Foreflight now has Canadian IFR charts and plates on Ipad.

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PAJ
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Re: Foreflight now has Canadian IFR charts and plates on Ipa

Post by PAJ »

D_Thissen wrote:Does the Canadian ifr also include the us sectionals to use for vfr in southern Ontario?
Pretty sure it does not. You have to subscribe to the US package to get the US VFR Sectionals.
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Chaxterium
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Re: Foreflight now has Canadian IFR charts and plates on Ipa

Post by Chaxterium »

I just searched the app store on my iPad but I couldn't find the app you guys are referring to. I'd be interested if I could find it. I just see a weather related app which is free.

Cheers,
Chax
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Re: Foreflight now has Canadian IFR charts and plates on Ipa

Post by chipmunk »

Chaxterium wrote:I just searched the app store on my iPad but I couldn't find the app you guys are referring to. I'd be interested if I could find it. I just see a weather related app which is free.

Cheers,
Chax
That weather related app that you've found is most likely the one. It's called "ForeFlight Mobile Aviation Weather, Flight PLanning, EFB, and Charts" and while that long title threw me off, the app store insists that's the one I have had installed for the last few months and shows up just as plain old "ForeFlight" on my iPad! :)

It'll show up as free (you get a month or something as a free trial of the US side of things I believe) but then you'll need to buy a subscription within the app for further use.

The following website has the link to the app in the app store as well... just in case. :)

https://www.foreflight.com/

And some more info about the app here:

http://blog.foreflight.com/

Enjoy - bet it'll look extra pretty on that new retina display! We are "stuck" with the "ancient" iPad 2! :)
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Chaxterium
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Re: Foreflight now has Canadian IFR charts and plates on Ipa

Post by Chaxterium »

Thanks for the info chipmunk. I just downloaded it and......wow......I am thoroughly impressed!

Cheers,
Chax
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Re: Foreflight now has Canadian IFR charts and plates on Ipa

Post by Rowdy »

I just picked up one of the new ipad3 with the 4g and gps receiver! I've got Aeroweather and foreflight loaded.... But I see they lack the canadian VNCs and VTAs. What is a good app for VFR moving map type action? I'd rather have this beautiful screen mounted with a ram mount to the window than one of the dumpy looking bendix av8ors or ridiculously pricey Garmins. It would be a solid backup to the archaic 255 that's already in all of our machines. Sure would be nice to fly the new cxh transits with this!!
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Re: Foreflight now has Canadian IFR charts and plates on Ipa

Post by Chaxterium »

I went up for a flight a couple days ago and tried this out airborne. I was extremely impressed. I was flying out of Peterborough so I was able to use the US VFR chart which covered my area. I couldn't believe how cool it was. It showed my aircraft moving across the chart in real time. Amazing! The problem though was getting the chart to load. I had very little 4G service and I was only at 3500ft so is there any way to download the charts within the app?

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Chax
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tonyhunt
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Re: Foreflight now has Canadian IFR charts and plates on Ipa

Post by tonyhunt »

Chaxterium wrote:The problem though was getting the chart to load. I had very little 4G service and I was only at 3500ft so is there any way to download the charts within the app?

Cheers,
Chax
One of the strengths of Foreflight is the very comprehensive bulk download functionality. Once you install the app, select the regions you need, by state/province, and the types of coverage, IFR Hi, Lo, VFR, etc. Everything can be downloaded using WiFi and is safely stored on the device, ready for flight. I pre-flight the device before a trip, to ensure I have the regions and current data that I need.

Do this while you are in WiFi coverage, at home, at the airport or even sitting at McDonalds. Getting the East Coast US and all Canadian provinces will take a couple of hours, but then you have everything you need for the next 28 or 56 days. Waaay easier than waiting for it to load over 4G while flying! Use WiFi at the airport, or cellular data while in flight to update the weather apps, but not the bulk charts and plates.

When you open ForeFlight, there is a warning if you have updates to download, sometimes there are airport data corrections that occur off-cycle that will take about 2 minutes to download over WiFi. That's why you always pre-flight it before leaving WiFi coverage.
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Re: Foreflight now has Canadian IFR charts and plates on Ipa

Post by CpnCrunch »

If you're flying VFR you might want to try one of these:

http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/air-navi ... 25026?mt=8
http://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/air-navi ... 46057?mt=8

(haven't tried them myself, but I think these are the only apps that have Canadian map data).
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PAJ
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Re: Foreflight now has Canadian IFR charts and plates on Ipa

Post by PAJ »

Really put ForeFlight through it's paces on the trip to SUN ‘n FUN last weekend. Flight Planning, Charts, Frequencies, Taxi Diagrams all at your fingertips. Truly amazing.

