We are proud to announce ForeFlight Mobile 3, the latest edition of our flagship pilot productivity and Preflight Intelligence™ app for iPhone and iPod.  ForeFlight Mobile 3 was redesigned  from nose to tail. With innovations like HD NEXRAD Slip Maps™, future flight plan filing, and a new and flexible download manager, v3.0 lets you plan and visualize your flight faster and easier than ever before. Our improved weather presentation technologies improve pre-flight situational awareness and increase pilot confidence, helping us realize the ForeFlight vision of improving safety and making pilots more productive.  Hundreds of new features and a completely redesigned user interface make ForeFlight Mobile 3 the must-have companion for any student, private, instrument, commercial, airline transport, or military pilot.

New features in ForeFlight Mobile 3:

• Brand new Slip Maps™ with slideable, zoomable maps for weather and charts.
• Flight routes displayed over animated, QICP-certified  HD NEXRAD and satellite.
• Full screen, downloadable, GPS-integrated moving map VFR sectionals.
• Full screen, downloadable, GPS-integrated moving map IFR high and low enroute charts.
• One-tap Intelligent Flight Briefings via DUATS with smart refresh, briefing email confirmations, and archival on ForeFlight servers for extra assurance.
• Redesigned route planning with NAVAID support and wind-corrected flight plans.
• New flight plan filing system with future flight plans more than 24 hours in the future, favorite aircraft, offline access, and automatic import from ForeFlight 2.
• Brand new download manager with downloads of airport diagrams, procedures, and sectionals for the entire United States. Choose to download procedures for offline use one at a time, by airport, or by state.
• Ability to pause, resume, and cancel downloads.
• Redesigned airport interface for faster access to airports, weather, and imagery.
• Global airport database with the best information from the FAA, AOPA Airport Directory, and Universal Weather and Aviation’s UVTripPlanner airport directories.
• Redesigned NOTAMs organized by airport, TFRs, and regional ARTCC.
• Local storage of all airport procedures, charts, briefings, and flight plans so you can view them offline.

ForeFlight Mobile 3 is the culmination of many months of hard work and collaborations with partners.  All of the new features are based on feedback from our passionate user community. We kept the best parts of ForeFlight Mobile 2.4, redesigned the rest from the ground up, and optimized everything. We spent months sweating pixels, testing out on the runway, and designing to fit the pilot workflow – all to create what we believe is the best aviation app for the iPhone.

ForeFlight would like to specially welcome aboard our newest partner, Weather Decision Technologies, whom we collaborated with for the past year to develop the technology that powers our new weather Slip Maps™. Thanks also go to our partners at the AOPA, Universal Weather and Aviation, and RunwayFinder.com helping us make ForeFlight Mobile 3 possible.

In July 2008, ForeFlight Mobile 2 launched alongside Apple’s new App Store to critical acclaim, becoming the highest rated iPhone aviation product in the App Store and a top five seller in the App Store’s weather category. In addition to a comprehensive airport directory, ForeFlight Mobile provides color-coded METARs, TAFs, winds aloft, infrared satellite, NOTAMs, graphical TFRs, FBOs, and flight plan filing.  ForeFlight users are part of a passionate community of aviators that enjoy the benefits of real-time support, quick fixes, frequent updates, and personable service. ForeFlight Mobile 3 builds upon this legacy of excellence, bringing more data, brilliant HD NEXRAD, and visual airport intelligence to pilots around the world.

ForeFlight Mobile 3 is available immediately in the iPhone App Store as a free download and includes the first 30 days of a ForeFlight Mobile Subscription. Subscription prices range from $49.99 for the first year for existing ForeFlight customers to $74.99 for the first year for new customers.

The iPad Aviation era keeps getting better. ForeFlight Mobile HD 3.5 is now in the App Store, bringing our moving map, heads-up display to the iPad! Tap the locate button to see your aircraft position and track. Users who enjoyed spitballing routes with the iPhone version will be happy to find this integrated into the ‘Maps’ tab on the iPad. With v3.5, all of the functionality in the iPhone version is available on the iPad! We also improved the radar and satellite on both the iPhone and iPad, with color-coded freezing precipitation, county-level warnings, and a new visible+infrared composite satellite.

