IFly GPS comparison to Avare

[Kreig Babbert]

I flew down to Sun N Fun this year with a few guys.  They use Foreflight and I use Avare.  I'm not interested in Apple and I stick with Android solutions.  I happened to come across the IFly GPS booth and got a demo of their product.  I decided to download IFly and take a look to see if I am missing anything of great value.  My observations follow.

Background: I am an instrument rated private pilot with 250 hours and flying since 2017.  I've been using Avare for about 3 years now.  I fly mostly around Ohio just for fun.  I also use my EFB with Xplane (including PilotEdge in Socal) for instrument procedure practice.  I have a Stratux box I built from parts (very easy by the way).

I'll list the key categories I looked at here and my thoughts:

Downloads-

IFly downloads are managed through a graphical representation of the US.  It is a bit more intuitive than Avare's approach, but you also can end up with more data than needed.  The Memphis sectional when flying through eastern Tennessee, for example.  IFly was able to put the charts on my SD card with no problems.

Flight planning-

IFly has a cleaner representation of the flight plan and fuel usage, time, etc. than Avare.  The manipulation of the plan is a little easier and can include procedures.  The nice thing is a button that allows inserting a waypoint into the middle of a plan or at the end.

Map display-

The map (sectional, IFR low, etc.) can show wind barbs and fuel prices that Avare doesn't do.  The wind barbs are kind of nice as a reminder.  I don't see much use of fuel prices in the air.  On my Samsung SM-T580 10" tablet, the display of the sectional map is not as clear as Avare at the same zoom level.

Plates-

I found it a little clunky to review and find the desired plates in IFly.  It takes a few more button pushes to get to the list of a destination's plates in IFly.  If diverting in solid IFR, I can imagine this being a little difficult.  The plates on my tablet are definitely not as clear as Avare.  I find that to be a serious problem for IFly.  Also, pulling up the takeoff minimums in IFly takes me to the wrong page.  Seems to be a bug for them.

Customization of the interface-

IFly has a ton of tools and metrics that can be added to the map page, similar to Avare, but can be placed anywhere on the screen.  You can go way overboard with adding tools and instruments though.

Briefing-

The flight briefing in IFly ends up with a bunch of links to other sites.  Not all that helpful in my opinion.  I would rather go to 1800wxbrief.com for that.

ADS-B display-

The display of traffic is much clearer in IFly.  They also increase the size of the traffic when it becomes a concern (red traffic is displayed larger than blue traffic).  Details of the traffic can also be displayed by touching it (heading, speed, altitude, etc.).  While that detail can be interesting as a navigator or on the ground, I wouldn't want to be spending that much heads down time while I fly.

Alerts-

IFly will display alerts for traffic, airspace, terrain, and vertical profiles.  It will announce altitudes and minimums on an approach.  I found all that to be a bit distracting and turned most of it off.

Weight & Balance-

IFly does not provide W&B calculations.  Probably a future enhancement.

Other features of interest-

3D EFIS: Holy cow.  Talk about heads down in the cockpit to view a 3D representation of terrain, traffic, flight plan, etc.  In my opinion, way too much.

Multiple aircraft profiles are available for flight planning.

Sectional seams can be toggled so that text that might be overlapped can be viewed.  That's a nice touch.

Conclusion:

For $130 a year IFR subscription, I don't feel the IFly GPS product provides me that much additional value over what I need out of Avare.  I use the airplane's expensive Garmin 430W as my primary navigation tool and Avare for situational awareness, both of my own location and traffic/weather.  I don't want to become overly dependent on heads-down EFBs such that I am distracted from aviate, navigate, communicate.  Avare gets the job done for me.

[Zubair Khan]

Thanks for the comparison.
Will improve flight planning.


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