OK, several years ago I wrote Xavion to see how much important stuff I could back up in the cockpit using just an iPhone.
The list was impressive:
-complete synthetic vision system
-basic GPS-driven mapping system (no NAVIGATION… just the MAP)
-ADS-B weather rception and display
-power-off guidance to nearby airports
I launched the App for other people to enjoy for and try $99.
I had no thought of liability or airport database currency or Apple iOS updates… I just wanted to let other people try the App!
Then, over the next months or year or so, the inevitable happened:
Apple started upgrading to new iOS versions, breaking Xavion by changing the way the iPhone works with each “update”, so that Xavion had to be continually re-written, to keep up with Apples’ constantly-changing stanadards as they updated the OS.
Then, people started using Xavion for night, IFR, cross-country flying in aircraft that did NOT have the primary avionics to do this type of flying safely… after all, they had their iPhone!
Then, people started asking if they could use Xavion as PRIMARY navigation, and build airplanes WITHOUT traditional avionics!
At this point, many customers were hanging their lives in Xavion for day-to-day flight operations.
Then, as always, various parties OPENED various airports in the United States, leaving the airport database in Xavion OBSOLETE! New landing possibilities existed that Xavion did NOT know about! This meant that Xavion might guide you to an airport that was AT THE RAGGED EDGE of gliding distance, even though a newer, closer airport that Xavion did not know about was ACTUALLY available! Obviously, in a real engine-failure scenario, this could lead to a fatal accident… fatal for numerous people in the airplane, and fatal for innocent people on the ground.
Then, as always, various parties CLOSED various airports in the United States, leaving the airport database in Xavion OBSOLETE! Customers suddenly noticed that Xavion would guide them, in their practice power-off approaches, to industrial or other areas where airports USED to be! Obviously, in a real engine-failure scenario, this would likely lead to a fatal accident… fatal for numerous people in the airplane, and fatal for innocent people on the ground.
OOPS.
The moment I realized this, I knew that what started as a science experiment was now being used for life-critical transport, with zero ability to handle ongoing database updates and huge product liability.
I yanked the App from the App store the moment I became aware of this.
And Xavion stayed off the App Store for some period of time, while I pondered the correct way to address these problems.
Most people, at this point, might shut down their business… small businesses fold like card-houses in the wind.
But I don’t give up and wander off.
So, here is what I did:
I engaged a sub-contractor to help me keep up with the ongoing Apple iOS upgrades, and comitted to keep re-writing Xavion for the life of the product, with the constant, un-ending updates that are needed for an App that does this much to continue to function as the Apple Operating Systems keep continually changing. This, of course, requires ONGOING work and sub-contracting payments.
I improved the weather reception system in Xavion to get CURRENT weather by WIFI internet, cell-tower internet, AND ADS-B receiver, so Xavion would get weather as QUICKLY as possible, that is as CURRENT as possible, from ALL available sources.
I re-wrote the airport database to ALWAYS BE CURRENT by using the official, FAA-certified airport database, which is UPDATED every 30 days. This, of course, requires ONGOING access to CURRENT airport data, with the associated ONGOING cost. (In this case, I chose Seattle Avionics to provide the ongoing, FAA-certified, 30-day-update-cycle, current airport data. I did the same for NAVAIDs as well. And fixes. And obstacles. Obstacles also must be kept current, since Xavion will NOT build a path that goes too near an obstacle, but of course it needs to know where the obstacles ARE to be sure it is doing this properly!)
I also realized that I could back up the Sectional Charts, Low Enroute Charts, and Approach Plates that we all use on Xavion, so I added the option to have those as well. Obviously, those must be kept CURRENT on an ONGOING basis.
I also realized that since people were navigating with the map, I added an FMS to let you enter any destination and serieis of waypoints to get there, and then had Xavion display hoops 3-D in space, to let you navigate to anywhere on Earth with “Highway in the Sky” 3D hoops.
I also consuslted a number of insurance companies on ongoing product liability costs and set-asided to handle litigation… a single accident, at this point in a small business, could cost far more than the business has, or has ever even made.
Now, with commitment and planning for the ONGOING App updates to keep up with Apples ever-changing protocols, three different weather-reception methods to get the winds that are needed to build the best emergeny guidance to handle the ever-changing weather, database links to Seattle Avionics to get the latest FAA-certified airport database to handle the ever-changing airports, database links to Seattle Avionics to get the latest FAA-certified charts and plates to handle the ever-changing airspace system, I re-released Xavion!
Obviously, the pricing had to be ongoing to stand a chance of offsetting the costs. A single fixed cost would obviously never work, becasue the updating, data acquisition, and liability costs are ONGOING.
So, I made it $19.99/month.
So far, I have well over two million dollars invested in creating Xavion and the various systems required to test it, with only a tiny fraction of that recouped in sales, so the $19.99/month is still not enough to offset my costs, but the App is so cool that I refuse to just shut it down and walk away, as most others would.
So the offer to give you a backup:
-standard-six primary flight instruments
-synthetic vision system
-GPS-driven moving map, with FMS
-WIFI, cell, and ADS-B weather use and display
-flight-planning with fuel and time predictions, and optimal altitude selection for each trip based on the current winds
-pre-flight planning with flight-currency and weight-and balance checks with just a few swipes
-power-off guidance to the airport that has the best margin for safety for an engine-failed approach, anywhere on Earth
for $19.99/month (or $199/year) is now available… and I would nto fly anywhere without it.
I mean, how COULD I?????
I am backing up about $100,000 worth of Garmin hardware for the cost of an iPhone,
I am backing up about $1,500 worth of annual Jeppesen and XM-Weather data subscriptions,
I am getting guidance to an airport of my one-and-only-engine fails,
AND, the whole system runs on its’ own electrical power, so it is immune to aircraft electrical failure
…for $199/year… one SEVENTH the cost of the Jeppessen and XM-weather subscriptions.. and Xavion does MORE.
So, anyhoo, thats my offer.
I will always continue to use Xavion when I fly my Evolution (it backs up almost everything in the airplane!), and my offer stands for others to get the same benefit.
Obviously, this App was far, far beyond the limited version that was sold for a fixed fee months in the past.
Obviously, this App will go far, far beyond what it is now, in the future. (Xavion, for example, can actually talk to TruTrak autopilots right now by WIFI within our company, and this version of the App will be released soon, so in some planes, your copy of Xavion will actually be able to FLY THE AIRPLANE DOWN FOR YOU AFTER ENGINE FAILURE. AND, there are many OTHER new features already in development, that will be released in the future as well).