New users can download ForeFlight Mobile 3.5 HD from the App Store today!
Already have the app? Click here for instructions on how to update to v3.5.

ForeFlight Slip Maps™ on the iPad and iPhone are amazing, with full-screen HD NEXRAD, satellite, flight rules, sectionals and more. Version 3.5 brings these to the next level, with killer new features done ‘ForeFlight Style’!

• Moving-map, heads up display for iPad with groundspeed, track, altitude, and GPS accuracy
• Locator icon changes to an aircraft when track available
• Animated radar and satellite for iPad
• New visible+infrared composite satellite
• Airport-level radar and satellite (see cells on or around the airport)
• Redesigned artwork for lightning, mesocyclone, tornado, and hail activity
• New base-map for radar and satellite providing street and airport level detail

With v3.5, routes are fully integrated into the iPad version. Instead of making routes a standalone window like the iPhone, we took advantage of the huge iPad screen and integrated them into our Maps. Search for a route in the top-right of Maps tab to see both the route line and a navlog overlay with detailed information about distance, course, fuel burn, and time. Want to see more of the map? Just tap the minimize button and the navlog gets out of your way!

• View the navlog with ETE, fuel, distance, and headwind component
• One tap to file a flight plan, look up ATC routes, or reverse the route
• Favorite routes and recent routes
• Remembers and displays your last saved route after you exit
• Great circle route drawing
• Routes can now include lat/lon values like 32.3N/82.2W

Version 3.5 is also stock full of performance improvements and bug fixes:

• Improved memory management
• iPhone OS 4 compatibility
• Fixed a bug that could cause a download to fail
• Fixed a crash caused by zooming on long routes
• Fixed a bug that caused blank tiles on sectional maps

ForeFlight Mobile HD version 3.7 is now available! Download it today from the App Store and grab the latest version of the user manual.

This update is a big one, delivering a breadth of new functionality to both the iPad and iPhone. Included are features we have all wanted for a while – like airway ‘cracking’, airport fuel prices, and FBO comments. Also, our iPhone-only customers have patiently awaited the iPad’s touch planning capabilities.  Today, their wait is over – this release includes fully integrated touch planning on the iPhone. The first time we saw it, we were pretty excited. Hopefully it blows your hair back a bit!

We took our time with each of these big new features and added some very ForeFlight-esque user experience gems along the way. We also polished up some of our screens, giving them a fresh face to improve contrast and readability.

On our team and in the ForeFlight community, we’re using iPads and iPhones more often than browsers now when planning flights. The new features in version 3.7 bring even more resources to your devices, allowing you to further cut the cord from your browser and desktop computer. With the introduction of iPhone and iPad airport fuel prices, airway support, FBO comments, and more in version 3.7, you will be more productive with ForeFlight HD than ever before!

First, here’s a short video introducing the big new features:

Fuel Prices and Fuel Updates

We’re really excited to bring fuel prices to ForeFlight Mobile, and we’ve added this feature in a very ForeFlight way. Not only do we provide 100LL/JetA fuel prices for thousands of FBOs, but ForeFlight customers can submit their own price updates. Coverage is awesome, and includes more than 2,300 FBOs across the US and Canada, showing prices in the appropriate currency and measurement units.

We built two new fuel price maps – a 100LL map and a Jet-A map – that show you the lowest prices at any given airport and, via some statistical magic, dynamically color code the prices region.  It shows what’s most economical (green), average (yellow), and expensive (red) according to the region in which the FBO is located. Expensive in Texas may be cheap in California, so ForeFlight dynamically adjusts the display for regional differences.

