FlightPrep to meet with the FAA

The FAA, or more specifically the Aeronautical Navigational Products Directorate (Aeronav), has announced that beginning April 5, 2012 it will start charging an undisclosed amount for distribution contracted access to digital charting products. FlightPrep has been in contact with the FAA and will be attending a meeting with the FAA on December 13th for more details on this new change. We have worked with the FAA directly for over a decade to provide our clients with digital aviation data and we are confident that this change will not interrupt any service to our customers. We look forward to hearing what the FAA is proposing at the meeting and discussing what changes may come. If you have questions that you would like to ensure that we ask please email those to support@flightprep.com. As soon as we have further information after the December 13th meeting we will share it with you, in the mean time have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Get iChart for just $75 for the first year!

iOS 5 is here! That means it's time to update your iPad and iPhone with the latest operating system. We're super excited to check out all the 200 new features in iOS5 and to celebrate we're having a special on iChart. For a limited time, you can get a one year subscription to iChart for only $75.

iChart and iCloud Storage

Important Notice

The latest version of iOS, the operating system for your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, now includes the much anticipated iCloud update that Apple has been talking about for months. We encourage you to upgrade to iOS 5 when possible to take advantage of over 200 new features as well as fixes that Apple has built into this new OS. While iCloud does allow syncing of application data into the cloud, the free iCloud account will only allow for 5GB of data to be stored and synced between devices. If you typically download more than 5GB of data into your iChart application, download our latest technical tip using the link below and follow the instructions to disable iCloud sync for iChart to ensure that you have room in your iCloud for other items. We'll be posting a new version of iChart in the coming weeks that will better handle syncing data with iCloud. Please send email to support@flightprep.com with any questions.

Tech Tip: iChart and iCloud Storage

Buy a data subscription and get ChartCase Professional free!

Summer is almost over and that means IMC is on the way and it will be time to get those IFR charts up-to-date. To help make sure you're ready for take-off, we're offering a free copy of our award winning ChartCase Professional software if you buy an IFR or VFR+IFR data subscription. But hurry, this offer ends on September 30, 2011!

Buy an IFR or VFR+IFR data subscription
and get ChartCase Professional free!

ADS-B, the social network of the sky

If you or your flying friends have been following the aviation magazines or newsletters over the past few years, you have probably heard of a new technology on the horizon called Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast, or ADS-B for short. But what does that mean? What does it do? Well today, we are going to take a look.

For decades, the FAA has upgraded to better and better radar and transponder technology to track aircraft in both the VFR and IFR systems. At the same time, aircraft operators have been equipping themselves with GPS receivers for navigation and better technology for safety and efficiency of flight. While many of us used to have two VOR’s and maybe an NDB, most IFR equipped aircraft have now gone to GPS for enroute navigation. The ADS-B system can really be thought of as the evolution of your navigation system and your reporting or tracking system working together with radar and ground transmitters to provide a clearer picture of what is going on around you. With ADS-B your position, speed, heading, and aircraft information is broadcast to both ground stations and other aircraft nearby equipped with the system. Think of ADS-B like a “social network” that broadcasts where you are and where you are going shared with other pilots and controllers. But don’t be fooled, this is not a virtual crop farming or bubble game network. ADS-B could save lives by showing pilots aircraft on an intersecting flight path around mountains or approaching intersecting runways in all weather conditions. ADS-B will add a layer of safety and much greater efficiency to flying especially in congested airspace by providing pilots and controllers a better picture of what’s going on around us.

What about aircraft that are not equipped with ADS-B, how would this system see them? Traffic Information Service-Broadcast (TIS-B) which is part of the ADS-B system is the answer to that question. TIS-B increases pilot’s situational awareness by providing traffic information on all transponder-based aircraft within the vicinity of the ADS-B equipped aircraft receiving the data by rebroadcasting radar information over the ADS-B network. Therefore, even if an aircraft flying near you is not ADS-B equipped but does have a transponder it will appear as part of the TIS-B service.

TIS-B also has a little something special about it that the FAA threw in a bit late in the game to encourage early adopters. TIS-B is only available to aircraft that transmit their information over ADS-B. This means you only get traffic if you give your info to the system. ADS-B is also described as ADS-B “in” and ADS-B “out”. TIS-B is where ADS-B “in” and ADS-B “out” come into the game. The “in” describes you taking in the available ADS-B information for display on a screen (EFB, MFD, or other system). Think of it as you getting a second by second report on the area around you, but without you. The “out” part of ADS-B indicates your participation in the system. TIS-B will only work correctly for you if you provide ADS-B “out” of your aircraft. If you are equipped with only an ADS-B “in” system like some portable units currently available, you will only have TIS-B info when another aircraft very nearby has turned on the TIS-B information for its area and if you're close by you can piggy back on it for a while. Once that other aircraft flies away from you, you will no longer have any TIS-B.

