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Skyview Chart subscriptions ?

Redbud40

Well Known Member
Looking at the possibilities for chart subscriptions on a plane I will be flying soon.
Skyview HDX , garmin 175 , setup.
What are you buying in the way of chart subscription services for a set up like this?
Currently I use FF.
The way I see it ,you have to buy a Seattle Avionics , or the less expensive service through Dynon for the HDX….
The Garmin Subscription for the 175…..
And if you want to plan at home etc for the next days flight ForeFlight or Garmin Pilot.
What s a reasonable way to get this chart capability at the least cost…..
 
I think WingX is a bit cheaper than FF or Garmin pilot, unless you’re a CFI, in which case WingX is Free!
If you’re planning on ifr the subscription for the 175 is expensive, but no cheaper options exist, and for IFR it’s mandatory.
For the HDX, legally, you don’t need anything so that’s your personal choice.
 
I Use Fly Q on the IPad, Seattle Avionics for IFR data and Dynon free 28 day VFR data downloads. Easy transfer from IPad to Skyview for flight plans. Watch traffic and weather on the IPad. All pretty cool. I don’t use any Garmin stuff so am unfamiliar with that.
 
I Use Fly Q on the IPad, Seattle Avionics for IFR data and Dynon free 28 day VFR data downloads. Easy transfer from IPad to Skyview for flight plans. Watch traffic and weather on the IPad. All pretty cool. I don’t use any Garmin stuff so am unfamiliar with that.

I do the same, although I have AFS screens.

Seattle Avionics has an annual Black Friday sale, in which you can purchase lifetime subscriptions. The deal is usually the cost of a couple years normal subscription.

I’m about ten years into my subscription, plus the bundle I purchased threw in FlyQ too. I couldn’t be happier with the ROI.
 
Garmin Navigator: most cost effective way to keep it ifr current is to buy a years worth of updates at Oshkosh. They give a slight discount on their tent. Might be able to call them on the phone and get it from home during the week.

Dynon: A. You can get updates for free from Dynon directly for their “Dynon Avionics | US Aviation / Obstacles”
https://dynonavionics.com/us-aviation-obstacle-data.php
This is not the chart or plate data but only obstacles every 28 days.
B. To keep the charts current will require a Seattle avionics package. Note sure if you can get it elsewhere. They previously sold a lifetime subscription for $299 or so on Black Friday.

Garmin Pilot/FF/FlyQ etc: After hundreds of hours crossing the country on the -10 I can conclude that fuel prices are the most accurate on Garmin Pilot. So much so that even though I have a lifetime subscription to FlyQ I still buy the cheapest GP subscription they sell because one fuel stop will pay for the subscription. FF is number one for a reason and it is leagues better than the other I have tried for flight planning but is pricey. I bought that this year too for a comparison.

I’ve read that people buy apple gift cards on sale at various times of the year and use those to buy some of this from the Apple Store at discount. Haven’t tried that yet but it’s on my list.
 
To be GPS IFR LEGAL, your GPS navigation equipment must be authorized for IFR operations and have a "legal" navigation database for operation. We can discuss what "legal" means elsewhere.

In your case, your GPS IFR navigation equipment is your G175 so it must have the "legal" database for you to legally file and fly GPS IFR. Every other database mentioned here (Foreflight, GarminPilot, Seattle Avionics, FltPlanGo, FlyQ, etc) are not "legal" for GPS IFR operation but are excellent for "situation awareness".

FWIW: I have a Skyview system with a G430W as my IFR "legal" navigation equipment so I maintain a current G430W NAVIGATION database on it. I don't buy the Obstacles or Terrain databases for it. But I also maintain a current database for FltPlanGo (FREE) on my tablet and cel-phone with the latest (FREE) non IFR SkyView database on both of my SkyView screens. My G430W navigation database subscription makes me "legal" for GPS IFR operation while my Skyview and FltPlanGo databases makes my "situation awareness" (for Obstacles, Terrain & Traffic avoidance) significantly higher. The FltPlanGo database covers the requirement to have current maps & charts so I no longer carry paper charts. With this setup I only pay one annual subscription (G430W) but get the best of all worlds. I buy my G430W subscription at Sun-N-Fun for the discount so yes, I am the king of cheap. ;)
 
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I use:

The free 28 day updates for my GRT Sport EX.

On my Ipad I use both FlyQ and WingX (Wing X free for CFI and FlyQ at a reduced rate). I typically use WingX more when flying IFR and FlyQ generally for VFR flight.