FBO and Airport Comments

ForeFlight users are some of the smartest pilots on the runway. Learn from their experience by viewing comments for an airport or an FBO.  Have something to share?  Submit your own comment about an airport or FBO from inside the app. We review all comments to ensure they are courteous and professional, and the usually appear in the app within 24 hours.

Airway and SID/STAR Support

ForeFlight Mobile HD now supports airways (victor, jet, etc). The app supports complex, multi-runway departures, entrances and exits from airways,  and even allows round-trip-editing with touch planning. Have you ever wanted to see where an entire airway runs from and to? Search for just an airway identifier to see all its elements on the map (try V16 in the Maps view) or include an airway in the middle of your routing.  Airways require a start and end point when used in a route, for example: MOONN V90 DKK

3.7 also includes SID/STAR support in the Routes and Maps view. For example, type in KCLT 36R.MERIL5 RDU J209 ORF J121 SIE CAMRN4 KJFK. Want to see what other pilots are flying? View cleared ATC routes from a departure to a destination, and cycle through each of the available options to see the route of flight with all airway and waypoints drawn on the map.

Always refer to the official arrival/departure plate from the Airport view, as the ForeFlight Maps view is not able to show vectors, altitude info, and certain other details you’ll need.  If an arrival or departure requires a particular runway input, you will be prompted to provide it, with an example.

Revamped Maps with Direct-To and iPhone Touch Planning

We rewrote our map engine to make it more flexible and support some great new features.  Direct-To is available from a waypoint or directly from touch planning.  Just tap the direct-to D to get a direct-to-routing. You can also jump directly from a waypoint to the Airports details page by tapping the blue > icon.

With 3.7, touch planning is now available for the iPhone.  This works just like touch planning on the iPad – we were all blown away the first time we saw it in action.

Simplified Download Settings and Turbo Mode

The download settings are now greatly simplified: just pick your regions once, the data you care about once, then hit Download to grab the data. You no longer need to select individual states within each catalog. If you’re upgrading from an earlier version, all of your settings will be migrated to the new system.

Users with an iPad, iPhone 3GS, or iPhone 4 can take advantage of turbo downloads. Depending on your connection speed, up to four downloads will run at the same time. And no matter what device you’re running on, VFR and IFR charts will install much faster than earlier versions – usually in under a second!

Other Enhancements:

• More runway details including displaced threshold lengths, runway headings, and more.
• ATC routes now load in Maps when selected.
• Edit button on File & Brief to easily delete flight plants.
• Maps button on File & Brief to jump over to maps and visualize your route of flight.
• Sunrise/set times now honor the “show local times” on/off setting.
• Over 60 new high-res images for iPhone 4’s retina screen.  Almost all of the images have been converted now.
• Freshened the design of the airport, METAR, TAF, and FBO views for a cleaner and more compact look.
• Support for DUATS’ degree and min lat/lon in Routes/Maps. Ex: 3006/-08045
• Support for a new waypoint/bearing/distance format in Routes/Maps.  Ex: GSO230015
• ScratchPad uses slightly smaller line when drawing.

Bug fixes:

• Better handling of downloads with low disk space.
• Faster deletion of downloads.
• Fixed bug on Maps where current location indicator and pop-ups appeared beneath route line.
• Fixed bug on main iPhone screen where badge indicator had black background instead of a pretty shadow.
• Fixed bug on iPhone with per-airport downloads of procedures.

The Pilot’s Guide to ForeFlight Mobile

We’ve updated our user manual, the Pilot’s Guide to ForeFlight Mobile HD.  Click here to get the latest version of the manual.

How to Get 3.7

New to ForeFlight?  Download ForeFlight Mobile HD today from the App Store!

Already have the app?  Follow these instructions for updating the app on your iPad or iPhone.

Need a group plan or backup subscription? View group pricing here.

ForeFlight is announcing support for external GPS receivers for iPad, iPhone, iPod touch. We’ve collected a great deal of data about how the iPad and iPhone built-in GPS receivers work in the cockpit, and quickly came to the conclusion that an external GPS receiver option is sorely needed for these devices.  With those needs in mind, we tested a variety of options over the last few months and finally found two hardware solutions that are up to the task of keeping oriented in the flight environment.

