I was using my iPad and Foreflight on a flight up to Traverse City last week and encountered a situation that could have gotten me in trouble.
I had built a trip kit the night before consisting of all the approach plates, taxi diagrams and DP's and stars for the airports I was planning on using on the way up. What I didn't notice was that the cycle for the plates expired on June 29th with the new cycle starting on the 30th, the day I was leaving.
Everything was going smoothly until I tried to pull up the airport diagram for destination and the Foreflight said no data available and no internet connection. Had it been real IFR i'd have been SOL since I didn't have paper charts. I know I should have, but this was why I had filed on a clear day to test the iPad/Foreflight system.. Glad I did.
Now, is this the way Foreflight works? I will always check cycle dates in the future, but you could get in a bind flying out in the system on a multiday trip if your charts get dumped into the electronic trash bin on expiration day. Also, the airport I landed at, Dayton Wright Brothers Field had wifi, but boy was it slow. It took 20 minutes to download Ohio and Michigan.. Another lesson learned here.. Download early at home.
Just thought I would throw this out to see if I did something wrong in Foreflight, or does it really dump all your data on cycle change day.
All in all though, I love the SA that Foreflight gives you enroute. I have a bluetooth GPS that worked perfectly, and when I turned it off to save the battery, the GPS in the iPad never missed a beat.
The screen was adequate with the sunshade pulled up. It was never unusable, but could always have been brighter. I really liked have all the information available. I do have the PRO subscription so the moving map on the approach plates and taxiway diagrams is outstanding.
Would I buy it all again? You bet!
I had built a trip kit the night before consisting of all the approach plates, taxi diagrams and DP's and stars for the airports I was planning on using on the way up. What I didn't notice was that the cycle for the plates expired on June 29th with the new cycle starting on the 30th, the day I was leaving.
Everything was going smoothly until I tried to pull up the airport diagram for destination and the Foreflight said no data available and no internet connection. Had it been real IFR i'd have been SOL since I didn't have paper charts. I know I should have, but this was why I had filed on a clear day to test the iPad/Foreflight system.. Glad I did.
Now, is this the way Foreflight works? I will always check cycle dates in the future, but you could get in a bind flying out in the system on a multiday trip if your charts get dumped into the electronic trash bin on expiration day. Also, the airport I landed at, Dayton Wright Brothers Field had wifi, but boy was it slow. It took 20 minutes to download Ohio and Michigan.. Another lesson learned here.. Download early at home.
Just thought I would throw this out to see if I did something wrong in Foreflight, or does it really dump all your data on cycle change day.
All in all though, I love the SA that Foreflight gives you enroute. I have a bluetooth GPS that worked perfectly, and when I turned it off to save the battery, the GPS in the iPad never missed a beat.
The screen was adequate with the sunshade pulled up. It was never unusable, but could always have been brighter. I really liked have all the information available. I do have the PRO subscription so the moving map on the approach plates and taxiway diagrams is outstanding.
Would I buy it all again? You bet!