FlyQ Online, be aware of NOTAMS

[skyking3286]

I realize it was New Years Eve and short staffing is the rule, but we had an interesting thing happen with the S43 notams I thought would be worthwide to share. I really like Seattle Avionics, starting with the first CD of Voyager. A good company, sold to a bigger group in the last year or so.

On New Years Eve a NOTAM (12-802, if I remember right) was posted saying the airport was closed through New Years Day due to ice. When we poked around on a PacNW Facebook group with that information, it was clear that FlyQ wasn't updating the NOTAMS at all. For the whole day it was out of synch with the FAA page and indeed, the airport was open. I'm a little disappointed in the 18 hours it took for the NOTAM to be updated and now don't trust the FlyQ Online site to keep me updated with current NOTAMS. The FAA page was correctly updated. If a flight planner isn't current, what use is it?

You trust things until they are untrustworthy. I would hope they fix this with a current feed but my impression of website is that it is orphaned by the new company and not a lot of effort is going that direction to fix problems (such as a new behavior in the last year of not saving your previous view, which would be an easy fix one would think).

 

[MountainDude]

I really wanted to support them, but after a year I left them. Too amateur of an app to support safe flight.

 

[Matthew Rogers]

I really wanted to support them, but after a year I left them. Too amateur of an app to support safe flight.

What other parts do you consider amateur?

I would like to hear what bug caused the NOTAM issue and also if any other EFBs had a problem at the same time. Perhaps it was an FAA transmission issue. Or maybe only the online site and not the actual EFB.

I know lots of people use FlyQ and I don’t see a lot of VASaviation videos or reports of masses of pilots violating NOTAMs yesterday, so it obviously did not cause a lot of trouble. Bugs do happen and they get fixed.

 

[Scrabo]

Just remember FlyQ was built on the BK app that was amateur hour at best.

 

[Clip4]

What other parts do you consider amateur?

I would like to hear what bug caused the NOTAM issue and also if any other EFBs had a problem at the same time. Perhaps it was an FAA transmission issue. Or maybe only the online site and not the actual EFB.

I know lots of people use FlyQ and I don’t see a lot of VASaviation videos or reports of masses of pilots violating NOTAMs yesterday, so it obviously did not cause a lot of trouble. Bugs do happen and they get fixed.

Really? I have yet to meet a FlyQ user.

 

[Matthew Rogers]

Really? I have yet to meet a FlyQ user.

I use it and have never had a problem. Works great for my VFR flying. I always left it open to switch to Foreflight if I ever (unlikely without winning the lottery) switch to an IFR capable plane.

The only thing I would like is a glide advisor, which I assume they will eventually implement.

 

[MountainDude]

What other parts do you consider amateur?

I would like to hear what bug caused the NOTAM issue and also if any other EFBs had a problem at the same time. Perhaps it was an FAA transmission issue. Or maybe only the online site and not the actual EFB.

I know lots of people use FlyQ and I don’t see a lot of VASaviation videos or reports of masses of pilots violating NOTAMs yesterday, so it obviously did not cause a lot of trouble. Bugs do happen and they get fixed.

After an update, mine kept disconnecting from my Stratus. The disconnection messages kept popping up and blocking the screen. It would stop showing the traffic. I did not want to fight the app on approach to a busy airport, so I gave up on it.

 

[Matthew Rogers]

They all have problems, yours is not anything I have experienced, so it could be a combination of the app, your Stratus, or your iPad as mine did not have any problems working with every update for the past 3 years while using a IPhone 8 or SE or Mini4 and a homemade Stratux.

Here is a post from @Archer Jack from 2020 about Foreflight crashing. Does that mean Foreflight is crap? No, just that some combination of factors caused his program to not work well.

"Occasionally when I am at home using foreflight it will suddenly shut down. My ipad is 100% charged and not overheated. When this happens I just have to restart the app and it works fine. This is not a huge problem but it is a little annoying. Has anyone else run into this and if so were you able to fix it? Appreciate any suggestions"

I don't have any skin in the game, other than saving money vs. Foreflight while still having some of the premium features over the free apps. FlyQ has new weather features that are similar to WeatherSpork with the ability to give forecasts for a flight plan graphically based on altitude and position in time along the route.

 

[NealRomeoGolf]

I have a lifetime FlyQ subscription because it was the best option for my previous plane. My current plane is best using Garmin Pilot so I've switched to that. I keep FlyQ on my iPad and updated because I've had GP quit during an approach and wouldn't restart. FlyQ is my chart backup.

 

[skyking3286]

I generally like the FlyQ and I'm signed up for a while. The NOTAMS on the FAA site were current, so something was not right in how they "harvest" the data from the FAA site on New Years Eve. They have the current NOTAMS for the field up now. I tried on two different browsers with multiple refreshing if any one is curious. Just a heads up. Probably not a big issue in the summer but with winter weather in Seattle, it was needful to have good info.