UPDATE April 19, 2018: Compatibility testing between iOS 11.3 and ForeFlight is complete and we are issuing the “all-clear” to ForeFlight customers. Feel free to update to iOS 11.3 at your convenience.
ORIGINAL POST March 27, 2018: We are performing compatibility testing between ForeFlight and the newly released iOS 11.3 to ensure that everything is working smoothly. We will update this post with an “all-clear” when testing is completed. Please also stay tuned to our Facebook page or Twitter feed for updates.
Follow this link to learn how you can check which Apple iOS version you are currently running, and follow this link to learn how you can update your iOS version.
Recommended Route is an output of ForeFlight’s proprietary autorouting engine that gives you the best route with the highest likelihood of “cleared as filed”, while optimizing on current and forecast wind and temperature data, altitude, and your specific aircraft performance constraints. Using ForeFlight’s Graphical Route Advisor makes it quick and easy to generate a Recommended Route, File the route, and get on with your mission.
For routes that include a departure or destination in Europe, ForeFlight’s autorouting capability includes EUROCONTROL validation.
The Graphical Route Advisor is designed to give you a quick comparison of trip time, fuel, and ground distance for each available route, at the stated altitude. The Route Advisor tool is also enhanced with the graphical overlay of all route options on a map. You can visually inspect each route by tapping on it, and as you do, it is highlighted on the map to give you an immediate and visual route comparison.
To generate a Recommended Route (available with Performance level plans), ForeFlight’s routing engine analyses thousands of possible routes based on your detailed aircraft performance profile and time/fuel savings, while also accounting for your aircraft ceiling, preferred routes, and trending ATC cleared routes. The result is a route that delivers more consistent ‘cleared as filed’ flight plans optimized for your aircraft.
ForeFlight also provides a list of previous ATC cleared routes that others have flown. This list is actively curated (meaning we prune out old, non-applicable routes and routes with expired waypoints) so that, similar to the Recommended Route, you have the best chance of selecting a route that comes back “cleared as filed”. In addition, ForeFlight displays the filing recency, frequency, and aircraft type.
We are continually refining the capabilities of our routing engine to make even smarter altitude suggestions. For example, if you’re flying a shorter route, ForeFlight will suggest an altitude that accommodates executing the flight with roughly one-third of the flight time in climb, one-third of the flight time in cruise, and one-third of the flight time descent. This results in a more comfortable ride, as well as requesting an altitude that ATC is more likely to accept.
Using the Recommended Route feature makes it really fast and easy to find the route that is best optimized for your aircraft with a ‘cleared as filed’ outcome – all with minimal pilot workload.
Recommended Route and Detailed Aircraft Performance Profiles
An essential part of generating a Recommended Route is having detailed aircraft performance profile data available to feed into the calculations. You can set up a fully configured aircraft in just ten seconds with the help of ForeFlight’s predefined aircraft profiles. ForeFlight uses the aircraft manufacturer’s published flight planning performance data, or “the book values”, defined not only for multiple altitudes, but also multiple weights and temperatures, therefore fully modeling the aircraft’s climb, cruise, and descent performance for all conditions.
All of this adds up to reduced pilot workload during flight planning and more confidence in the resulting answers.
Access to ForeFlight’s Recommended Route, built-in detailed aircraft profiles, and many more powerful performance planning features are available in our top-tier Performance plans. Click here for pricing information and click here to learn more about Performance.
Our first release of 2018 brings quick access to Pack on the Flights view for downloading charts and weather before a flight, and smarter route suggestions for Performance subscribers with the new Recommended Route. Other noteworthy improvements include a new Flight Log to record start/end meter times, Out/Off/On/In times, and fuel remaining after a flight, as well as temperature and dewpoint data in MOS forecasts.
Integrated Flight Log Simplifies Your Record-Keeping
If you keep an aircraft flight log for recording actual flight time and fuel values, the new Flight Log can streamline your post-flight workflow by automating these common time calculations.
Scroll to the bottom of the Flights view to access the new Flight Log. Use the “Fuel at Shutdown” field to capture that data for reference during fuel load planning on your next flight. Tap on “Times” to open a page where you can record the flight’s start and end meter times and Out/Off/On/In times. ForeFlight uses these values to calculate total flight, block, and meter times and displays a summary on the main Flights form for quick reference.
The Flight Log is also useful for comparing actual ETE and fuel burn values with ForeFlight’s planned values so you can fine-tune your aircraft’s performance profile in ForeFlight. For Performance customers, tap into the performance profile detail view to adjust the bias sliders.
Pack Charts, Data, and the Latest Weather from Flights
To further streamline your planning workflow on Flights, you’ll find a quick access button to Pack directly below the Flight Log. Just like the ‘suitcase’ button on the Maps view, Pack analyzes your route to determine the charts, data, NOTAM, and weather information you need, then prompts you to download with a single tap. Packed data is available offline and when in flight. Pack also includes Icing and Turbulence map layers for Pro Plus and Performance subscribers, helping you find smoother air while in flight.
Pack uses a “route corridor” to determine what information to include: weather and NOTAMs within 25 NM on either side of your route and within 50 NM of both your departure and destination airports are included. Pack also uses your chart type selections in More > Downloads to determine what maps and charts to include, so if you haven’t selected IFR High Charts, for example, Pack won’t prompt you to download them.
