I am using SD to plan a long trip across the US from Miami to San Diego. Doing so, I have stumbled across a couple of snags:



1) The map shows airport names. Airport names are also shown on the information page to each airport. In fact, it is quite difficult to find out the airport ID! The bigger airports have the ID shown in the title of the information page (these are the ones with a "K" as the first letter in their ID). But there are many, many more smaller airports and airfields which all have an ID but which doesn't show up on the info page. On the PC version you can hover the mouse over the airport and it will show. In the iPad version this is not possible. For example, the map shows "LOUIS ARMSTRONG NEW ORLEANS" which has the airport ID of KMSY. In this case, the airport ID does show in the info page but the map still shows the long name, which significantly clutters the complicated airspace in and around New Orleans. Another example of a smaller airport is "LE MAIRE MEMORIAL". Its ID is 1L0 which is only shown on the Plog (iPad). I can't find it on the airport info page.

Suggestion: It would be great if I could somewhere select whether to show IDs or full names of airports to be displayed on the map. In fact, I would prefer the much shorter IDs because that reduces clutter significantly. Also, I would like to see the airport ID and full name shown on its corresponding info page for all airports, even the small ones.




2) On the iPad: When I put a waypoint on an airport I can't get at the waypoint info. By "long tapping" on the waypoint I get the airport menu. If I want to get at the waypoint menu I have first to drag the waypoint somewhere else on the map and then "long tap" on it. Afterwards I need to drag it back to where it came from. Pretty tedious.

Suggestion: Why not use the same solution as with airspace info? Long tapping on any place in the map brings up a window which gives me the options to get more information for each possible airspace overlying this point. If this worked the same with a waypoint collocated with an airport, I could select whether I intended the airport or waypoint.




3) Neither on the PC nor on the iPad do I see the total time elapsed (i.e., EET) and cumulative distance for each waypoint in the route. I see the time required and length for each individual leg, but not their cumulative time and distance. The only way to show this uses a rather ugly hack: by assigning the time 0:00 to the departure time and choosing "populate ETA" in the Plog menu I can trick the Plog to show me EET. There's no way I could find, though, to get at the cumulative distance.

Suggestion: Include EET and Distance Travelled as choosable columns for the Plog (PC and iPad) as well as show them in the Route Details window on the PC.




4) The old issue regarding being able to specify fuel stops and stop overs as part of a route. Here is the situation: I am planning a long trip from Miami to San Diego. First I need to figure out a routing for the entire trip, which I plan in SD. Then I need to look at the fuel calculation and see where a fuel stop is required. So now I have one long route extending all the way across the US and there's no easy way to specify where I plan to stop and take on fuel.

You could say that I should plan the trip as a sequence of separate routes. That, however, is rather inconvenient because I need to know the entire routing first to figure out where I need to stop for fuel. Also, the route might change for some reason and now I'm facing the danger that, potentially, all subsequent routes need to be changed as well because, e.g., I stop for fuel earlier, which requires an earlier fuel stop in the next route and so on.

When I have to deviate to an alternate airport, e.g., for weather, this affects at least 2 separate route files and potentially many more because of domino effects due to fuel planning. If I had a single route with user specifiable stop overs there are no domino effects. I can do it all in one file.

Suggestion: Give me the choice to specify "land here" for any waypoint along my route. If I select "land here", give me the choice to specify "Fuel on departure" and "Time of departure". The former enters the fuel calculation while the latter allows me to plan my ETA accordingly.




I hope this helps, -- Chris.