For the latest recommended devices, please visit ForeFlight’s iPad Buying Guide for Pilots. This page has the most up-to-date recommendations.

Pilots flying with ForeFlight can benefit from an external GPS.  For iPad WIFI+3G owners, these devices can replace the built-in GPS receiver for significantly better reliability and more consistent accuracy values.  For customers with devices lacking an internal GPS receiver, like the iPad WiFi-only model, these devices allow in-flight GPS positioning that isn’t otherwise possible.  These devices are authorized by Apple and require no special modifications to iPad or iPhone hardware.

Many of our customer know that we believed the GPS receiver in the iPad was not up to certain tasks and thus we intentionally avoided building in features that would lead pilots to believe otherwise. For example, showing GPS location on an approach plate without higher-quality GPS hardware was a bad idea, in our opinion – too many customers reported intermittent loss of GPS signal from the iPad or iPhone. With the availability of this newer hardware, however, we intend to open access to features that can benefit from this enhanced hardware. Stay tuned.

ForeFlight Mobile HD 4 is available for download today in the iTunes App Store! This release takes ForeFlight forward in delightful ways and lays the groundwork for brilliant features to come in 2011.

As we developed version 4, we set out these goals and themes:

• Add airspace and A/FD data: provide the chart margin data and make the airport pages of the “green” A/FDs accessible. Provide this information in an interesting way. Include airspace information, MOA operating hours and frequencies, tower hours, and more.
• Improve instrument plate organization and productivity: make it simple for both VFR and IFR pilots to organize sets of plates and airport diagrams for trips or practice sessions, and make switching between a plate, airport details page, or map simple.
• Improve the way pilots interact with the map: allow a pilot to tap anywhere on the map for information on airspace, MOAs, alert and warning areas, or airports.
• Radically improve the navigation log: provide the pilot more inflight intelligence about trip progress and allow customization of the dashboard/HUD to show desired trip information like ETEs, ETAs, course information, or other important stats (taking the route being flown into account). Auto-sequence waypoints and visually distinguish previous, current, and future trip legs. Make the new navlog and dashboard design smart and sexy.
• Introduce personal waypoints: give the backcountry pilot, a Gulf helicopter pilot, or CFI flying to the practice area the ability to add custom waypoints and use them in flight plans. Let the pilot configure waypoints from the map or import their own database of waypoints.
• Performance, performance, performance: make everything faster and smoother.
• Make ForeFlight Mobile HD 4 a platform for the future: put the plumbing in place for the big features we plan to release in 2011 and cut ties with older, slower technology.

Integrated FAA A/FD

There’s just some airport information that is only available in those green A/FDs, so we decided to include them. Now appearing on an airports page is a new segment titled “A/FD”. Click that and you’ll see the relevant page for that airport from the FAA’s A/FD. If the airport is big enough to have warranted multiple pages in the book, simply swipe left or right to get to the next page.

All New Navlog

The new navlog design is sexy, sexy, sexy. Pilots have written in frequently asking “how hard is it to include ETE and ETA!”. Well, ETE and ETA are not hard to compute. However, taking the route and active leg into account and, more importantly, displaying that information in ForeFlight style took a bit of extra chiseling.

Now available from the Maps page is a new, wider navlog that shows important metrics like summary trip information, leg times and distances remaining, and ETA. Current leg is shown in black, previous legs are faded, and you can fly a leg or fly direct to a waypoint by tapping the new arrow button shown on each leg.

Configurable Dashboard

“Make it so that I can configure my dashboard”. Done! Tap on any of the blocks in the dashboard and select the instrument you want displayed. You can choose from fifteen different instrument types, including ETE to waypoint and destination, ETA to waypoint and destination, cross-track error, bearing to next waypoint or destination, Zulu time, GPS Accuracy, and more.

