Foreflight. Blue airplane icon disappears intermittently

SixPapaCharlie

SixPapaCharlie

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Just curious as I hadn't seen this before.
Flying around yesterday I noticed several times during my flight I would lose the airplane icon showing my position.

Sometimes it would switch to a blue for and sometimes it would vanish completely.

Oddly, the distance rings continued to move as I moved asking the map so it seemed to have some idea where I was.

Anyone seen this before?

I don't know how I'm going to get back home if I don't get this fixed.
 
I hope the last comment was sarcasm.

Did you try writing team@foreflight.com?

Are you using the built-in GPS or external?
 
Generally I fly with stratus.
Yesterday this happened using ipad internal gps
 
I don't know this for a fact but I think Foreflight has progressive icons that are dependent on the level of positional accuracy, ranging from none to the blue pointy airplane. You can get a "fix" with no positional icon at all. I've observed it before. The map will move, but the positional accuracy will be way off. Progressively you will get the blue dot, then the one with sounder thingies, then the airplane. Really stands out when you are in a place with crappy GPS reception.

FYI I tuned in Foreflight on a transpacific flight last week on a 777. Nada except on the ground a little bit. Then we switched to an A330 for the next leg, very good reception even at FL 270. Composite tube vs aluminum tube.
 
My bet is on an intermittent black hole or a shift in the space time continuum.
 
What was it reporting as accuracy when the blue plane started to disappear? Sounds like the internal GPS isn't seeing enough satellites.
 
Are you sure you didn't inadvertently switch the plane over to stealth mode?;)
It's happen to me several times, I believe its not seeing the number of satellites required to get 3d coverage.
That's what you get for flying a plane with the wing in the wrong place.:yes:
 
Eddie's in the space time continuum.
Is he?
 
EppyGA said:
My bet is on an intermittent black hole or a shift in the space time continuum.
Click to expand...

Or he switched on the airplanes cloaking device by mistake ? :rofl:
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I don't know how I'm going to get back home if I don't get this fixed.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. I've voluntarily grounded myself until this gets fixed. I can't believe people would fly around aimlessly before GPS was invented. Sounds stupid to me.
 
It happened to me when the gos lost its signal. I noticed it happened a lot during long duration turns. Give it a minute a after you go straight and level and it will pick it back up. It only did it when I was using my iphone with intetnal gps. When using my ipad with badelf plug in, never had an issue.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I made it home.

Battery in the iPad actually drained and I realized it after I already got up. I would have scrubbed it had I known but it was too late.

I must have flown in circles for hours.

Thank God we brought a portable DVD player.
I carry the king DVDs everywhere I go.

I was weighing my options
1. Declare an emergency
2. Watch Martha
3. Just Roll and pull. I have lived a good life and my pax were asleep.

I chose the most painful option and popped in the DVD at 7500 feet and watched the lesson on the VOR
I couldn't hear it and it took a few minutes before I realized I was just changing the time.

Hey did you guys know they used to have analogue clocks?

At any rate, I managed to locate the Glenrose VOR and fly to it using some sort of decoder disc on the dash where the GPS would be in any other normal plane (how is this thing even airworthy?)

Also totally realized that on my sun shade was printed some sort of map. I thought it was the design or something but it had all sorts of useful information on it.

By the grace of God I am here now to be an example to the next round of students.
I may have managed to make it home safely but luck had a lot to do with that.

If man were meant to fly with charts and dials, God wouldn't have put AC outlets in all of the good planes.
 
Wait...your CFI didn't teach you how to track the 1:00pm radial inbound?

You must have gone through a pilot mill.
 
Shawn said:
Wait...your CFI didn't teach you how to track the 1:00pm radial inbound?

You must have gone through a pilot mill.
Click to expand...

Nice trick question!!!
Everyone knows it is the 1300Z radial. duh..
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I made it home.

Battery in the iPad actually drained and I realized it after I already got up. I would have scrubbed it had I known but it was too late.

I must have flown in circles for hours.

Thank God we brought a portable DVD player.
I carry the king DVDs everywhere I go.

I was weighing my options
1. Declare an emergency
2. Watch Martha
3. Just Roll and pull. I have lived a good life and my pax were asleep.

