FAA flight charts expire twice a year. Most pilots hate to exchange the expensive charts – but they have no choice. According to FAA flight rules, they always have to be in possession of a current and legal flight chart.
The second aspect all pilots are concerned about is their situational awareness. Where am I at any time of my flight? Here, a moving-map GPS is a perfect solution. Now, a pilot must crosscheck his GPS position with the current and appropriate flight chart. A new touch-screen GPS “combines” the GPS function with a current FAA chart. No more charts needed!
The new iFly 700™ GPS is the perfect combination of affordability, capability, and usability, the manufacturer claims. They appear to be true. Only $499 + $69/year for unlimited updates is definitely a good deal.
See the general description of the iFly 700 here. Manufacturer’s web s site: AdventurePilot.com
I test flew the iFly 700 today, and I can gladly confirm that this GPS really delivers what the company promised. Here are most of the highly desirable features many competitors cannot meet:
Intuitive interface
• Designed the way you think, very easy to figure out
• Buttons fade away when not in use, maximizing map visibility
• Plug & fly (just plug in the unit and it will go straight to the map, ready to begin your flight)
• Big buttons throughout, making it easy to use even in the bumpy flights
• Zoom levels from 2 to 100 NM per inch
• Clear warnings if any sectionals are expired
• Touch-n-drag scrolling
• Single-touch to zoom in/out
• Single-touch to re-center & track current location
• Single-touch to switch which sectional is being displayed
Exhaustive FAA Charts
• Includes all STAR, Approach and Departure Charts
• Includes airport taxi diagrams
• "History" button allows toggling between the maps and recently viewed plates
• Touch-sensitive panning and zooming
• Easy to update charts through the website
Flight Planning
• One-touch "Direct-to" flight planning
• Supports multi-leg flight plans
• Rubber-band route line modifications (just touch & drag a route line to make a change, such as bending it around an airspace)
• Save/Load/Reverse flight plans
• Flight plan automatically saved/restored between power cycles. So you can plan your flight at home, turn off the device, take it to your plane, plug it in, and your flight plan and map is all ready-to-go
• Bright magenta route lines
• Ability to search for airports by code, airport name, or city name
Detailed airport information
• Geo-data
• Public/private
• Attendance schedule
• Common, ATC, and other communication frequencies
• Runway(s) type, condition, lighting, gradient, markings, etc
• Traffic patterns
• Available IFR equipment
• Obstructions
• Any additional FAA remarks
Unprecedented spatial awareness
• Show your position on an actual FAA published sectional map
• Sectional map images are digitally enhanced for maximum contrast & visibility
• Pre-loaded with every sectional, including Alaska and Hawaii
• Pre-loaded with the IFR Low-enroute charts for the lower 48 states
• Pre-loaded with all the approach, departure, and STAR plates for all 50 states
• Pre-loaded with all the FAA published airport diagrams
• Single-touch to change which sectional map is being displayed
• When zoomed out, important airspaces are highlighted
• Touch a map to quickly see the distance & bearing from current location
• "Find Nearest" option to quickly find nearby airports, ASOS/AWOS freqs, navaids, etc.
• Sectionals maps include all "border" information - nothing is hidden. It’s just like having an actual sectional map.
• Ability to show distance-radials around your current location
• FAA published TFRs can be seen on the maps
Instruments include
• Speed
• Course
• Altitude
• Flight Duration
• Current Time
• Bearing
• Turn
• XTE (Cross track error)
• VMG (Velocity made good)
• ETE: Final (Estimated time en-route to final destination)
• Dist: Final (Distance to final destination)
• ETE: Waypoint (Estimated time en-route to next waypoint)
• Dist: Waypoint (Distance to next waypoint)
• Course tape (for "Follow the Dot" style navigation)
• Ability to toggle extended/basic instruments
Simple Data Updates
• With a low cost annual subscription get unlimited easy updates from any internet connected computer
• Use your own USB Flash Drive, or include one with your purchase
• Always have the latest sectionals, FAA airport databases, TFRs, sectional maps, and charts
• Ability to quick-update latest TFR data just prior to your flight
• Download the application updates to always have the latest new features
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