Coming Soon for iPhone: Data Galore

We’re tired of lugging around big green AF/Ds and having to hit the FBO flight planning room for the preflight intelligence we need.  A mobile phone (i.e. iPhone) is capable of providing access to the information we need while remaining stylish and light weight.  

We figured that we need to pack ForeFlight iPhone Edition with data covering more than 220 countries, 25,000 landing facilities, 9,000 FBOs, 11,000 transportation providers, and more.  We also figured that data needed to be refreshed every 28 days and be of the highest quality possible (not “scraped“). That would be pretty cool.  Maybe we’d even save a few trees in the process.

Well, we’ve done it, and it’s coming soon to an iPhone near you.  You’ll even be able to get data on Antarctica, if you’re thinking of flying your trusty 152 up there. Stay tuned.  

Yankee Alpha Foxtrot Bravo

Hamish Reid is a photographer, designer, and software engineer living and working in Oakland, California.  He keeps a blog titled Yankee Alpha Foxtrot Bravo and a journal about learning to fly. He recently posted about how ForeFlight helps him make last minute weather checks before he flies.  It’s good to see pilots using their mobile phones to double check the conditions at a destination airport, whether or not they are using ForeFlight.  Ease of access to this information hopefully instills a habit of checking it often.

So what do I like about ForeFlight? Firstly, it fits into my planning workflow really well: I usually do the initial heavy lifting on my laptop, including filing a flight plan if I’m flying IFR, and then check again on the tarmac just before engine startup. Foreflight works really well for this last stage, where you can do a last-minute spot check or sanity check without lugging a laptop around or calling flight services. It’s also great for informally checking weather, airport information, etc., for an intended flight whenever and wherever you are (a cafe, a hangar, a wireless-free (as opposed to a free wireless) FBO, an office…), and for prepping approaches informally before flying when you don’t have the plates handy. And it’ll let you file that last-minute flight plan, as long as you have a DUATS account.

Here’s a picture of Hamish:

You can read the rest of his review of foreflight on his blog.

ForeFlight is off to WWDC!

The ForeFlight team is heading off to Apple’s World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) this weekend!  It is a must-attend event for software companies interested in building and marketing native applications for the iPhone.  The rumors are flying about what new products and services Apple will announce. We’ll be in the audience during the keynote speech to hear first hand!  

Whether GPS or a fancy new 3G chipset find their way into a new phone, it’s a pretty safe bet we’ll have something new for pilots that will make flying more fun and pre-flight planning more productive.

So, what features would you like to see in a native iPhone application that you can take with you everywhere, including the cockpit?

New website

The ForeFlight team just released our brand new website today.  The new design was created by Clear Span Media in Houston.

Check it out and let us know what you think!

Flying the Big Iron

ForeFlight’s own Tyson Weihs spent a fun weekend at Continental’s training center in Houston, TX.

The weekend had him learning a huge amount about the Boeing 737 and even getting some simulator time - log-able sim time!  This same course was mentioned in both AOPA Pilot and AOPA Flight Training - both articles have Tyson’s picture!

As Tyson said, “ATOP should be on every pilot’s ‘bucket list’”.

ForeFlight Releases File! for ForeFlight iPhone Edition

Today we launched a new mobile flight plan filing feature for the iPhone called File! This is the first iPhone-optimized mobile flight plan filing application to hit the market. It is integrated with ForeFlight’s existing suite of popular iPhone and iPod touch mobile Preflight Intelligence™ tools. 

File! allows pilots to create, save, edit, and file flight plans with the FAA. It keeps track of every flight plan a user files so that they can use any historical flight as a template for a new one. Most importantly, though, is that ForeFlight File! is being made available free of charge. “Pilots have expressed incredible frustration with the public-to-private transition of flight service and have experienced substantial hold times and lost productivity navigating the new flight service voice response system”, said Tyson Weihs, co-founder of ForeFlight. “Making File! available for free ensures that all pilots can quickly and conveniently file flight plans directly from their iPhones.”

Eric Hake, President of Sabre Aviation Services, Inc., who beta-tested File! says, “The most powerful aspect of File! for me is the updated status display showing within seconds if my flight plan was accepted and filed. In the past, before I started using File!, I found myself more than once, stuck on the ramp with Clearance Delivery saying that my flight plan did not make it into the system. I fly all over the country, filing an average of 15 flight plans a week, and since I switched to File! I haven’t lost a single flight plan.“ 

“We’re especially proud of how easy it is to use - it works hard so that you can file plans on-the-go with minimal fuss,” said Jason Miller, co-founder of ForeFlight. “No more waiting on hold with flight service for 15 minutes - just tap and File!“ 

Read the full press release in PDF form.

New ForeFlight Free! account type

The new ForeFlight Free! option for iPhone Edition includes unlimited access to File! flight plan filing and a 7-day pass to the more advanced features including weather, AF/D, charts, procedures, routing, Smart Search™ and more.

Warning: Filing in Church

We’ve receive some reports that ForeFlight File! is too convenient.  A couple of customers have  reported filing flight plans while listening to the homily at church.  While the short-term benefits of such convenience may be obvious, the long-term consequences are unknown.  So, proceed with caution when deciding whether to pay attention in church on Sunday or get a head start on that hamburger run.

ForeFlight File! - Flight Plan Filing, ForeFlight style!

The team is pleased - well, we’re doing backflips we’re so excited - to announce the beta release of a feature we have been working on for quite some time now:

 

ForeFlight File!

File! is the first flight plan filing application for the iPhone to hit the market and it is integrated with ForeFlight’s AF/D, weather and logbook features.  File! is relief for iPhone toting pilots who have been clamoring for a competent filing application that takes advantage of the iPhone’s unique user interface capabilities.    

File! allows pilots (with a valid CSC DUATS account) to create, save, edit, and file flight plans with the FAA. File! keeps track of every flight plan you’ve filed so that you can use any historical flight as a template for a new one.  It also builds a database of aircraft you use in the background so that you don’t have to go through a “setup” process to get started.  Just log in and start filing, and File! intelligently figures out how YOU fly.    

 

We’re especially proud of how easy it is to use - it works hard so that you can file plans on-the-go with minimal fuss. No more waiting on hold with 800-WX-BRIEF for 15 minutes - just tap and file! You’ll be able to see your filed flight in File! and we’ll also send you a confirmation via email.

Want to try it out? You’ll need a DUATS account login as well as a ForeFlight account. Once you have those two fly on over to the beta sign up form to join our testers group. Then just log in to ForeFlight like normal and click on the new “More” link at the top. Click the File! icon to get started. 

Keep in mind that during the beta period you may experience bugs here and there so please stick with us as we sort them out. Make sure you give us feedback on File! so we know what you like and what you don’t!

iPhone version 1.1.3

Today Apple announced the newest version of the iPhone software: 1.1.3. This update includes an exciting feature for ForeFlight - one that many have asked for. You can now make a icon on the home screen that will launch ForeFlight!

Simply go to foreflight.com in Safari and then press the + button at the bottom of the Safari window. Choose “Add to home screen” and change the name field to say “ForeFlight”. The iPhone will automatically make a screen shot of the ForeFlight application to use as the icon.

Want to see the process in action? Check out Apple’s guided tour!