I spoke with them at their booth and complete CFS data and VNC Charts are coming. Apparently the deal has been done and they are waiting for some format changes by Nav Canada (I assume digital re-formatting) so that the data can be incorporated into ForeFlight . Estimate on their part but they hope by the end of the year.

Spent time looking at all the other apps but they all lacked any real Canadian data. Too bad because I saw some interesting stuff.
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Re: Foreflight now has Canadian IFR charts and plates on Ipa

Post by ragbagflyer »

Rowdy wrote:....What is a good app for VFR moving map type action? I'd rather have this beautiful screen mounted with a ram mount to the window than one of the dumpy looking bendix av8ors or ridiculously pricey Garmins. It would be a solid backup to the archaic 255 that's already in all of our machines. Sure would be nice to fly the new cxh transits with this!!

A little overkill to fly back and forth across the Straight don't you think? I actually sent my Ipad 3 4G back! It just wasn't filling a 900 dollar hole between my laptop and iphone. Yeah it was very pretty to look at but it left a lot to be desired. I bought it with the hope that I could use it as a functional GPS but the apps just aren't there yet when it comes to Canadian terrain. WingX pro and Air Navigation Pro, while showing potential, are really just made for American tire kickers. For example WingX pro has terrain for BC but most of the southern Gulf Islands are missing! That's downright dangerous in my opinion. Also is has no map data for north of 60.

On the plus side I think the release of Navcanada VFR data for Foreflite is imminent and Foreflight is at least a well constructed app.

The garmin portables, while priced very high are simply the most reliable, up to date, and purpose built option available (and they know it). They could port the software for the newer portables to the ipad if they felt like it, but they have no interest in doing so now or in the near future based on an email they sent me.
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Re: Foreflight now has Canadian IFR charts and plates on Ipa

Post by Rowdy »

ragbagflyer wrote:
Rowdy wrote:....What is a good app for VFR moving map type action? I'd rather have this beautiful screen mounted with a ram mount to the window than one of the dumpy looking bendix av8ors or ridiculously pricey Garmins. It would be a solid backup to the archaic 255 that's already in all of our machines. Sure would be nice to fly the new cxh transits with this!!

A little overkill to fly back and forth across the Straight don't you think? I actually sent my Ipad 3 4G back! It just wasn't filling a 900 dollar hole between my laptop and iphone. Yeah it was very pretty to look at but it left a lot to be desired. I bought it with the hope that I could use it as a functional GPS but the apps just aren't there yet when it comes to Canadian terrain. WingX pro and Air Navigation Pro, while showing potential, are really just made for American tire kickers. For example WingX pro has terrain for BC but most of the southern Gulf Islands are missing! That's downright dangerous in my opinion. Also is has no map data for north of 60.

On the plus side I think the release of Navcanada VFR data for Foreflite is imminent and Foreflight is at least a well constructed app.

The garmin portables, while priced very high are simply the most reliable, up to date, and purpose built option available (and they know it). They could port the software for the newer portables to the ipad if they felt like it, but they have no interest in doing so now or in the near future based on an email they sent me.

Totally overkill! But I've got the 'pad with me for other things everyday anyways. A nice slick RAM mount and it sits perfectly up on the pax window.

Just as an aside after three days of flying with it, the basic foreflight setup with the local waypoints entered as user waypoints and it's been flawless. Also heard that we should soon see the Canadian VFR charts.
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skymarc
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Re: Foreflight now has Canadian IFR charts and plates on Ipa

Post by skymarc »

I dont really miss the Can VFR charts on FF as I fly IFR all the time and the US VFR charts covers most of southern Ontario and Quebec were I fly most.
It would be nice to have the CFS on FF .
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Re: Foreflight now has Canadian IFR charts and plates on Ipa

Post by AirFrame »

ragbagflyer wrote:On the plus side I think the release of Navcanada VFR data for Foreflite is imminent and Foreflight is at least a well constructed app.
If by "imminent" you mean "they've been saying it's coming for two years," then I agree.

