the Radar (Lowest-Tilt) layer is currently limited to the U.S. and South Korea.
Runway Analysis: Landing Factor Selector
Separately calculate a flight’s landing distance during pre-flight planning and before arrival to better comply with your SOP and industry guidance on mitigating runway excursions.
While in the Landing Analysis or Emergency Return views, tap either the Surface Condition or Landing Factor fields to access the new Landing Factor Selector.
Select either Pre-Flight / Dispatch or In-Flight / LDTA under Phase of Flight to access different options for surface condition and landing factor, with the latter also supporting runway condition codes in place of actual surface conditions.
Selecting different surface conditions in either mode will also automatically filter the list of available landing factors, which are more clearly labeled with both percentage and factor multiplication equivalents.
Additional settings related to landing factor selection are also available in More > Aircraft > Field Performance > Landing.
Available with ForeFlight’s Runway Analysis add-on for supported jet and select turboprop aircraft.
Runway Analysis: TOLD Card
Brief your takeoff or landing with a clean and printer-friendly summary of the most critical pieces of information produced by Runway Analysis.
In the Takeoff or Landing Analysis views, tap the new TOLD button next to the Summary button in the upper-right corner to view the TOLD card, and tap the Send To button in the top-right to share or print it.
Available with ForeFlight’s Runway Analysis add-on for supported jet and select turboprop aircraft.