Favorite Flight Planner

[jlunseth]

There was just a survey done on AOPA's Aviation eBrief asking which was the favorite flight planner. Foreflight came out way ahead of several others including almost double the percentage who favored fltplan.com (those were the numbers when I looke, the survey is still going on). I was a little surprised. Foreflight is a great app., but it has not ability to accept an aircraft profile that allows TAS to change with altitude. That makes a big difference in my aircraft. fltplan's website allows altitude adjusted TAS, and also allows for wind, so if you do a plan for FL210 with a 90 knot tailwind it calculates ETE within a few minutes, and can also do a flight at 6,000 with a 30 knot headwind. Am I missing something with Foreflight? I use it alot for actually flying a trip, but for planning altitude, course, fuel, etc. fltplan is definitely better for me.

[1964-M20E]

I use CSD DUATS to do flt planning, weather, and file. It is not graphical to show you route of flight but I use my portable GPS (then my flight plan is in there for the flight) and or Skyvector for that. There was another site but I forget the name now since they were turned off.

I use a number ot things not one.

[KSMooniac]

fltplan.com for me too. I love weathermeister.com for the Wx briefing ($50/yr) because of the format... the layout and color-coding make for VERY fast Wx & NOTAM data transcription into my brain. ADDS as well, especially in convective and icing seasons.

[Hector]

Foreflight is a great app., but it has not ability to accept an aircraft profile that allows TAS to change with altitude. That makes a big difference in my aircraft. fltplan's website allows altitude adjusted TAS, and also allows for wind, so if you do a plan for FL210 with a 90 knot tailwind it calculates ETE within a few minutes, and can also do a flight at 6,000 with a 30 knot headwind. Am I missing something with Foreflight? I use it alot for actually flying a trip, but for planning altitude, course, fuel, etc. fltplan is definitely better for me.

You are correct, no aircraft profile so that it will take into account airspeed during climb, cruise, and descend. That is unfortunate as it should be something very simple to correct. It does, however, factor in actual wind at your cruise altitude. It even has an altitude advisor that will let you see the winds aloft to help you make the correct choice.

[fantom]

Just like some of the woman in my single days, this is wonderful and easy, but not cheap:

http://www.rmstek.com/flitesoft.php

[Marauder]

IMHO, none of the app versions are complete. I have the ForeFlight and Garmin Pilot loaded up on my iPad.

ForeFlight:

The ForeFlight does a nice job with planning a route with their new auto routing search, but without airplane profiles, the flight planning is off a bit. The map is nice but you need to go to the airport page to get the METAR information while in flight. I like the way the FF allows to put multiple items on the map (the Garmin only allows one). I don't like that the charts need to be searched and stored for your intended flight. You can however print them, which you can't do on the Garmin app.

Garmin Pilot:

I like that the Garmin Pilot acts like my Garmin 650. Makes it easier to find stuff. The Garmin has no routing. You need to either put your departure and destination in and then use the graphically interface to pull your route waypoints. Even after you do that, if you intend to be on an airway, it will not automatically select it even if you pick the two VORs that make up the airway. If you select the airway from the flight plan page, you need to know where you are getting on and off. And you cannot load approaches (im sure it is a legal thing). Just a pain. I do like the map feature on the Garmin. You can pick widgets that show things in a split window (map on one side, the widget on the other). This can include weather on the route (there is a timeline that you can advance along your route of flight), NOTAMs, Airspace, charts or their panel view. I also like the fact that when you pick your departure and destination, it stores the plates in their own binders. Makes it easier to pull them up in flight.

With the trial versions of each, you can load them up and play with them to see which ones you like. I just started playing with WingX. We'll see how that goes.

[gjkirsch]

I have my default altitude and speed set up in foreflight. I enter the flight plan, touch the altitude button and immediately have the time and winds at every altitude well into the flight levels. I then touch the speed button and change my default speed to the speed for that altitude and I am done.

[David Mazer]

I've used fltplan.com for a long time and haven't found anything as good. It is reliable, accurate, customizable, and available online easily. I also have Seattle Avionics Voyager which I use as an EFB in the plane but its flight planning isn't as good nor does it seem as accurate. I have also tried flightaware.com's planner and AOPA's. Neither is as good as fltplan.com. flightaware is just strange and AOPA's doesn't account for altitude. In a turbo, that is pretty important. I tried Foreflight a while ago and found it no better than AOPA's but, like I said, that was a while ago and it may have improved substantially. I'd wager Foreflight is ahead because people haven't spent the time to customize fltplan.com. When I started using it, it was about the only one around and it was either get it right or do it by hand. Now there are many options available that take less set up, with less accuracy as a result.