Foreflight, WingX, and Air Nav Pro (which I just got this weekend, and am very impressed with) are all great programs. Limited only by what NavCanada allows us to have in terms of digital data. Which is pretty much nothing, as far as VFR flight goes.
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Re: Foreflight now has Canadian IFR charts and plates on Ipa

Post by kayjay »

I've had Foreflight for almost a year now. I've got the full pro subscription for the US as well as the Canadian subscription and i've really put it through its paces. Using the geo-referenced taxi charts as well as approach plates at airports like JFK was absolutely flawless. I've used the flight planning feature in both Canada and the US and the predictions for time and fuel burn have been bang on. Throughout even the past 10 months they've made significant improvements and pilots should look for it only to get better and better. I've used both WingX and Air Nav and although both apps offer some different and unique features, i don't think either of them come close to being compared to Foreflight.
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Re: Foreflight now has Canadian IFR charts and plates on Ipa

Post by AirFrame »

I have to post an update, because on the weekend I was pleasantly surprised. I had AirNavPro on my iPhone and iPad, and while I thought it was a good start, I wasn't completely happy. It showed the airports, and the airspace immediately around them, but that was it... No practise areas.

Well, it turns out that was my doing, not a fault of the program... Poking around in the menus I found the settings to turn on the other classes of airspace. Now I have airspace data that appears as complete and detailed as my VTA chart. This is excellent! What I don't know is where they get their data, or how current I could count on it to be. But the only real remaining issue now is that it doesn't have frequencies listed for the "other" airspaces, like practise areas. But I have a basemap (based on OpenStreetmap data, I understand) and airspace overlays on top of that. I can tap airports to create a route, or tap-and-hold to add random points anywhere I want for navigating. It's pretty nice.

And it has the added benefit that both the iPhone *and* the iPad have better in-cockpit visibility than my Garmin... iPhone on the panel, iPad on the kneeboard, and i'm pretty well equipped. Well, in reality, i'm excessively equipped, for just flying back and forth across the Straight. :)
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Re: Foreflight now has Canadian IFR charts and plates on Ipa

Post by CpnCrunch »

I'm pretty sure the VTA doesn't list the practice area frequencies either. But I agree that I would also be concerned about the data...I would be dubious flying anywhere I hadn't been to before.
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Re: Foreflight now has Canadian IFR charts and plates on Ipa

Post by AirFrame »

CpnCrunch wrote:I'm pretty sure the VTA doesn't list the practice area frequencies either.
Good point. I always write mine on so I can find them easily, I forgot about that. Hard to write it on the iPad tho. :)

A good test for the currency of the maps will be the change coming in May, when they merge a bunch of the practise areas around the lower mainland. Glen Valley, in particular, is switching from two areas to one. If that dividing line between them disappears on my AirNavPro chart at about the same time, i'll be a lot more confident in the currency of the data.
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Re: Foreflight now has Canadian IFR charts and plates on Ipa

Post by Captain Obvious »

I would like your support in petitioning Nav Canada for electronic data.

As you’re all aware, technology (hardware like the iPad and Android-based cell phones, and software applications like Foreflight) is available to make use of electronic data to make flight planning much easier and more accurate, and to make situational awareness and pilot decision making much better in-flight. While the U.S. has made incredible advances in making this data and the associated tools available to their pilot population, Nav Canada has been yet to deliver any meaningful progress with respect to VFR charts and Canada Flight Supplement (CFS). In fact, for several years now we’ve been
hearing from Nav Canada that electronic data is coming, but there is no timeframe.

Your support is needed to help generate awareness at Nav Canada that electronic data is strongly desired by Canadian and U.S. pilots.

Your voice can be heard by copying the content from the email thread in this post (below the dashed line below) and pasting it into a new email message. You can address the email to the following influential Nav Canada representatives and the President of COPA:

dentonj@navcanada.ca Janelle Denton, Manager, Custom Contact Centre and Aeronautical Publications
Rudy.Kellar@navcanada.ca Rudy Kellar, VP Operations, Nav Canada
KPsutka@copanational.org Kevin Psutka, President and CEO, Canadian
Owners and Pilots Association

Simply add a few words to indicate that this issue is important to you.

Please also send this to your flying buddies so they too can have some influence on the decision makers!


