Advanced Tips

DUATS is being shut down on May 16. The official reason is that the contract between the FAA and CSRA (a government contractor that was formerly called CSC) is expiring. The more practical reason is that electronic flight bag apps have completely revolutionized how most general aviation pilots plan flights and file flight plans.

The iPad is a must-have for today's modern instrument pilot, serving digital approach charts, in-flight weather and even backup flight instruments. Here are some important points to consider though before climbing through the clouds with an electronic flight bag.

The latest generation of ADS-B receivers now offer subscription-free weather, traffic, GPS, backup attitude, pressure altitude and flight data recording. As the feature list has grown, the options and settings list has also grown. In this post, we'll walk through the various options for configuring your Stratus, so you can get the most out of your investment.

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.

For better or worse, the FAA is doing away with the traditional FAA flight plan form and will soon start requiring all pilots to use the ICAO flight plan form when submitting flight plans for flights within the U.S. To help with the transition process, check out this new video from Garmin covering how to set up your airplane profile and file an ICAO flight plan in the Garmin Pilot app.

Digital logbooks have been around for many years, but ForeFlight's introduction of this feature in late 2015 seems to have turbocharged adoption. More and more pilots are using the app to log flights and track currency, but there's more to this feature than just basic flight logging. Here are seven ways to get the most out of your new logbook.

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.

Being able to receive ADS-B radar imagery on your iPad may seem like the best innovation since GPS, but it can also lead you down the wrong path if you're not aware of its capabilities and inherent limitations. Here's a look at five different real-world flying scenarios to help you better understand how to properly use it when flying near precipitation and convective weather.

iOS 11 includes thousands of tweaks and new features as part of the update. Here we'll take a look at some of the less-known additions that will allow you to further customize your iPad experience.

Using the iPad at night brings some additional benefits to your flying, but also can introduce new challenges. Here we'll cover a series of tips to help you maximize your experience when flying with the iPad at night.