ForeFlight 7.7 introduces the ability to share Logbook draft entries with other pilots, as well as a new radar layer, a new rate of descent instrument, Stratus ESG support, and lots of work under the hood to improve general map performance.
Flight Logging Just Got Easier with Flight Sharing
The new Flight Sharing feature in ForeFlight Logbook makes it easy for pilots to send and receive draft flight entries. Pilots can share a flight with one or more people right from the ForeFlight app. The receiving party then modifies and accepts the entry into their own Logbook. Flight Sharing makes it convenient when practicing approaches with a friend– use one iPad to collect the flight details, then simply share the entry. It is also a time-saver for corporate flight crews who can now share a logbook entry between the Captain and First Officer, reducing time spent on the administrative aspect of a flight.
Track Medical Currency in Logbook
Don’t let your medical expiration sneak up on you. When you add your medical certificate to the Logbook Qualifications section, you can now also add it to your currency summary view. This keeps the time remaining until your medical certificate expires front and center.
Stratus ESG Support and Firmware Upgrade for Stratus 1S/2S
Bundled with ForeFlight 7.7 is a firmware upgrade for Stratus 1S and 2S receivers. This upgrade adds support for the Stratus ESG, Appareo’s new all-in-one ADS-B Out solution. Stratus 1S and 2S devices can connect to the Stratus ESG via a USB cable to take advantage of its auxiliary power for continual charging, as well as the transponder’s externally mounted WAAS GPS and ADS-B receivers for maximum reception.
The upgrade also adds new features to the Stratus 2S. The built-in Flight Data Recorder now has automatic flight leg detection which automatically stops a Stratus Track Log and starts a new one when a full landing is detected. In addition, customers now have the option to save AHRS calibration settings between uses – this is especially helpful for taildragger aircraft pilots who set ‘straight and level’ attitude while inflight.
New ‘Lowest Tilt’ Radar Layer
For more informed preflight planning, you can now choose between the existing NEXRAD composite reflectivity layer and a new NEXRAD base reflectivity from the lowest elevation angle, or Lowest Tilt, layer. The current radar layer — renamed ‘Radar (Composite)’ — does what its name implies: it shows a composite view of multiple angles of radar scans. The new Radar (Lowest Tilt) layer shows only the lowest angle scan, generally providing a more accurate picture of where precipitation is actually reaching the ground.
In addition, you can display either radar layer in the low resolution, 4-color scheme defined by the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics as the standard for airborne radar coloring. This option is available in the Map Settings menu as “Four-color Radar”.
Check out Scott Dennstaedt’s blog post to learn more about these new radar features.
Finally, the Lightning layer no longer declutters groups of lightning strikes, allowing you to see all the strikes in a given area to get a better sense of where dangerous convection is occurring in a storm.
Find Your Rate of Descent to Destination
Also on the Maps view is a new option in the instrument panel: Descent to Dest. This instrument uses your GPS ground speed, GPS altitude, and distance to destination to compute the required rate of descent in feet per minute to be at your destination elevation upon arrival.
Military Flight Bag Gets new Data Features
Military Flight Bag (or MFB), our dedicated subscription plan for military customers, now allows charts and data to be loaded onto an iPad over a wired computer connection — a process termed “sideloading”. While most of us have ready access to high-speed Wi-Fi and cellular connections, many of our military customers operate in areas of the world with slow or no internet – imagine trying to download a 2GB chart update over dial-up. Sideloading allows these updates to be delivered to multiple devices by connecting them to a central computer with the data already on it, giving military customers added flexibility in how they operate around the world.
