What Do I Need Beyond ForeFlight?

Keith Ward

Keith Ward

Pre-Flight
Joined
Jan 8, 2019
Messages
74
Location
Westminster, MD
Display Name
Display name:
Druvanius
I'm just getting back into flying, and have downloaded (but not yet used) ForeFlight.

Does that pretty much do everything in terms of flight planning? Are there other must-have tools in the cockpit, or can it be the only tool I need?

Thanks for your feedback!
 
Foreflight, and EFBs ("electronic flight bags") in general, are electronic substitutes for the charts, maps, facility directories, etc we all carried around with us. They also assist us with retrieving weather information, filing flight plans, etc.

Just like with paper, we need to understand what the EFB is doing and its limitations, which includes failure modes and our ability to do without. So the biggest extra tool we need in the cockpit is the one between our ears.
 
You haven't mentioned what you downloaded ForeFlight onto. If the iPad is WiFi only, a GPS would be helpful; I use a Bad Elf but there are others.
Another device with charts would be helpful too, or just a paper chart. I left my iPad in the plane last year during lunch and it overheated. Pulled out my chart and it was a non-event.
I still calculate fuel manually and compare that to the ForeFlight predictions if I'm going further than a local flight.
 
I use WnB Pro for weight and balance. I prefer it to the weight and balance capability in Garmin Pilot, which is the EFB I use. I can’t speak to FF’s W&B.

I also keep FltPlan Go on my iPad as a backup if GP ever goes belly up on me. Very clunky to use, but is free.
 
What’s the typical mission / plane panel you’ll be flying with?

VFR only? IFR? What part of the country ?
 
Regarding flight planning, it’s pretty decent. My own habit is to route plan on paper charts then transfer that to FF. That way I have my backup ready to go if needed. The numbers it kicks out match the numbers calculated by hand. As was mentioned if it’s not a cellular iPad you will need a gps unit. There’s quite a few to choose from. I started with a Bad Elf and still have it. Great little device.

Other devices provide gps as well as ADSB, synthetic vision, AHRS, and weather updates.

I recently bought a Sentry which provides all of that plus a CO monitor but you need at least the FF pro plus (2nd tier) subscription for some of it.

However, don’t discount your paper charts, compass and stopwatch! The tech is a fun upgrade but not foolproof. And don’t rely on FF for things like TFRs. A user here has a thread concerning that very topic.
 
11 Posts in and not a mention of Stratus 3? Hell, Foreflight is MADE for Stratus.

OP.... You need some sort of ADS-B receiver and GPS source. If you do not have a panel mounted solution for ADS-B in capability, I would get the Stratus 3 personally.
 
Unit74 said:
11 Posts in and not a mention of Stratus 3? Hell, Foreflight is MADE for Stratus.

OP.... You need some sort of ADS-B receiver and GPS source. If you do not have a panel mounted solution for ADS-B in capability, I would get the Stratus 3 personally.
Click to expand...

I did mention the Sentry. Nearly everything the Stratus does and $200 less.
 
In the argument between Stratus and others, I will add the Stratux, an open source ADSB/GPS source built on a Raspberry Pi. You buy the parts and put it together yourself. Price was slightly over $100 when I built mine.
 
Welcome back to aviation. Now that you have Foreflight, learn how to use it ON THE GROUND!!! There's way too much information on there to try and learn it while flying.
 
Keith Ward said:
I'm just getting back into flying, and have downloaded (but not yet used) ForeFlight.

Does that pretty much do everything in terms of flight planning? Are there other must-have tools in the cockpit, or can it be the only tool I need?

Thanks for your feedback!
Click to expand...
Sunglasses. Watch with optional second hand. Working compass. Like others here, I flight plan on paper and the EFB. I also keep backup paper charts in the plane. I never assume anything electrical will alway work correctly. As much as I like GPS, I don’t depend on that either. I fly in areas were GPS can be unstable and frequently NOTaM’d, including the departure end of my home ‘drome runway!
 
Love this forum! The advice to use paper first, then transfer to digital, will be heeded. (I was shocked a few years ago when my son said he couldn't read a paper map. "I've got GPS!" he exclaimed. SMH...)
 
Unit74 said:
11 Posts in and not a mention of Stratus 3? Hell, Foreflight is MADE for Stratus.

OP.... You need some sort of ADS-B receiver and GPS source. If you do not have a panel mounted solution for ADS-B in capability, I would get the Stratus 3 personally.
Click to expand...
I'd just build a Stratux. Works well, inexpensive, does the same thing depending on how many components one adds. I just glance at the thing, but I personally only find the weather radar really useful.
Mentioned below.
Challenged said:
What sort of panel are you flying behind? I'd feel lost without a portable ADS-B device hooked into my app. Your hardware choice may be limited by the app you use unfortunately.
Click to expand...
 
lancie00 said:
Welcome back to aviation. Now that you have Foreflight, learn how to use it ON THE GROUND!!! There's way too much information on there to try and learn it while flying.
Click to expand...

I've been using ForeFlight extensively since the iPad first came out, so I'm far beyond the learning stage... But I think the majority of my ForeFlight usage is still on the ground. In "attention paid" if not in time, anyway.

It's a pre-flight planner first for me. Once I'm in the plane, I beam my flight plan to the panel and then only occasionally look at it. I do keep it running and generating the track log, and I use it for plates, but a well-planned flight usually means there's not that much left to do in flight.
 
Keith Ward said:
I'm just getting back into flying, and have downloaded (but not yet used) ForeFlight.

Does that pretty much do everything in terms of flight planning? Are there other must-have tools in the cockpit, or can it be the only tool I need?

Thanks for your feedback!
Click to expand...

If you are a VFR pilot, there are other less expensive options to Foreflight you might want to evaluate, including the 99 cent WingX EFB.
 
I don't know if you play with any flight simulators, but you can actually feed Garmin Pilot and Foreflight from Prepar3d and X-Plane. By doing that, you can play with the enroute functionalities (not just the pre-flight) and get familiar before jumping in the airplane and trying to learn it while also doing your BFR.
 
mkosmo said:
I don't know if you play with any flight simulators, but you can actually feed Garmin Pilot and Foreflight from Prepar3d and X-Plane. By doing that, you can play with the enroute functionalities (not just the pre-flight) and get familiar before jumping in the airplane and trying to learn it while also doing your BFR.
Click to expand...
My son-in-law is a total nerdgamer with a homebuilt computer he's been tweaking for years, so I'll see if he has X-Plane. Thanks for the tip!
 
I just linked X-Plane 11 with ForeFlight. Pretty cool! Thanks for the tip.
 
FF alone will get it done. . . Velcro your iPad to the panel. That's pretty much all you need. . . maybe buy an external, Bluetooth GPS (Dual, Bad Elf, $100 or so).
 
You don't NEED Foreflight or any other electronic gizmo. If you're just going for a loop around the local area, or a burger run less than an hour away, just pull up the local weather forecast and go fly. You don't need ADS-B, onboard weather updates, and magenta lines. Grab a chart and have fun.
 
Clip4 said:
Maybe not, fuel has actually decreased from several years ago.
Click to expand...

The OP said in another thread that it was a 14-year hiatus. 14 years ago, I was the treasurer of my flying club and fuel was $2.00/gallon at our home base (class C). At the same FBO, it's now around $5/gal.

It's been worse, but not by a whole lot. :(
 
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