Are there any plans to incorporate the use of fuel tables in the aircraft profiles?
I fly several different types of helicopter - all of which have a variable C of G of the fuel tank / tanks. Just being able to add one value for each tank isn't really accurate enough.
It would also be good to be able to define the order in which tanks are used, i.e all at the same time or sequentially.
Thanks

No, no such plans.

Although succinct and to the point - that's not the most helpful of answers - as I have noted many of your replies seem to be!!

Many people are paying you a great deal of money to provide a service - however from reading many of your replies it seems to me that you are only prepared to publish a program that suits "your idea" of what a flight programming application should offer. There are numerous instances of suggestions and requests for features that are readily available in many other applications, and indeed SHOULD be available in any decent planning application that are missing from Skydemon, however it seems that if you don't like them they will never see the light of day in what is otherwise a very good app. I accept that there is a balance to find between keeping the app simple to use and packing it full of features that makes it unwieldy - however basic functions to make the app work accurately should not fall into the "disregard out of hand bin".

I have been a subscriber for several years, and despite the many shortcomings of the app that I have found over the years I have stuck with it and continued to pay my subscription in the belief that over time the app would improve and develop. It seems I may have been mistaken in that assumption.

We would only expect someone to subscribe to SkyDemon if it was helpful to them. Not based on the idea that at some point in the future we will add their personal desired features.

When people ask us for new features we try to be very forthright in our consideration for them. We have a good gauge of what the mass market wants and what is likely to make the product more complicated than we want it. Our sense of this is part of what keeps SkyDemon the most popular VFR app in Europe. Often we add features people ask for that very day, and often we have to say sorry but we have no plans to implement that particular feature. We like to be honest.

We make no promises that you'll like our answer if you ask for something and we feel it falls into the latter camp above. Sorry!

I'll also add that SkyDemon "improves and develops" with each and every release. The fact that it doesn't align with what you personally expect from it is unfortunate, but there is no quicker path to failure than trying to please everybody.

Totally agree with your response Tim, SD is a great tool and it just gets better with each release but as you say you cannot please everyone!

+1 to Tim.

I'm not suggesting for a moment that symoonbeam's feature request is unreasonable or that others won't want it, but I think it is unrealistic to suggest that because Tim has no plans to implement it that somehow "the belief that over time the app would improve and develop... [is] mistaken"

Anyone that has seen Tim's rapid responses here and on the Flyer forums will know that isn't the case. 

I think you are being unnecessarily harsh on Tim and the SD team. I too, have been a subscriber for a number of years and the app HAS improved and developed by leaps and bounds over the time that I have been a subscriber. It is a completely different app today than it was when I first subscribed.

No-one is forcing you to subscribe. If the app does not meet your requirements, why are you still a user? The fact that you continue to subscribe suggests that, in spite of it's perceived shortcomings, you find that it is still superior to any of the other offerings out there.

Furthermore, I doubt you will find another product in the field where the development team is as pro-active and responsive and as the SD team.



Mike
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As I mentioned - I do think Skydemon is a very good app in its current form, and without a doubt it has improved over the years- but it could be a lot better and more useful to a lot more people / larger market and therefore more profitable to the developers.

I do a lot of my flying across the whole of Africa - skydemon covers some areas pretty well (East Africa and South Africa) but nothing for West Africa.
I particularly like the SkyDemon interface and it's ease of use - and in general the planning functions - My point is that it COULD be a whole lot better - not just in my point of view but in straightforward objective terms. For example on the W&B issues - what is the point in planning something with a system that is guaranteed to provide wrong information in aircraft that use a variable C of G for fuel, and may actually have you unwittingly exceeding the C of G limits, when it is actually not that hard to implement?

Sky painter said-"Furthermore, I doubt you will find another product in the field where the development team is as pro-active and responsive and as the SD team."

The developers of OzRunways are just as good if not better than the SkyDemon team - having said that - they perhaps go too far the other way, and as a result, OzRunways is so crammed full of features that it has become complicated to use - I actually end up using a combination of both systems to provide what I need - however that is not the point - The point is - it COULD and SHOULD be better than it is, and at the very least should provide accurate planning information.

If the intention is to provide something only for a comparatively small VFR GA market flying simple uncomplicated aircraft - fine - but it is doing more than that (hence the IFR mode - etc) - If you want to appeal to a larger market you have to deal with the needs of that market.

My ideal solution from the options available would be a combination of Skydemon and Ozrunways - one provides a clear precise interface and is easy to use - the other provides all the data in terms of charts/notams/weather and aircraft planning. It would just be good to be able to do it in one app with one subscription rather than two or more and in My view, with a little bit of effort and research into the wider important requirements for planning, SkyDemon could easily be that App.

+1 for Tim. Why is it particularly what symoonbeams deems better that would make SD a better program? Very few people in GA fly aircraft needing fuel tables. Hence the addition of that feature makes the interface more complicated for everyone while benefitting only a few of its user base. Tim is also looking at how many people ask for a feature and will develop it if demand warrants. See, for example, the multi route feature. Or the improved geography data. Or the live PLOG.

-- Chris.