I chose the most painful option and popped in the DVD at 7500 feet and watched the lesson on the VOR
I couldn't hear it and it took a few minutes before I realized I was just changing the time.

Hey did you guys know they used to have analogue clocks?

At any rate, I managed to locate the Glenrose VOR and fly to it using some sort of decoder disc on the dash where the GPS would be in any other normal plane (how is this thing even airworthy?)

Also totally realized that on my sun shade was printed some sort of map. I thought it was the design or something but it had all sorts of useful information on it.

By the grace of God I am here now to be an example to the next round of students.
I may have managed to make it home safely but luck had a lot to do with that.

If man were meant to fly with charts and dials, God wouldn't have put AC outlets in all of the good planes.
Click to expand...

I appreciate the good laugh on that one.
 
Bryan...I may have missed this, but what I really wanna know is why the doors to your Cessna are OPEN as it is flying and busting through the screen at me?

...I am afraid that your Ipad might fall out and you won't be able to get home...after 1300Z anyway.
 
Shawn said:
Bryan...I may have missed this, but what I really wanna know is why the doors to your Cessna are OPEN as it is flying and busting through the screen at me?

...I am afraid that your Ipad might fall out and you won't be able to get home...after 1300Z anyway.
Click to expand...

This post really made me laugh! :lol:
 
Best laugh I have had in a while....I must be mentally ill or bored....
 
Damn, you crack me up... So was this a spin-off, of sorts, in lieu of "This Week on POA," or do we still get a week 3?
 
HighFlyingA380 said:
Damn, you crack me up... So was this a spin-off, of sorts, in lieu of "This Week on POA," or do we still get a week 3?
Click to expand...

HAHA I'm workin on week 3.
burning the candle at both ends this week.

Took some time off work to work on my side business.
Someone hacked my server uploading some files and rendered it useless.

I am working with the admin to get things put back together so I can get things going again.

But POA week 3 will be up this week at some point ;)
 
tecprotb said:
Are you sure you didn't inadvertently switch the plane over to stealth mode?;)
Click to expand...

:rofl::rofl::rofl: How did I miss this Tim?

I am pretty sure I did. it took me 30 min to get FF on the way home
I called 3 different centers and got "One Zero Uniform, Stand By"
(I was in 7710U)

Maybe center was not seeing the blue airplane on their radar but just some moving rings and didn't know how to handle it LOL
 
The airplane symbol does disappear below a certain accuracy threshold. It's in the docs but I'm not going to go look it up right now.

Simpler solution... Just turn on this in the HUD... It turns red when the accuracy is crap. Much more of a positive indication of something going wrong, than things disappearing...

71e6d0fa2252ff141cbcb25c71cf5574.jpg
 
denverpilot said:
The airplane symbol does disappear below a certain accuracy threshold. It's in the docs but I'm not going to go look it up right now.

Simpler solution... Just turn on this in the HUD... It turns red when the accuracy is crap. Much more of a positive indication of something going wrong, than things disappearing...
Click to expand...

Stated another way....
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I made it home.

Battery in the iPad actually drained and I realized it after I already got up. I would have scrubbed it had I known but it was too late.

I must have flown in circles for hours.

Thank God we brought a portable DVD player.
I carry the king DVDs everywhere I go.

I was weighing my options
1. Declare an emergency
2. Watch Martha
3. Just Roll and pull. I have lived a good life and my pax were asleep.

I chose the most painful option and popped in the DVD at 7500 feet and watched the lesson on the VOR
I couldn't hear it and it took a few minutes before I realized I was just changing the time.

Hey did you guys know they used to have analogue clocks?

At any rate, I managed to locate the Glenrose VOR and fly to it using some sort of decoder disc on the dash where the GPS would be in any other normal plane (how is this thing even airworthy?)

Also totally realized that on my sun shade was printed some sort of map. I thought it was the design or something but it had all sorts of useful information on it.

By the grace of God I am here now to be an example to the next round of students.
I may have managed to make it home safely but luck had a lot to do with that.

If man were meant to fly with charts and dials, God wouldn't have put AC outlets in all of the good planes.
Click to expand...

Awesome post, very funny, and happy birthday (yesterday), Bryan!
 
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