Advanced Tips

Sporty's and iPad Pilot News recently partnered with ForeFlight to present an all-new webinar to explore the latest new features in aviation's top app. The presentation, led by Ryan McBride, lead product designer at ForeFlight, provides expert advice on how to go beyond the basics and learn app shortcuts that can really pay off in flight.

Today you can confidently navigate the islands with everything you need right on your iPad, including geo-referenced VFR and IFR en route charts, airport and airspace databases, synthetic vision and even ADS-B weather in certain spots. Here we're going to take a closer look at the ForeFlight Mobile and Garmin Pilot, since they offer the most comprehensive resources for Caribbean-bound pilots.

Pilots trust the iPad because it is easily the most reliable and functional tablet available today. Even with this reliability, it's important that you periodically take time and dive deeper into your iPad's settings, apps and accessories to make sure everything is configured properly to ensure peak performance. Here's a list of tasks you should consider performing once a year to keep it running at peak performance.

ForeFlight version 11 is now available, and it includes a number of interesting additions as usual. For Performance Plus and Business Performance subscribers the new 3D airport preview tool is the most interesting. Here's how to use it.

Garmin Pilot is one of the most advanced and capable aviation apps available to pilots today, but it can be challenging at times to keep up with all that it can do. Here are 3 quick video tips to show how to use the new Document viewer, Model Output Statistics (MOS) weather forecast and storm cell movement.

The iPad is an engaging visual tool, but many pilots forget about its many audio uses. Especially for those pilots who worry about spending too much "heads-down" time with the iPad, it's worth understanding how apps use audio to make flying more efficient and safe. Let's look at some of the options, and how to set up an audio connection to your headset.

ForeFlight offers one of the most comprehensive set of flight management features, accessible from the Edit section of the Route Editor on the Maps page. This small, but feature-rich drop-down window allows you to enter aircraft performance data, enter/modify flight plans, add arrival/departure and instrument approach procedures to your route.

Among its many updates late last year, ForeFlight added the ability to get pre-departure clearances (PDC) and digital ATIS (D-ATIS) via the app. We've used it on some recent flights and really like how much time and hassle it saves; at a busy Class B airport anything that saves calling clearance is a good thing. As easy as it is, though, there are a few important steps to follow. Here's a look at the process.

The hidden Control Center screen remains one of the most useful features on iPhone and iPad, allowing you to quickly access commonly-used settings and apps. It's especially useful during iPad preflight, allowing you to quickly optimize wireless and network settings before takeoff without the need to leave your EFB app.

While ADS-B Out avionics are pretty simple to operate (they're basically just upgraded transponders), it is important to ensure your system is working properly. Simply choosing the wrong setting during installation can lead to significant errors, and we've heard a number of stories where this has happened. Fortunately, it's free and easy to check.