Garmin continues its rapid pace of updates in 2021, and the release of version 10.4 of its Pilot app is the latest evidence. This adds some nice updates to NOTAM map layers and preflight weather briefings, but the biggest news is full support for Microsoft Flight Simulator. Now you can fly an approach on your home sim and learn to use Garmin Pilot at the same time. Here’s how it works.
Join ForeFlight’s Phil Inman for an in-depth look at the latest features in aviation’s top app, plus some advanced tips for safe flying. Topics include: daily weather forecasts, cloud layer, marked positions, new plate binder options, and more.
Garmin Pilot is loaded with features, and these go far beyond the basics of charts and airport information. In fact, it seems like the team at Garmin adds a handful of unique features with every update, sometimes without mentioning them in the release notes. Here are three we’ve been using recently that can make your preflight planning better.
It seems like there are two types of pilots: those who have never heard of Skew-T log (p) charts and true believers who know they are the source of all truth and knowledge about weather. The second group is overstating things just a bit, but the first group is definitely missing out on some helpful weather information. With a little training—and the affordable SkewTLogPro app—it’s easy to integrate Skew-T diagrams into your normal preflight routine. Here’s how to get started.
One of the standout features in Garmin Pilot is its traffic page, which looks like it’s right off a panel-mount GTN navigator. This is a decluttered view so it appears simple, but we’ve noticed many pilots don’t notice all the customization options. Here’s a look at what you can adjust.
Screenshots are one of the most useful built-in tools in iOS, whether you’re ordering takeout or planning a flight. It’s particularly handy for saving web pages that won’t be accessible in flight, so we find ourselves using all the time it for radar images, flight plan routing, and fly-in procedures. A new option in Safari makes this tool even more powerful.
Similar to the routine of having your airplane undergo an annual inspection, we recommend that you take the time to review the following items once a year to keep your iPad, apps and accessories performing at their best.
The iPad may be called an Electronic Flight Bag, but most pilots still need a real flight bag to stay organized. Fortunately, a slew of new designs offers some great options for staying organized and protecting your aviation gear, without breaking the bank.
One year after the mandate, ADS-B Out has gone from a nuisance to a reality. Capitalizing on this new avionics environment, ForeFlight released new traffic features in version 13 of their popular app, making in-flight alerts more helpful. The app also offers an improved weather forecast view and a new approach minimums feature.
Mention “flight simulator” right now and most pilots will think of the new Microsoft Flight Simulator, but not everyone has a Windows computer that’s powerful enough to run MSFS, and sometimes you only have time for a quick sim session. For those reasons—and many more—there is still a thriving market in iPad-based flight simulators. Here are our top two choices.
The iPad makes a great all-in-one cockpit tool, combining maps, flight planning, weather, documents, and so much more. That doesn’t mean it stands on its own, though. A few carefully chosen accessories can make it so much more powerful and easy-to-use. Here’s our updated list of the accessories you should consider, and our top recommendations.
The iPad Settings app offers a dizzying array of options, from changing privacy options to adjusting screen brightness. As we’ve covered before, we think a quick preflight inspection of your iPad is a good idea, but there are a few more obscure settings that some pilots might also want to review. Here are three we’ve learned about the hard way.
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