Some product/feature related observations

[Tal Reichert]

Hi everyone,

I've been flying Part 135 over the past six months with Avare being my primary non-FAA-approved EFB (the company I fly with does not have an FAA-approved EFB program, i.e. legally they keep paper charts). I acknowledge that iPad/Foreflight have cornered the professional market and that Android is a niche within this vertical, but I wanted to share my experience just in case it helps any future product-related decisions.

Flight plans

Filing flight plans is something I usually do via fltplan.com. Filing them through Avare or 1800wxbrief.com is a major headache: I have my own usual callsign, but the tail number I fly changes frequently, sometimes within a single day. Having to manually enter the tail number and code every time is an annoyance I'd rather avoid. Fltplan.com handles it perfectly by keeping the tail number managed separately from one's callsign, and allows you to keep a list of tail numbers. 1800wxbrief.com allows a list of callsigns, but I can't use one callsign with multiple planes (I would again have to manually enter tail number and code into my flight plan, which I would rather avoid). With Avare there's only manual entry and not a list, so that makes it far less usable.

Fltplan.com/Fltplan Go is optimal for IFR filing, but for VFR filing it only auto-calculates your time in route, not allowing me to pad it a bit to allow for wiggle room, which I dislike. I also experienced some issues opening/closing VFR flight plans on their platform (all my revenue flights are VFR until I hit the 1200 hour mark and flight plans are mandatory). So between the issues with fltplan.com and 1800wxbrief.com I don't have an optimal solution, I'm gradutally transitioning into pre-entering them on 1800wxbrief.com a day ahead and then opening/closing in real time via Avare.

Briefing/NOTAMs/Airport info

I usually do this via fltplan.com, where the downside is they don't give TFRs or airmets/sigmets (they only give you access to the full list, not narrowed down for your route). Fltplan Go allows you to save your routes + briefing and then load/view them in flight, which is super convenient (if someone is going to say I need to memorize all the NOTAMs ahead of time, you haven't flown into NOTAM-rich airports - I frequently fly KBTV-KMHT, between these two airports they have over 40 active NOTAMs right now). I get all my airport info from Fltplan Go: other than NOTAMs, I get list of FBOs, FBO frequency (that's a major one that would be super convenient if I could get from Avare, not sure where the data would come from) and fuel prices.

In-flight info

This is where I use Avare the most. Moving map and flight planning are excellent. Fltplan Go flight plan entry is annoying and awkward, while Avare is great (see issues below). Fltplan Go wouldn't even give me distance to next fix presented, which (for example) if I'm flying VFR to an airport, I usually load an approach to the runway I'm expecting (having an instrument approach loaded when you're doing visual is a great habit, encourages stable approach and discourages wrong surface events). That means that the plane isn't telling me my distance to the airport as I'm calling tower.

A different situation where you need this info is while flying an approach to an untowered airport, and in this task-heavy situation you're calling on CTAF and need to say your distance from the airport. To avoid mental-math of adding fix distances, I have Avare display distance to fix (airport) while the plane is giving me approach info.

So I love it - this is where Avare shines by allowing me to customize info displayed on top of moving map. One ask would be to add customizable info displayed on top of approach plates.

Other apps (e.g. Foreflight) give you pages where you can manually enter ATIS/weather info or write down your clearance. It would be nice to have an empty/customizable scribble page on Avare, but I can't say this is a huge deal, I just write it on the map or approach plate.

Gliding range

If I understand it correctly, this is currently calculated by taking the sink rate you entered in the setup and assumes current airspeed, but if you lose engine you're going to reduce speed to best glide. It would be great if best glide is added to setup and then used to calculate range (maybe enter best glide + glide ratio). If winds aloft are known, you can add that to modify the ring such that the plane is no longer in its center. Again, just a suggestion.

Flight plan gripes

I usually enter my flight plan via the textual portion (Plan --> New). Here are a few gripes:

1. It would be great if I could load the filed 1800wxbrief.com filed flight plan into my current route.

2. Let's say I enter a flight plan on Plan --> New, KJFK MAD V1 BOSOX BOS. 

It's entered but it's translated into: JFK MAD YODEL WEGOT HFD DVANY GRAYM GRIPE BOSOX BOS.

Now let's say you hit "Create" on that screen again. Now JFK and BOS are no longer the airports, now they are interpreted as VORs. The airports must be put there with an initial K, and I think it's incorrect for Avare to remove that K after the user has entered it.

MOS weather

This is super useful for planning in Fltplan and Fltplan Go, it's a free resource, available for many airports that don't have a TAF, would be great to have it in Avare as well. Again, I understand it's a big ask, but wanted to put it out there.

OK then, that's just my $0.02. I didn't go into some petty stuff (e.g. keeping two sets of plates - current and future), these are really the things I regularly use. Appreciate everything the team does! I also wanted to tell every Avare user out there: Avare saves you money you'd have to pay for one of the proprietary EFBs out there. Take at least a portion of that money and send it to Avare in the form of a regular, monthly donation. Doesn't have to be a lot, but don't be a freeloader. You even get to deduct it from your taxes at the end of the year.

Tal

[Dan Wegman]

Like you, I use both Avare & FltPlan Go, depending on the mission.

In-flight info: 3 options to show distance in FltPlan Go

(1) Fltplan Go can show the distance to next fix at the bottom of the map page.  FPG calls it the 'HUD' and it has 5 configurable fields, one of which can be "Distance (Next)" if you're following a route.  If you don't like the default fields, you can change 'em,  Double-tap on a field and select the desired value from the popup menu.  If you don't want the HUD displayed, you can swipe right on it to shrink it so only the left most field is shown in the lower right corner.

(2) To assist you in estimating the distance from your current position to any other place on the map (like your destination airport) you can turn on the Range Rings from the map settings (gear icon).  The selection for the rings is under "Map & Ship Options."  If your nav gear doesn't have a CUM DIST field option for the flight plan page, you can use the rings to estimate the remaining distance to the airport while inbound on the approach.

(3) Finally, you can manually measure the distance to any point on the map using the measurement tool at the top of the map page.  It looks like a little ruler, next to the timer icon.  Tap on it to activate it, then tap any two points on the map.  The distance between the points will appear in the popup window and on the leg segment itself.  You can then add additional segments, the distance between them showing on the map, with the updated total distance shown in the popup window.  The distance accuracy of any of these options should certainly be good enough for ATC or CTAF reports.

[Apps4av Support]

Hi Tal.

That's awesome feedback. Thank you. Will consider it definitely in future improvements. And thanks for your monthly donations.

Zubair

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[Tal Reichert]

Thank you, wegdw - that's actually very useful, esp the HUD option I wasn't aware of.