In addition to the ADS-B information about traffic there is also additional information broadcast from the ground based transmitters called Flight Information Service-Broadcast or FIS-B. FIS-B will allow receiving aircraft to see weather and flight service information including AIRMETs, Convective SIGMETs, SIGMETs, METARs, SPECI, National NEXRAD, Regional NEXRAD, D-NOTAMs, FDC-NOTAMs, PIREPs, Special Use Airspace Status, Terminal Area Forecasts, Amended TAFs, Winds and Temperature Aloft when in range of a ground based transmitter. So one may ask, is this FIS-B similar to XM weather some pilots receive now? Here is the FAA’s answer to that question:

"Yes. ADS-B’s Flight Information Services-Broadcast (FIS-B) provides all of the information you would get with an XM basic subscription, and more. In fact, at no subscription cost to the user, the ADS-B FIS-B product today is comparable to the mid-to-high-level XM subscription. The FAA currently is discussing with the vendor the possibility of adding even more "no-cost" products to the FIS-B service, such as: Lightning, Turbulence NOWcast, Icing NOWcast, Cloud Tops, 1 minute AWOS – uplinked every 10 minutes."

Unlike TIS-B, the FIS-B service is transmitted all the time with or without participation in the ADS-B system. FIS-B information is not usually available on the ground or at very low altitudes due to the range of the ground-based transmitters. Once at altitude (we have found and heard that at or above 3,000 is usually a good bet) you should receive data pretty well.

So when will ADS-B be available? Well according to the FAA it should be fully available in the US 48 by the end of 2014. When will ADS-B be required? Well that depends on where you fly. For some you may never have to install and for others it may be a good idea in the next few years. January 1, 2020 is the FAA's current date to require ADS-B according to the following:

"Under the rule, ADS-B Out performance will be required to operate in:

1. Class A, B, and C.
2. Class E airspace within the 48 contiguous states and the District of Columbia at and above 10,000 feet MSL, excluding the airspace at and below 2,500 feet above the surface.
3. Class E airspace at and above 3,000 feet MSL over the Gulf of Mexico from the coastline of the United States out to 12 nautical miles.
4. Around those airports identified in 14 CFR part 91, Appendix D."

The ADS-B Out rule does not apply in the airspace defined in items 1 and 2 above for any aircraft that was not originally certificated with an electrical system or that has not subsequently been certified with such a system installed, including balloons and gliders.

So when will FlightPrep have ADS-B capable applications? Soon, sometime in the next 12 months. Since the system is still being built there are currently dead spots in coverage throughout the country but 2014 will be here before you know it so we're getting ready. Stay tuned for more information on ADS-B in a future newsletter.

A Night for Flight Charity Auction for AOPA Foundation

Help FlightPrep raise funds for the AOPA Foundation by bidding on a copy of ChartCase Professional with a 1 year VFR+IFR data subscription for "A Night for Flight", a special charity event that will be held on Thursday, September 22, 2011 at the AOPA Aviation Summit in Hartford, CT.

The AOPA Foundation is dedicated to safeguarding the future of General Aviation and keeping pilots safe.

"You love to fly. You love the sheer joy of it, to stay connected, for transportation and for business. You are a pilot—it's not just what you do, it’s who you are.

"Protect what you love! Be part of "A Night for Flight," a very special benefit for the AOPA Foundation on September 22 at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford, Connecticut during the AOPA Aviation Summit.

"Your participation is vital. When you take part in "A Night for Flight" you are helping to fund the critical and tax exempt work of the AOPA Foundation. This is about the real future of GA. It's about safety for all pilots and their passengers; it's about growing the pilot population and improving flight training. Without pilots there won't be much need for airports or aircraft; it's about educating communities and the media on the value of GA airports and the activity we cherish. The U.S. is the last country to have any significant GA flight operations and we need to preserve the future.

"Ensure your children or grandchildren are able to experience the practicality and fulfillment of GA flight. If you do just one thing to keep GA strong, take part in "A Night for Flight."

Place your bid on a copy of ChartCase Professional with a 1 year VFR+IFR data subscription to help raise funds for the AOPA Foundation. But hurry, the auction ends Thursday, September 22, 2011 at 9:00pm Eastern.

Get a ChartBook-S for $995.99 ! ! !

Gee-whiz! Can you believe it's already the end of August? We can't either! We hope you've been busy flying. With plenty of great flying weather left, we've got a special offer to help get you on your way. We're offering the ChartBook-S with one year of VFR and IFR data for just $995.99.

ChartBook-S for just $995.99!
Get ChartBook-S with a 64GB Solid-State Drive (SSD) and Annual VFR+IFR Data Subscription for just $995.99! Don't settle for anything less than one of Plane and Pilot magazine's 2010 picks for "most impressive products of the year". Others try and imitate, but only the ChartBook-S comes with our award winning ChartCase Professional and solid state hard drives standard on all units.

ChartBook-S starting at $995.99

Maximize your investment by learning all the latest features and taking a simulated flight with a CFII plugged into your EFB with our one-on-one Spool Up Training course. You get an entire hour with a CFII on the phone and remotely connected to your EFB for just $99.99! Call our sales staff at (503) 678-4360 or email sales@flightprep.com to schedule your training slot.

Hurry and order yours today! This offer expires on Labor Day, September 5, 2011.