I recently purchased SD, having played with the beta many moons ago. I used it in anger this weekend to plan a trip to Bitburg. I remain impressed with the software overall, but there were a few things that didn't work so well and I thought I'd post my feedback. It may be that some of these features are already present - in which case it's possibly a usability issue. Although I'm focussing on criticisms, I want to stress that I'm very happy with the software, these are just suggestions for possible areas of improvement.
1. Names of uploaded routes on GPS
It would be great to have some control over the names of the routes that are uploaded to my Garmin 496. I like to number my routes so that they appear in the order I will use them. Also, I often upload multiple routes for the same leg - sometimes the alternate route is in case I can't get a zone transit; another reason is that I want to upload alternatives when planning at home, but decide which one to use on the day after discussion with others in the group, maybe for weather reasons. For example (all routes beginning with the same digit are different options for the same leg):
00 EGBJ-LFAC
01 EGBJ-LFAC (alternative route in case transit refused)
10 LFAC-EDRB
20 EDRB-LFAC
21 EDRB-LFQQ (alternative route via Lille, leg 1)
30 LFAC-EGBJ
31 LFQQ-EGBJ (alternative route via Lille, leg 2)
Unfortunately, the routes are displayed in alphabetical order on the G496, which means I have to think a bit more when selecting a route. Worse, the only way I can find to have alternative routes between the same airfields is to upload on different days! Even a simple 2-digit prefix would be a step forward; ideally I'd like to edit the route name myself.
2. Computer hangs when uploading multiple routes
This is a bug with a simple workaround. If I try to upload several routes to the G496 without disconnecting the device in between uploads, it will hang the computer (only the mouse cursor remains responsive) after one or two uploads. A hard reset is required, Ctl-Alt-Del won't work. Platform is both Win7 Home 32bit and Win7 Ultimate 64bit, latest Garmin drivers. Workaround: disconnect the device each time after uploading a route.
3. "Your journey passes through multiple TRAs/TSAs"
This message is useful only if there is a way to display the affecting airspace. In some cases, SD displays individual messages for each item in the Flight Details pane, and you can click to see the relevant depiction in the main chart. However, after a certain number is reached, it just displays an aggregated message and I couldn't find out how to see the individual items. In the case of NOTAM-activated airspace, this appears not to display in the Virtual Radar either, so I had no way to see what SD was unhappy about.
4. Printed frequencies on FIR boundaries
The choice of frequencies that are displayed on the PLOG are not modifiable, AFAICS, and don't always contain relevant frequencies. E.g. routing LFAT-VEDUS-TALUD-BETEX-EDRB, I would expect to see Brussels Info 126.9 and Paris Info 125.7 (the FIS units either side of the France-Belgium FIR boundaries) but neither of these were printed. I appreciate that it's difficult to determine programmatically which frequencies are needed, especially if you want to keep the list down to a manageable size, but I'd have thought that FIR boundary units would be important.
In an ideal world, I'd like to have the ability to choose the frequencies that are printed (or exported them so I can work with them myself). NavBox Pro has the ability to run a search for units by type within a configurable range of the route, e.g. TWR frequencies within 5 nm, APP frequencies within 25 nm, ATIS frequencies within 10nm, NAV frequencies within 40nm, etc. You can then select the frequencies to print. This is a very powerful feature that I miss with SD.
5. Export of PLOG
Yes, I know that everyone has their own idea what a PLOG looks like! That's why I think it's important to be able to export the data. ISTR this was possible as HTML in the beta version, but doesn't seem to be any more. Of course, exporting won't satisfy everyone - but at least it might make a large minority of people happy, fairly cheaply. One day I could envisage a plugin system that enables 3rd party developers to create installable formats
6. Flight plan filing for next day
When travelling, especially abroad, it's not always possible to get a web connection. Or it might be possible via your mobile, but not on the laptop. But it's not possible to submit a VFR flight plan before the day of flight. This means that you need to find a connection for your laptop every day that you want to submit a FPL (and you need to carry your laptop around too).
It would be great to be able to submit a pending FPL for a future date, then manage it from the SD Web site customer area. By "manage", I mean to select a pending FPL, optionally change the start date/time, and then submit it. I could manage these simple operations from a mobile phone browser or an airfield's self-briefing terminal.
7. Minor printing frustrations
I always want to print landscape. Why can't SD remember that setting? And why do I always need to click the Print button twice?
I hope some of these suggestions might prove useful - thanks for a great bit of software.
Rich