Use Pack to ensure you don’t get caught in the air without the charts you need.
Faster, Smarter Autorouting for Your Aircraft
For Performance subscribers, the new Recommended Route feature (formerly AviationCloud Autoroute) gives you the best route based on your detailed aircraft performance profile and time/fuel savings, while also accounting for preferred routes, recent ATC cleared routes, and how frequently a given route is assigned. Use the recommended route for more ‘cleared as filed’ flight plans.
Graphical Route Advisor in ForeFlight
In addition, on shorter routes, the Recommended Route makes smarter altitude suggestions to prevent uncomfortably short cruise times at or near the aircraft’s service ceiling and provides altitudes that ATC is more likely to accept.
Graphical Route Advisor is also better at filtering out old and irrelevant filed routes created to avoid storms and other temporary hazards.
For all customers who File with ForeFlight, expected Route notifications now include “(as filed)” after the route string if the expected route is the same as the one you filed.
New Closure Warnings and Expanded NOTAM Coverage
We’ve added prominent new warning banners that let you know when an airport or runway is closed by NOTAM, making this critical information more visible to help you avoid surprises. The red banner appears on the Airports or Maps view on any closed airport or airport with a closed runway, indicating which runway is closed in the latter case. Tap or scroll to the list of runways and a smaller banner will appear on the one that’s closed. Tap the runway to see the closure NOTAM with effective and expiration dates.
We also integrated the full set of EUROCONTROL-sourced EAD NOTAMs, providing greater NOTAM coverage for European airports. We continue to provide worldwide NOTAM coverage using the FAA’s global database.
Temperature & Dewpoint in MOS
MOS forecasts in ForeFlight now provide temperature and dewpoint values, enhancing their usefulness as a supplement to official TAFs. MOS stands for Model Output Statistics and, as the name suggests, is derived from the output of weather prediction models to forecast weather at over 2000 U.S. airports, including smaller ones not served by an official TAF. The new temperature and dewpoint values are expressed either as single values or as ranges, indicating that conditions are expected to vary over the forecast period. Learn more about MOS.
Updates to ForeFlight on the Web
For a more seamless experience between web and mobile, the Maps page on the web now has a combined Favorite/Recent Route button with Edit/Clear functions. For Performance subscribers who plan with Flights on the web, the total fuel burn values shown in the Route and Altitude Advisors now include taxi fuel to better represent total fuel usage.
Other Noteworthy Improvements
When you select an FBO on the Flights view, details for it such as FBO name, phone number, and frequency are included in the printable Navlog. Learn more about printable Navlog.
A new setting in More > Settings > Flights can be used to translate weather and NOTAM information in the text-only Legacy Briefing to plain text, or leave it in the original coded form.
Performance subscribers can now enable a %MAC mode in ForeFlight’s Weight & Balance feature, simplifying data entry for jet pilots.
UPDATE February 28, 2018: Compatibility testing between ForeFlight and iOS 11.2.6 is complete and we are issuing the “all-clear” to ForeFlight customers. Feel free to update at your convenience.
ORIGINAL POST February 19, 2018: We are performing compatibility testing between ForeFlight and the newly released iOS 11.2.6 to ensure that everything is working smoothly. We will update this post with an “all-clear” when testing is completed. Please also stay tuned to our Facebook page or Twitter feed for updates.
Follow this link to learn how you can check which Apple iOS version you are currently running.
We shipped new data downloads to the app to address FAA safety alerts and correct an issue with the Northeast Chart Supplement. Downloads are available to all customers.
We are excited to share that the Living Legends of Aviation Awards presented ForeFlight co-founders Tyson Weihs and Jason Miller with the Aviation Entrepreneur of the Year Award on January 19.
Hosted in Beverly Hills, California by John Travolta and Harrison Ford, the 15th annual award ceremony honored individuals who have made significant contributions to aviation.
Since our founding in 2007, our guiding mission has always been to build software that makes flight planning easier. Today, ForeFlight has not only revolutionized the pilot’s flight bag but also serves the needs of pilots and flight departments all over the world, and across all segments of aviation including personal, business, military, commercial, and education.
“ForeFlight has been an incredible adventure. It is deeply satisfying and the thrill of a lifetime to have put together a team that has built such an amazing product that our customers love – for that, we will be forever thankful.” – Tyson Weihs, ForeFlight co-founder, and CEO.
Aviation Today recently caught up with Tyson to discuss recent milestones, thoughts on the industry, and the future of ForeFlight. Read the full article here.
The “Living Legends of Aviation Awards” are produced by the Kiddie Hawk Air Academy, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to educate children about and spark their interest in aviation. This year’s event was dedicated to the memory of astronaut Gene Cernan. Other honorees include General Jack Dailey, retiring director of the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum for 17 years, and United States Senator Jim Inhofe, the only member of the Senate to fly around the world.
UPDATE February 2, 2018: Compatibility testing between ForeFlight and iOS 11.2.5 is complete and we are issuing the “all-clear” to ForeFlight customers. Feel free to update at your convenience.
ORIGINAL POST January 23, 2018: We are performing compatibility testing between ForeFlight and the newly released iOS 11.2.5 to ensure that everything is working smoothly. We will update this post with an “all-clear” when testing is completed. Please also stay tuned to our Facebook page or Twitter feed for updates.
Follow this link to learn how you can check which Apple iOS version you are currently running.
