Primarily for general aviation discussion, but other aviation topics are also welcome.
#950659
Some of you will know that NATS having been working for the past months on a project to make planning a VFR flight safer and easier.

We believe that some key functionality is essential in any such pre-flight planning tool and must include the following:

• Simple user interface
• Free at point of use
• Graphical NOTAM depiction
• Generates alerts when a planned route interacts with controlled or restricted airspace
• Generates basic Pilot’s Log
• Comprehensive VFR database

NATS have been looking hard for products that incorporate this functionality and for a way of acknowledging the clear safety benefits that any such product would bring to the GA community.

We are nearly there! Beta testing is well underway of a truly innovative and exciting tool developed by a well known and respected UK company who already specialise in VFR Flight Planning and In-flight GPS.

Watch this space for updates as we approach a launch date in time for the Easter Weekend.

In the meantime, if you feel you would like to be one of a small team of Beta testers to help in the final stages of validating the tool, then please PM me.
Last edited by NATS GA Lead on Thu Mar 31, 2011 1:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
By IMCR
#950660
Achieving all of that is a tough challenge, very well done indeed if it is achieved, with a FOC product.

I assume it will be useable in the cockpit as opposed to a preflight planning tool?
By fuzzy6988
#950667
Wow. Sounds cool! :D

I wonder if there would be sufficient demand in future for an IFR planning tool as well.
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By Tall_Guy_In_a_PA28
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#950672
I assume it will be useable in the cockpit as opposed to a preflight planning tool?

I think the original post is very clear what the scope of the tool is and your assumption is incorrect.
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By Timothy
#950680
But, from hints and whispers, I think it is likely that aspects of the same tool will also run on a suitable GPS equipment in the aircraft.
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By JonathanB
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#950684
Having seen it and had a quick play, I have to say it's a very good entry-level product that works well. I've fed back a couple of comments already. Not sure how much info I can reveal though, so I'll leave that to the other Jonathan to reply to specific questions regarding GPS etc.
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By Dave W
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#950695
Holy Grail? Image

This sounds magnificent, regardless of the answers to the following questions:

What are the hardware requirements?
Is it Web based?
Smartphone/tablet usable?
Can it upload to a GPS?
Can I have it in red?

I must say, I am impressed with the very existence of this initiative from NATS/JS and the Company That Cannot Yet Be Named, but which for some reason I am thinking of using the letters TD.

I am intrigued that this thread has so few contributors so far.
By TorqueSplit
#950699
I am intrigued that this thread has so few contributors so far.


Everyone is busy cancelling their flight planning software subscriptions :)
By Intercepted
#950707
If there would be no commercial interest to protect I believe a product like this should be released as Open Source and/or a suitable web-service based API be developed. This would make it possible for any GPS manufacturer to plug in to the software and develop their own translations layer for data.
Last edited by Intercepted on Thu Mar 31, 2011 4:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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By JonathanB
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#950728
I think I can safely say that it probably won't be released as Open Source as there will be commercial software to protect, based as it is on existing technology.

I don't think there is much problem with me saying that it will run in a browser on PC or Mac, but I don't think it will run on all Smartphones or tablets (not iOS for sure).

PS. This is all speculative on my part having had a preview of the software and a short play. I'd better not say much more!
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By CaptChaos
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#950742
JB, is this the solution that has name beginning with P?
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By eharding
#950760
JonathanB wrote:I don't think there is much problem with me saying that it will run in a browser on PC or Mac, but I don't think it will run on all Smartphones or tablets (not iOS for sure).


Hmm. Interesting - that implies leverage of some plugin framework, maybe Silverlight - that would make sense if the vendor had the application logic in a big pile of .NET code they wanted to move into the browser in a hurry.

I might, of course, be barking up the wrong tree.

We'll just have to wait and see what they come up with!
By Bathman
#950786
Bit late mate Skydemon got all this and more