[jlunseth]

In truth, I use both Foreflight and fltplan. I like the winds aloft feature on Foreflight, it is alot easier than picking an alt on fltplan and then finding that I need to look a few thousand feet higher or lower so I have to back out of the Nav Log screen and try again. I also like the ability to see charts and rubber band a route on Foreflight. So I will use Foreflight to set up the route and find a good alt., but fltplan to actually compute the ETE. It is the most accurate that I have found. You can put an aircraft profile into Foreflight, but it does not have the ability to determine TAS at different altitudes.

I use all kinds of things for weather. aviationweather.gov. Foreflights "Images" . Scott Dennestaedt has some very useful tools on AvWxWorkshops.com

[Jeff_S]

I also consider ForeFlight my primary flight planning tool but part of this is because it is just so easy and readily available. Fltplan.com doesn't have a full-featured iPad app, so you still have to do everything at the real computer. Yes, the airplane profiles are more in-depth, but flying a J in the regular normally-aspirated altitudes doesn't change your overall time or fuel use characteristics that much, and I just have the model in ForeFlight set to use a slightly higher than normal fuel flow at cruise to make up for this. I find when I compare a ForeFlight and FltPlan nav log for an upcoming trip they are never more than a few minutes different. I do think if you are flying a higher-performance plane at altitudes then these differences could be more important.

[WardHolbrook]

Just like some of the woman in my single days, this is wonderful and easy, but not cheap:

http://www.rmstek.com/flitesoft.php

That's the one I use. It's easy to customize the performance files and once you dial it in it's bang on accurate. In the Falcon 900 it's typically within 2 minutes and less than 100 pounds of fuel (0.8%) on a non-stop coast-to-coast trip. It's no less accurate with piston-powered aircraft. I like FltPlan.com, but, for jets at least, you've got to take some of the fuel burn numbers with a grain of salt if you're flying "atypical" (unusually low or high cruise altitudes) flight profiles or in ISA+ temperatures.

[DrBill]

FLTPLAN.COM for me. I like the way it displays probable Clearance route if not what I requested. I usually file the night before and then at the airport will check it and jot down the expected clearance. I key that in to the GPS prior to takeoff (if VFR conditions) or prior to calling Clr Del on the ground (IMC). It's about 90 percent right on. PLUS, it's accessible from ANY computer including my IPOD Touch and Android Tablet.

BILL

[testwest]

+1 for fltplan.com . I have the Vz climb profile in my airplane model, and pretty accurate cruise and descent profiles in the advanced setup. It is right on the money. No other flightplan program comes close in terms of accurate and customizable performance predictions unless you spring for (very pricey) Jeppesen Flightstar Pro.

[PTK]

+1 for fltplan.com . I have the Vz climb profile in my airplane model, and pretty accrurate cruise and descent profiles in the advanced setup. It is right on the money. No other flightplan program comes close in terms of accurate and customizable performance predictions unless you spring for (very pricey) Jeppesen Flightstar Pro.

+1 for fltplan.com.

[kris_adams]

I start with fltplan.com to see the most recent planned ATC routes. Heading out around the class B in Atlanta, it is always nice to pick an ifr route that doesn't get changed too much. After that I use aviationweather.gov and Foreflight. I do all my flight plans on fltplan.com. I sure hope they don't start charging for the site as I would more than likely pay instead of change.

[laytonl]

Fltplan.com for me too. It is extremely accurate and the previously filed routes are helpful. GUI is awful, but otherwise great. Like Kris said, I flight plan and file with Fltplan.com, check weather on ADDS, and use Foreflight for in-flight (with Stratus.) Lee

[jlunseth]

I use fltplan for planning but I do not file with it. Several times I have pulled up to the taxi line four hours after filing, asked for my clearance, and the plan was not on file yet. I can file with FSS and have the plan on file and ready to go in minutes. I am told that the same thing is possible with Foreflight and filing through DUATS. The delay is unworkable for me because weather often affects my route. I like to get the weather one more time just before departure, and I file when I have that weather. If you fly a jet or turboprop with warm wings and lots of altitude choices maybe the exact weather is not that important because you can overtop most of it, but I can't so always need that last minute weather.

[carusoam]

Fltplan.com to plan and file... using Duats. Texts routing that has been filed to my cell phone.

It would be nice to upload text to my iPad/ WingX and KLN90B...

Best regards,

-a-

[midlifeflyer]

Fltplan.com for me too. It is extremely accurate and the previously filed routes are helpful.

I'm often amazed how accurate Fltplan is on nailing the real en route time. Yep, for real trips, Fltplan for me for pre-flight planning. No reason not to use it and a tablet EFB.

[The-sky-captain]

Fltplan.com for filing and weather. If its looking like turbulence or icing may be in the vicinity ill also pull up weather.gov. We are spoiled with smartphones, Internet and GPS. I learned to fly in the modern age and love to hear my dad talk about the old days of GA navigation.