Entries by John Zimmerman

New iPad accessory update

New tablets mean new accessories, as companies like RAM and MyGoFlight follow up Apple’s announcements a few months later with their own new product introductions. A slew of new accessories hit the market recently, so here we’ll review what’s new.

CloudAhoy adds more logging options, new playback features

CloudAhoy has found a lot of fans among general aviation pilots because of its powerful flight logging and debriefing tools. For anyone who wants to be more data-driven about reviewing training maneuvers, instrument approaches or aerobatics, the app is an invaluable. Over the past six months, the app has grown up a lot, with a focus on making it easier to review flights – no matter how you log them. Here’s what’s new.

wx24 app makes METARs visual

Improving pilot weather briefings has been a focus of aviation apps since the iPhone was first introduced. With the variety of sources and the often unreadable ALL CAP text formats, some good data visualization can have a powerful impact. The latest example of this trend is the wx24Pilot app, which aims to make text weather a thing of the past.

Quit worrying: there is no such thing as an “official weather briefing”

Sometimes it seems like pilots specialize in old wives’ tales, like: “Well, that fancy iPad app doesn’t count as an official weather briefing. You have to call Flight Service or the FAA will nail you.” It makes a great story, and it plays to pilots’ innate paranoia, but it’s completely false. It’s time to bury this old wives’ tale once and for all.