Is there a quick way to disable winds aloft in the plan? I know on the leg options I can specify it manually, but I'd like to be able to turn off auto wind calculation globally.



--Graeme

G-AHAU, Andreas, Isle of Man

Can you explain your reasoning, please? There has never been a way to "turn off" wind calculations, though you could leave the wind set at 000/00. Note that the PLOG output does have a setting whereby any wind calculations can be omitted.

We'll certainly provide an option to make it easier to set the wind for all legs to some value (for example zero) if it becomes clear people want this, but we do need to understand it.

Loaded the new Beta, and it looks good - especially with Rivers etc. However on loading a route, I get the warning that Wind Data is not available for the complete journey.



Where can I amend/set the wind fro the whole trip? I know I can on a per leg basis, but that is hard work, and not easy to update.



As others have said, the Print Centre looks good. Just need to play with margins etc to get one that fits my kneeboard.



On a related note, the ability to import or export an aircraft file seems to have gone - with the greater complexity, this would seem useful when people start posting new definitions



--

Chris

Hi Tim,



There's two reasons really:



1) For me, The whole point of SkyDemon/GPS navigation is to remove the requirement for the wind drift calculations based on forecasts. The GPS allows mostly error free navigation even when not flying at the planned altitudes. Of course winds aloft are required before setting off to estimate arrival times and ensure sufficient fuel, and also chart marking just in case a reversion to traditional is required. I'll plan a week or so in advance, load up the GPS then on the morning of the flight double check the met forecast and make a worst case check of my fuel plan. I.e. With my 80kt cruise, 20kts upper wind will (worst case) reduce my ground speed to 60kts, If the whole flight was at 60kts, would I have enough fuel?



2) I spend miserable winter nights whilst the aircraft is away for it's annual to plan what to do and where to go when the weather improves. Knowing I can make it in double quick time due to current the 40kts at 4000ft, but won't make it back without a fuel stop is not really useful information. All I'm looking for is a still air time of 2h 30m or less.



Simply being able to toggle the plan between still air and calculated would be great.



It's the same really with the Vnav stuff. The previous versions of SkyDemon had an excellent, unrivalled simplicity for the type of VFR planning I do. With the beta/preview I get the feeling I'm having to work against the software somewhat. I understand others may find these new features useful, but all I need from a (VFR) planner is the line on the chart for the GPS to follow, and an indication how high and how low I can fly, that's why when SkyDemon was launched I thought it was ideal.



I'm very conservative when it comes to cross country weather, but even so I've never managed to complete a whole flight without deviating from the planned levels due to clouds, hence I'm slightly sceptical about the requirement for vertical profile guidance in a VFR product.



Now, if I had an instument tourer with oxygen the Top of Descent point may be useful, but really from "PPL VFR" altitudes I just ballpark it.



Regards

--Graeme

G-AHAU, Andreas, Isle of Man

I agree fully with the last post. I cannot see the virtue of VNAV in VFR flying and even for IFR, my understanding is they use specific ariways etc so route planning as we know it in VFR is not what they do.

Re winds aloft, I agree its useful info ON THE DAY but useless (even misleading) at other times  .. so I usually get it from Metoffice or even from PFMS  .. so having it available in SD is useful as a guide. I do not want it to SLOW the planning process. I am sure we are not alone in separating planing from flying by at least 12 hrs and often far more  .. esp if you have many routes saved. Also when flying and if asked by ATC time to next waypoint you look at the screen not the plog.

PFMS has winds aloft (and gives the option to use them or not and whether to apply to each leg separately or not)  .. even when I was using it a fair bit, I never used the feature when planning except to see expected values at 2000, 5000 feet etc.

May I suggest that the greatest priority for SD right now is to increase the map detail/accuracy substantially. Bagby is still shown as a microlight site but has an ICAO code and a proper plate. I was looking at planning a trip to SE Ireland where it looks like there are virtually no GA/Sporting airfields. But looking at Navbox there are lots of them  .. with PPR TelNos and whether they sell fuel. For the majority of SD users (VFR) I suspect these are far more useful than extra bells and whistles only useful to a few top end users.

D

Have just updated to latest beta. Some comments:

1. I very much like the idea of putting the wind on the map. But its far too intrusive. One of the features of your maps is that they are uncluttered  .. not so now. Take a look at the PFMS incarnation  .. visible but not intrusive. Jeppesen Flitestar also gives them but not intrusive.
2. What height are winds on the 2d Map? Again PFMS allows you to choose 2000, 5000 & 8500ft
3. They can be toggled on and off
4. BUT they can also be scrolled in 1 hr intervals usually for 24 hrs
5. While we are at it, any areas with less than 2000 ft cloudbase are noted on the map with 500, 1000 & 2000 designated. In fact this is one of the main reasons I still keep up my PFMS sub!!
6. I wd like the windspeed/direction box back please and be able to leave it at 0/0 if I want
7. If you turn on TAFS/Metars you also get another set of wind barbs  .. ???
8. Like the roads & rivers  .. clear but in keeping with your style.

My thoughts for what they are worth!

D

Guys I think you are missing a few points here.



1) This new release is just a beta so please don't forget that this is by no means the finished article or what the final release will look like. This topic really should have been posted in the correct section of the the forum suggestions/Beta discussions.



2) You can turn the forecast wind off one of two ways. Firstly using leg properties (i know its long winded way but it doesn't take too long). Secondly if you enter a departure day or time, in the flight details window, that is in the past then no wind data will be displayed.



3) Are you aware of the new weather window? This allows you to select the TAF/METAR and Winds aloft Overlays. In addition it also allows you to select the wind info you require i.e selectable level winds and also hour by hour forecast for up to 12 hours (24hrs in the future release) Adjusting these bars changes the depicted barbs in the 2d view.



4) Vnav profile has been implemented to assist in a more accurate fuel calculations i would assume, because the figures i got from SD (old versions) did not reflect true fuel usage because they don't allow for the differences in fuel flow from full power climb to cruise power, cruise climb and descents. I was having to increase the values of fuel flow (in SD) by 40% to get more realistic figures for fuel required.



As i am aware the new features that are included in this latest release are for planning only and are not included in the mobile version so some of the points made above are not valid. I don't use the GPS version so cant be 100% sure.

Some excellent points here  .. will investigate more closely. Still think it clutters the previously Uncluttered maps but info is v useful. Glad one can scroll through the time .. PFMS uses buttons to be able to do this and see effect on map -- very helpful indeed. There is room to do this on SD rather than have to open a new window.

Understand completely that this is a beta  .. but thats why I posted my views.

D

Have had a play and an apology is due.

Now I see how the weather window works (height and time) and that you can toggle wind stuff on/off, its actually very good indeed.

One question, in the vertical window (en route), does the bottom of the clouds indicate cloudbase?

Cheers

D

In short No. I have looked into what you have asked and i have deduced (only by verifying on couple of TAF and METARS, so not conclusive). TAF and Metars are done on QNH readings SD Enroute window seems to depicts them by height above ground and not from altitude from sea level. If you look at EGLF metar its states 16115Z 20014KT 170V230 BKN190 11/08 Q1016 so broken cloud at 1900ft but the graphical depiction shows the bottom of the cloud at 2100ft. EGLF elevation is 240 (which i would assume would be rounded down to 200), and if that is added on the metar 1900 then we get the depicted view of 2100ft. I have alerted Tim to this and he will look into it.