Interactive Map with Airspace Information

Need to know what airspace you are coming up on or if that MOA is active? Tap within an airspace boundary or special use airspace like a MOA, warning, alert, or prohibited area and all the required details are displayed. Want to know the details of that airport ahead? Simply tap on the airport and a popover is displayed with the airport information and a button to hop to that Airport’s details.

Plates Binders

The new Plates tab on the iPad makes it simple for both VFR and IFR pilots to organize sets of plates and airport diagrams for trips or practice sessions.  Easily add new plates to your binder from the Plates tab or when viewing a plate from Airports. Search for plates by keywords, like “KMIA ILS”.  Create multiple binders to store your trips and easily toggle between them.

Personal Waypoints

Flying in the backcountry, Alaska, Africa, Gulf of Mexico, or even to the local practice area often means flying to places that aren’t specifically marked on a sectional or enroute chart. With the new personal waypoints feature, you can import a large set of waypoints from a text file or use the map to add a waypoint for any location you touch. Give that personal waypoint a name and you can include it in your route search. Download the Pilot’s Guide for instructions.

Video

We’ve made a short video that goes over the new additions and shows a quick demo of it in action.

Get it Today!

ForeFlight Mobile HD 4 is a big step forward, providing more information and content than ever before, more ways to improve productivity and organize your materials before a flight, a new navlog and configurable dashboard for monitoring progress, and even more performance and stability.  All of our screenshots show the iPad, but these great new features are available on the iPhone version, too.  The only exception is the Plates tab, which is only available on the iPad due to screen size requirements.

ForeFlight Mobile HD 4 is a free update for existing subscribers.  Click here to learn how to update your app.

For new users, ForeFlight Mobile HD 4 is a free download from the App Store and comes with a 30 day trial.

Thanks for making ForeFlight part of your flight bag and enjoy the update!

Pack Feature Automatically Selects The Data You Need For Your Flight

ForeFlight Mobile 6.1 introduces Pack—a feature that simplifies pre-flight preparation and enhances your safety by ensuring that you have all of the current charts, data, NOTAMS, fuel prices, and the latest pre-departure weather information stored on your device for inflight access. During the flight planning phase, Pack prompts you to download to your iPad or iPhone the relevant information you may need based on your planned flight. Check out our short video that introduces how to use Pack:

On the iPad

Enter your desired route in the Route Editor. The Pack icon, or suitcase, is located on the bottom right of the Route Editor.

The Pack icon is located in the lower right of the Route Editor box.

Pack analyzes your planned route against the data you already have downloaded, and then prompts you to download any additional charts, plates, TFRs, METARs, TAFs, AIR/SIGMETs, NOTAMs and fuel price data you may need for offline access.

Pack has a Settings control that toggles Enable Auto-Check on and off. Turning Enable Auto-Check ON enables Pack to automatically start the route analysis process. In the OFF position, you can still trigger Pack manually by tapping on the icon in the Route Editor.

Toggle the auto-enable for Pack in the Settings menu.

The red exclamation point badge on the Route Editor icon and on the suitcase icon indicates that you need to pack for your trip.

The red exclamation point badges indicate that you need to pack for your trip.

Tap on the Pack icon to view the download detail for your trip.

View the data you need to download for offline use in the Pack view. Download items individually by tapping the blue download arrows, or trigger the entire set by tapping Pack in the lower right.

Each type of chart or set of data is bundled into a single line item. You can download each line item individually by tapping on the blue arrow(s); or you can trigger the entire set by tapping the Pack button in the lower right corner. To help you manage the available space on your iPad, each line item is labeled with file sizes. The total file size is indicated in the lower left corner.

Modifying your route via typing in the Route Editor in the Maps view; touch planning in the Maps view; typing in the File & Brief view; or accepting expected route notifications (Flight Alerts) triggers a new Pack analysis. The updated route is evaluated and you’ll be presented with any additional data you need to download.

