Since we pay a considerable sum of money for our NOTAM feed directly from Eurocontrol, I can't wait for Jonty to inform us of the location of free, public-domain NOTAM data that can be legally integrated into flight-planning software. I am full of anticipation.

All the other software I have ever bought provides free bug fixes for the version I have purchased and if new features are added I have the choice to pay to get them or not if I don't need them, and thats the way I like it. It sounds like with Skydemon I would be paying for updating the proprietary charts (I'd prefer to have the CAA ones as the town locations are more accurate and they would match the charts I use when I fly), I would be paying for new features that I may not even use (Skydemon looks to have everything I need of flight planning software now), and I'd be paying for the continuing use of NOTAMS and weather that is provided free by official organisations.

I know Skydemon need to make money to keep going but I don't agree with having to pay a large proportion of the original cost each year to just keep the original functionality going. No other software I use has the same issue.

The renewal price is £89 for plan and mobile. Less if you just use plan.



Is £7.50 per month really too much considering that you are getting chart and airspace updates, new features virtually monthly, not to mention the brilliantly integrated weather and NOTAMs?

I may be misunderstanding the licence agreement, appologies if I am. On the Store pages it says 'Includes one year of chart updates, software upgrades, NOTAM and weather subscription.'  To me this means that after a year I have to pay to keep getting notams and weather data in Skydemon, is this not the case?

Ditto

JontyB

Frankly I think this is whingeing of the worst kind. You do not have to buy the product. Plenty of public service data of all kinds is free but its those who package it in a useful way who add value and deserve to be recompensed for meeting a market need. Since when was the value of anything determined by its component cost?

By the way forgoing updates will not prevent you getting NOTAMs etc.

You have a choice  ..exercise it one way or the other but don't whine for the sake of a few quid.

D

I've been using the free NotamPlot which shows notams on a map but I like the idea of having the data in flight planning software, I just don't see why people have to pay for the subscription to access publicly available data in the software. I think that the software should display the free, pulic domain data without having to pay an additional fee for it. Do the suppliers of the data know that money is being made out of it by others? I suppose if I decide to buy Skydemon I just won't subscribe to the updates, I will still have to use Notamplot and look at the weather data elsewhere which I think would be a shame.

I brought Skydemon specifically for the manner and ease which it presents Notam data.



NATS official website isn't particularly user friendly.



A classic example of this was when the waddington airshow was on. I knew it was on. I knew that there was a 10 mile restriction yet I could I couldn't find any reference to it on the NATS website. It didn't even show up when I searched the webpage (it may have done if I had searched useing lat and log decimals).



Sooner or later I was simply going to bust a NOTAM area. A work college didn't check the notams one day and got busted. Another guy had to pick up an aircraft close to the london TMA with which he was unfamiler and busted.



Now I know all the know it alls (of which I am one I might add) who past comments all over the well known GA forums would say its bad planning etc. But its not always that easy. I'm may be running late, student tells me he has checked the NOTAMS etc, airfield wireless network is down.



And thats where skydemon comes it at it makes it really really easy. I sync my GPS device from home at the start of the day and it takes seconds and then I am covered from a NOTAM point of view.



Also when at work I can check the weather easily and using a dongle I can even keep updated if I am flying from an airfield without internet access.



Another aspect that I have found really useful is the speed at which I can plot long distance flights. A classic example was I had to go and take someone to pick up an aircraft from the isle of wight. It took me literally 10 mins to have the whole route plotted. Radio freq, nav aids, wind correction the lot.



I spent 150 quid on the software another 50 quid on a no name chinese satnav of ebay so 200 quid all in for a fully featured GPS product which makes me a better prepaired pilot. To me its excellent product and I would have no hesitation telling anyone to buy it.

I think calling it a subscription is wrong, it is more like paying extra for the use of the weather and notam functionality. I understand that updates to the airport and airspace data would cost something as it takes effort to maintain it but not the weather and notam data which Skydemon is getting free from a public domain source.

Jon.

You are right that both WX and NOTAM info can be got elsewhere for free. But no other programme puts the NOTAMs directly on yr GPS and warns you. Similarly weather is overlayed during planning.

Way more functionality.,  .. in my view

D