----------


From: Kevin Psutka [mailto:KPsu...@copanational.org]
Sent: Monday, July 30, 2012 2:24 PM
To: Roy Uchman
Cc: 'Brad Spencer'; Denton, Janelle; Kellar, Rudy; A Blakely
(External); Brian Chappell; Bryan Webster (Externa); Doug Ronan; Earl
Kickely; Ernie Mclean; Frank Hofmann; Jerry Roehr; John Bogie; Lloyd
Richards; Olivier Lacombe; Paul Hayes; Phil Englishman; Ray Hawco; Tim
Cole; Trekker Armstrong
Subject: RE: Electronic charts and CFS in Canada


Roy:

Thank you for voicing your concern about this issue.

I am the primary contact for COPA with Navcan and I am a member of the
Nav Canada Advisory Committee that provides feedback directly to the
Navcan Board of Directors and a member of the Air Navigation System
National Advisory Committee that provides feedback directly to
management. I have emphasized this issue for many years and some
progress is being made, for example Foreflight now provides IFR
information such as enroute charts, approach plates and taxi diagrams.
Navcan has relatively recently completed an agreement with Foreflight
to provide VNC charts but there is no date set for them being
available. The CFS is being repackaged into electronic format but it
is unknown when it will be available for Foreflight and other
providers.

This has been a long-standing issue for me. As the US continues to
advance in the provision of electronic information, Canada lags behind
and folks like you who are exposed to the many tools available in the
US are alarmed at the delays here. And hear the complaints as members
wonder what COPA is doing about it. Of course, COPA has no power to
demand anything from Navcan because it is a privately-owned enterprise
and frankly the government, who are still one of the “owners”, does
not have any interest in GA’s issues like this. So, my only option is
to bring comments like yours to the attention of the folks who can do
something about this. I have copied Janelle Denton, Manager of the
Customer Contact Centre and Aeronautical Publications, Rudy Keller, VP
Operations and Art Laflamme, Board member who represents our sector of
aviation. Perhaps one of them would care to comment. I have also
copied our Board of Directors for their information in case members
are approaching them about this issue.


Kevin Psutka
President and CEO
Canadian Owners and Pilots Association
71 Bank St, 7th floor
Ottawa, ON K1P 5N2

Ph 613-236-4901 X102
Mb 613-878-4901
Fx 613-236-8646


http://www.copanational.org


From: Roy Uchman [mailto:Roy.Uch...@albertahealthservices.ca]
Sent: Monday, July 30, 2012 3:40 PM
To: Kevin Psutka
Cc: 'Brad Spencer'
Subject: Electronic charts and CFS in Canada


Hello Mr. Psutka,

I tried searching the COPA site to find the answer to my question but
got an error message:

We're Sorry! An error has occurred.
The details of this error have been emailed to the web site
administrator.
Please click here to return to the homepage.
Perhaps you can answer my questions. I’ve done a little bit of flying
in the U.S. over the past year, and of course I’ve been reading U.S.
aviation publications, and I’m very impressed with the state of
development of new technologies around electronic charts, airport
directories, flight planning and U.S. weather products; particularly
when using the iPad as a tool for pre-flight planning as well as in
the cockpit. I’ve been waiting patiently for Nav Canada to make
available the VFR charts and CFS in electronic format so that
companies like Foreflight can develop offerings that appeal to us
under-served Canadian aviators. The new iflightplanner (http://
iflightplanner.com/) recently also caught my attention, and I thought
“wouldn’t it be incredibly convenient to have a full-featured, end-to-
end, application that would meet the needs of the typical VFR
flight!” Anyway, Nav Canada responded to my aircraft partner (cc’d)
to indicate that they have no timeline for making electronic charts
available, but they are working on it (I’ve been hearing this on
aviation forums for at least two years now). Can you offer any
insight into when you might guess this will actually happen? Also,
can you please explain COPA’s involvement in ensuring that Nav Canada
understands how important this issue is to us Canadian pilots (I’m
assuming it’s not just me)?

I understand that Nav Canada is a private enterprise so the business
dynamics are different than in the U.S. (where my understanding is
that charting data is “public domain”), but my expectation is that in
addition to maximizing revenue and profit, any private business
enterprise should also be acutely concerned with satisfying its
customer’s needs.

Thank you very much for your time.

Roy Uchman
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