On the iPhone

Pack can be accessed on the iPhone in the Route view. Tap on the Menu button, then scroll to the Routes section. Tap on one of the three recent routes listed, Favorites, Recents, or Create to select the route for which you wish to Pack.

After choosing or entering a route, scroll to the bottom of the Route page to the Pack line. Just like on the iPad, after a few seconds Pack analyzes the route to determine if additional data needs to be downloaded.

Pack is available with version 6.1 of ForeFlight Mobile Standard, Pro, and Canada. ForeFlight Mobile version 6.1 is a free download for subscribers via the Apple Store. For additional information, be sure to review the Pack section of our Pilot’s Guide.

To complement the release of Pack, let’s take a closer look at the Downloads view and how to manage chart and data downloads in the app.

The Downloads view (More tab > Downloads) is the primary way to manage the charts, maps, and other information you have on your device.

Pack can be used to supplement your Download Settings to run a preflight check and ensure you have the information you need for a trip downloaded to your device for offline (inflight) use.

The Downloads View

Downloads is the primary interface to manage the charts and data you wish to have stored on your device. The selections you make here will automatically present updates at each data cycle. (Click on images for a larger view)

The main Downloads view in ForeFlight Mobile.

In the Downloads view, you can:

• Select the types of charts you need (e.g. IFR high or low enroute, VFR Sectionals, VNC)
• Select the areas where you normally fly or plan to fly (e.g. US, Canada, Oregon, British Columbia)
• Download those areas to your iPad or iPhone (and then automatically receive updates to those areas each data cycle)

Keep in mind that data downloads are separate from app software updates, which are delivered via the App Store.

Let’s walk through an example to illustrate how this works. Let’s say you are based in Tulsa, OK, USA and primarily fly IFR in the US midwest. To begin, navigate to More > Downloads.

The first section of the right hand column is labeled Download Settings.

Depending on what subscription service you have (US, Canada, and/or Military Flight Bag), you will have a list of choices similar to this screen shot:

Download Settings is where you will select chart types and States/Provinces for download.

In our example, you want to have offline access to charts and data for the midwest States where you normally fly.

Tap on the United States line, then you will see a screen like this:

In the Download Settings view, select the chart types and States you want to download to your device.

On this view, use the toggle switches (blue means the switch is ON) to select the chart types you want for each State, including Terminal Procedures, IFR low enroute charts, and VFR Sectionals for reference:

Use the toggle switches in the Download Settings view to select the chart types you want for each State. Blue means the switch is ON.

Next, select the States you want. Flying the midwest you probably want Arkansas, Illinois, Kansas, etc.

Keep scrolling and selecting (tap on each line) as many states as you need. To help you better manage the available space on your device, each line displays a file size. The yellow highlight and checkmark means the State has been selected.

Scroll below the toggle switches to select States. Tap on each line you want to download.

Ok, at this point you’re close, but not quite done!

To complete the download process you need to tap the green download button back on the main Downloads view.

Navigate back by tapping on the “Downloads” button on the top bar:

Tap on Downloads to navigate back to the main Downloads view and complete the download process.

On the main Downloads view, tap the green Download button along the bottom bar to begin the download process:

Tap the green Download button in the main Downloads view to begin downloading charts, maps, and information per your selections in Download Settings.

You will see the progress bar appear for each line item as the downloads occur:

Here the download status indicators are shown.

Things to keep in mind when managing your chart downloads:

•  Maps, charts, and data can be accessed over the Internet or from local storage on the device.

• If you see blurry charts or the “no charts” gray grid where you expect to see a chart while inflight, then the charts have not been downloaded to your device.

The Role of Pack

Think of Pack as a preflight tool for your iPad that ensures you will have the charts and information you need available for offline (inflight) use.

Based on your planned flight, Pack compares the charts and information you will need for your entire route against what you already have downloaded to your device.

The Pack analysis looks at a 50 NM corridor along your planned route (25 NM to the left and 25 NM to the right), as well as a 50 NM radius around your departure and destination, and presents a list of suggested downloads.

