ForeFlight adds Flight Plan transfer with Garmin Avionics
The FlightStream 210 module allows an iPad to wirelessly communicate with Garmin panel-mount GPS receivers.
ForeFlight and Garmin made big news at Oshkosh a few months back with the announcement that the two companies were working together to allow an iPad running ForeFlight to wirelessly connect to Garmin GTN and GNS panel-mount navigators.
The first release allowed pilots flying with Garmin GNS 430W/530W or GTN 650/750, a GDL 84/88 ADS-B transceiver and the Garmin FlightStream module to send ADS-B weather/traffic, GPS position data and AHRS pitch/bank info directly to ForeFlight (you read in detail how this works here).
The big thing missing though was the ability to transfer flight plans back and forth between the iPad and your installed Garmin GPS, a feature the Garmin Pilot app has had in place for awhile. Fortunately pilots didn’t have to wait long, as ForeFlight rolled out an app update earlier this week that enables this flight plan transfer.
After connecting your iPad to the Garmin FlightStream module via Bluetooth in the airplane, you’ll see a new Panel button at the top of Maps screen. Tap this to display a menu with 2 flight plan transfer options: Load from Panel and Send to Panel.
When you send a flight plan from ForeFlight to the panel you’ll need to take one extra step to confirm the change on the GTN or GNS navigator before it becomes active. There are no confirmation steps necessary when sending a flight plan from the panel to ForeFlight, and you even have the option to have ForeFlight automatically update the flight plan whenever a change is made on the panel.
Check out this video from ForeFlight to see the process in action:
