cct, we do plan on introducing a new window where weather conditions can be entered for the route, and it will make it very easy to do this for all legs or just a selection. This will initially include just winds but at some point pressure will be catered for too. I believe this will also address the original issue of somebody wishing to specify nil wind for the whole trip easily.

We got rid of the import and export buttons for aircraft because aircraft are now always just files sitting within your SkyDemon folder, in the Aircraft folder, and are therefore easily shareable.

GraemeH, I'm quite keen to learn how the new vertical nav stuff makes you feel you are working against the software. At its current point the feature does little more than draw the climbs and descents required to achieve the levels you already set (and set in the same way). Obviously, the point of these feature additions is to make the product better, not to make anyone feel it has gotten in any way worse.

pink leader, I started writing a response to your various points but then realised that most of them seemed to be because you hadn't discovered the weather window. All I will say is that winds aloft are turned on by default in the beta to make people aware of the new feature; they are easily turned off and we haven't yet decided whether they should be turned on by default in the actual release. I think I have mentioned elsewhere what extra weather you can expect to see in SkyDemon as we move forward. Winds aloft is only the first pick. I believe we present it on the 2D map in a similar manned to Flitestar.

I acknowledge that some features will have more utility to pilots who fly IFR or at least towards that kind of flying. This is a consequence of bringing SkyDemon in line with other products that have previously offered features which we didn't. In every case we have attempted to actually make SkyDemon _easier_ to use when we added something with potential complexity. If we failed to do this with any feature, it'll be corrected; that's the point of a beta.

The clouds shown in Enroute Features come from either TAF or METAR (depending on which is selected). Cloudbase in TAF and METAR is relative to aerodrome level, so of course we add this to the value before drawing relative to MSL. In the future a continuous forecast cloudbase will be optionally shown here too.

Sounds good to me



-

Chris

Firstly, apologies to WLAC FLyer for starting this thread in the wrong section - version 2 was labeled as a preview rather than Beta as per 1.5 so I thought this section was more suitable. I'm happy for the thread to be moved if necessary.



Tim - You said of the new features "This is a consequence of bringing SkyDemon in line with other products that have previously offered features which we didn't."



PFMS has many, many features - Airspace any colour I want - 20 different map zoom levels each with user-selectable objects (Please don't consider this a feature request for SD :-) but no way to tell it not to fly over VRPs at 700ft, 8 miles from the field with 1300ft terrain between!



SkyDemon's simplicity was the very reason for my change, specifically as PFMS Vnav was far more trouble than it was worth. SD did exactly what I needed for VFR planning, nothing more, nothing less. IMCR flight planning (i.e. non-airways IFR) is virtually the same process as for VFR, and airways planning is totally different altogether.



I get the feeling I'm working against the software as I've had to perform extra steps for each flight plan that were not needed in previous versions. Removing winds aloft leg by leg and introducing vnav "control" waypoints on some routes, or just forgetting about the "Enroute Features" window altogether. The TAS/IAS conversion I can live with as at my speeds it's only 5 or 6 knots, but it's not ideal for how I plan either.



If Vnav can be made to work correctly when reversing routes, then I'm sure it will be useful for a lot of people. However if the current implementation is treated as vertical guidance it's not "safe". The issue being the lowering airspace ceiling, No airspace infringement on the outbound route, climbing infringement on the way back, as we discussed on email.



I do feel that the established PPL plogs contribute to airspace infringement risk - Everybody is happy with the Min Safe Altitude, but because of the set altitude+wind forecast+DR navigation mindset, there's no concept of a leg Maximum Altitude or Altitude Ceiling. I was using the "Enroute Features" magenta line for this very task, then copying that information, converted to Flight Levels where required. in to my own format plog (A4 plogs are no good when your aeroplane has a stick!). For each leg my plog shows me how high and how low I can fly, then I go under or over clouds are desired. Essentially planning a safe "box" to fly in, rather than one specific altitude path.



I've found out that putting SkyDemon into Offline Mode prior to working with any flight plans works around my Winds Aloft issue, and hopefully you'll find a solution to the Vnav/reverse route issue from our email conversation.



I hope you don't find my comments unhelpful - SkyDemon is still far and away the best flight planning software I've seen, and hopefully you'll be able to keep the software as easy to use for as many people as possible.



Regards,

--Graeme


G-AHAU, Andreas, Isle of Man

Cheers.

We're treating the issue of a route not being broadly the same when reversed as a bug, and it will definitely be fixed. Today's update will include the first sighting of an Enroute Conditions window that will make it easy to set the wind to 000/00 for all legs.

Hi Tim,



The Enroute Conditions window seems an ideal compromise. Thanks!



However, the TAS and GS still seem to vary as the waypoint is dragged to different places, even with 000/00 in the winds, so I guess there's a value being remembered somewhere.



--Graeme

G-AHAU, Andreas, Isle of Man

I'm really confused with how the plog calculates TAS as we can only enter IAS in aircraft cruise profiles. Any tips/tricks (I'm used to dealing with TAS when flight planning for FliteStar etc)

TAS is a function of IAS and the altitude you're at, so SkyDemon is able to calculate it pretty accurately at every point on your journey.

Hmmm - OK - I'll need to figure out how to enter the information into the aircraft model for different IAS at different levels. Will SkyDemon select the appropriate cruise setting based on the level - ie if I fly one longish leg at 3000 and one longish leg at FL120 where both IAS and TAS and GS will be quite different

SkyDemon looks at the cruise profile you've set for a leg and uses the IAS that profile produces, converting it to TAS as necessary.

Perhaps our aircraft model isn't yet sophisticated enough to accurately model the aircraft you fly. How do you normally set the aircraft up for different legs? Do you fly a particular IAS or power setting or some other config?

Hi Tim,



Just to be clear, the issue I reported yesterday with maving a waypoint and seeing varying TAS and GS and wind 000/00 set - no other variables were changed, altitude, aircraft and profile remained constant.



--Graeme

G-AHAU, Andreas, Isle of Man