For my Garmin 175 I bought the Garmin database. Note that I have discovered there are some differences between the Garmin and Seattle Avionics database. It seems that some of the smaller private airports are not on the Seattle Avionics database but are in the Garmin one. I live at Holland Airpark (36WI) and I had noticed before that 36WI was not in the Seattle Avionics database. Maybe it is just for airports that DO NOT have any IFR approaches or maybe just private airports. My guess would be that all airports with approaches are in both. Not a big deal but if you fly to smaller airports VFR it is nice to have them preloaded. I also don't know if this is still the case. Perhaps they have changed it.

FlyQ, WingX and my GRT database do have the smaller airports. I just noticed the above when using the Garmin 175 with the IFR database. I routinely use the Garmin 175 to create flight plans which then are displayed on my GRT.

Anyway for what it is worth.
Keith
 
Seattle Avionics has an annual Black Friday sale, in which you can purchase lifetime subscriptions. The deal is usually the cost of a couple years normal subscription.

Do they? I haven't seen that happen since the company was bought...
 
I do the same, although I have AFS screens.

Seattle Avionics has an annual Black Friday sale, in which you can purchase lifetime subscriptions. The deal is usually the cost of a couple years normal subscription.

I’m about ten years into my subscription, plus the bundle I purchased threw in FlyQ too. I couldn’t be happier with the ROI.

I'm also about 10 years into the bundled VFR/IFR FlyQ lifetime subscription with Seatle Avionics data for Dynon's skyview. Love it.

In 2020, Seatle Avionics was purchased by AFV Partners (venture capital), and I'm pretty sure last year was the first year they didn't offer the lifetime subscription on black Friday. Sadly, the LT subscription may be a thing of the past.
 
Don't Think So

Do they? I haven't seen that happen since the company was bought...

Greg,

I spoke with someone there about a month ago. Was told this was a thing of the past, not likely to reappear.

If this changes, I'd love to know.

FYI,
Mike
 
Bottom line to see the Airport diagram on the panel…. Not on an I pad…..
You have to have Seattle Avionics and have that usb plugged into the Dynon


Also looked at Wing X. It’s free for Military and Retired military also. !!
 
Bottom line to see the Airport diagram on the panel…. Not on an I pad…..
You have to have Seattle Avionics and have that usb plugged into the Dynon


Also looked at Wing X. It’s free for Military and Retired military also. !!
Excellent combination but a Seattle Avionics database displayed on the SkyView screen does not make you GPS IFR legal, if that is your goal. The G175 navigation database displayed on the Skyview screen does make you GPS IFR legal. But the G175 does not cover the charts & maps requirement for flight, which the Seattle Avionics subscription would.

FWIW, I installed my ANDROID tablet ( NOT Crapple ;) ) to simulate a 3rd display on my panel.

2021 Panel.jpg
 
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Sorry I misspoke on the Garmin 175 IFR database. I meant differences between the Garmin DB and Jeppesen DB (not Seattle Avionics).

Keith
 
Dynon: A. You can get updates for free from Dynon directly for their “Dynon Avionics | US Aviation / Obstacles”
https://dynonavionics.com/us-aviation-obstacle-data.php
This is not the chart or plate data but only obstacles every 28 days.

Partially correct....it's not charts or plates, but it's not *just* obstacles. It's all the Nav data (airports, VORs, etc.) as well. Just not charts; yes, for that, you'll need a Seattle Avionics subscription.
 
Maybe it's this announcement that crashed their checkout page.. I've been trying to purchase this subscription but their checkout is broken :)
 
Fortunately I did buy the life time Seattle Avionics subscription for the Dynon Classic I have. Yes it has been a blessing for over 12 years. I do however have to buy the Garmin subscription for the GTN650. I can not understand why such a cost for getting the subscription from Garmin. Everyone has disclaimers that they are not responsible for errors. Wish we could all down load from the Feds and somehow put it in the Garmin units.

Since I instruct some folks use ForeFlight and others use Seattle Avionics so with the SAFE CFI program we get a discount in ForeFlight.

Both have feature the other does not but I do like Seattle Avionics Ability to look
At approaches by sliding the chart to the next chart.
Also the ease of bring up an airport by double tapping the airport symbol

Some of the pilots love the wind arrows in the runways. That Seattle uses.
Foreflight uses the Best wind below the runways on the procedure.
 
Both have feature the other does not but I do like Seattle Avionics Ability to look
At approaches by sliding the chart to the next chart.
Also the ease of bring up an airport by double tapping the airport symbol

Some of the pilots love the wind arrows in the runways. That Seattle uses.
Foreflight uses the Best wind below the runways on the procedure.

I have not used Seattle Avionics in several years, so I cannot remember the details of how they do it, but…

FF allows you to go to the next chart by doing a three finger swipe.

FF brings up the airport by single tapping on the chart, if you have the aeronautical layer enabled.

FF displays the crosswind component, along with the headwind or tailwind component for each runway on the Airport page.
 
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