ForeFlight 8.0
Fully digitized maps
By Ian Brown, Editor, Bits and Pieces, EAA 657159
October 2016 - One thing that has been just a bit tricky with ForeFlight is the ability to read boundaries of controlled zones in flight. Okay, full disclosure, I missed one recently and had to explain myself to a very nice chap from the FAA.
In downloading the latest version of ForeFlight 8.0, I was blown away by the robust outlining of different classes of airspace. Since this is the first time with digitized maps (not just digitized images, but fully digital maps), they were able to vary the scaling of the outlining of different types of airspace, and they now show really well. Very clever!
Very clear lines around different types of airspace
In the United States, you can click on an outlined zone and see its description too. Hopefully they’ll get around to that in Canada sometime soon, but at least my subscription is showing the actual Canadian outlines.
Click on a special-use airspace, and you’ll get a description
This one feature of ForeFlight 8.0 alone makes it worth the price of admission. It will keep your head out of the cockpit instead of struggling to read a paper chart to find out what line you are about to cross while in flight.
In addition, all of the items on the map are now digitized elements, so when you click on one, you can get much smarter information about what you are looking at – like heights of towers, latitude and longitude of waypoints, airports, and much more.
Next time you’re at an airport and you see one of those annoying people with their head stuck in their iPad, they’re probably looking at all this great new stuff in ForeFlight. If you don’t already have it, just tap them on the shoulder and say “watchalookinat.” You might have to make sure you’re not due anywhere anytime soon, though!