Important note: Pack only analyzes the charts along your route based on the chart type selections you made in the Download Settings view. So, for example, if you are planning a flight above 18,000’ be sure you have IFR High Charts turned ON.

Pack only analyzes your route based on the chart type selections in Download Settings.

To keep going with our example, say you need to fly from Tulsa, OK to Portland, OR. You already have some midwest States selected and downloaded so Pack suggests the remaining charts and information you may need to complete your flight (eg Oregon, Idaho, Wyoming, etc):

Tap on the Pack (suitcase) button on the Route Editor to open the Pack analysis window.

Tap on the Pack (suitcase) button on the Route Editor to open the Pack analysis window. Tap the Pack button to begin the additional downloads.

Here are a some things to keep in mind with Pack:

• Pack data seamlessly integrates with the rest of the data you already have downloaded or are viewing over the Internet. View all of the charts, maps, and data as you would normally.

• Currently Pack only suggests downloads based on the chart types you have selected in your Download Settings (eg IFR high enroute, VFR Sectionals)

• For redundancy fans: It is good practice to test that the data you are expecting to be there inflight is there. Before you leave your Internet connection, put your iPad in Airplane Mode and test access to the charts and data you will need.

• Packed data is downloaded based on the current data cycle and will not automatically update at the next data cycle. In our example trip from Tulsa to Portland, the additional State downloads for Oregon, Idaho, and Wyoming will show in the main Downloads view, but not in the State selector.

To illustrate that last one, in these screen shots you’ll see confirmation that Oregon data has been downloaded on the main Downloads view:

In our example, Packed Oregon charts are confirmed as downloaded in the main Downloads view.

But the Oregon data is only temporary for that data cycle, unless you manually select to add the State:

In our example, Oregon charts are Packed, but Oregon is not auto-selected in the State selector.

Deleting Data

Hand in hand with downloading data is how to delete it when you no longer need it or when you need to free up some space on your device.

Deleting Pack Data

Maps, charts, and data downloaded by Pack will be saved until the next data cycle. After the new data cycle goes active, you can bulk delete the items you Packed during the last data cycle by tapping More > Downloads > Delete > Delete Expired.

In the main Downloads view, Delete > Delete Expired clears out expired data on the new effective date.

You can also delete Packed data before the data cycle change over. Swipe right to left on the line to reveal the Delete command:

Swipe right-to-left to delete a specific State chart type.

Deleting Data From The Downloads View

Going back to our example, let’s say you no longer fly in Arkansas and would like to delete that State’s data off of your device.  To do this, first navigate to the State selector screen and  tap to uncheck Arkansas:

A State must be deselected in the State selector in order to delete its data from your device.

After deselecting the State, you can delete all of that State’s data after the new data cycle takes effect by tapping Delete > Delete Expired. Or you can delete by line item as illustrated in the Deleting Pack Data section above.

Here are some things to keep in mind with deleting data:

• If a state is one you have selected for download in More > Downloads > United States, and you try the swipe-delete as described, that chart will immediately show up for re-download. This is your cue to deselect that State in the State selector view.

• At data cycle changeover time, you will potentially be using twice the space on your device during that 7-10 days prior to the next effective date. Some suggestions for managing space are: perform a Delete > Delete Expired cleanup, if possible wait until the effective date to download the new data, reconsider the States and/or Provinces you really need and deselect as able.

As always, we are on frequency to assist at team@foreflight.com if you need help or have any questions.

ForeFlight Mobile version 6.2.1 is now available for download on the App Store.

Seamlessly Sync Favorites and Recents

With ForeFlight Mobile version 6.2.1 we introduce Sync, a fast cloud-based syncing system that seamlessly transfers information between your iPhone and iPad. For example, this capability allows you to plan a flight on your iPhone and that flight will appear in the recent routes list on your iPad, or in your favorites list if you have marked the route as a favorite. There is no special user interaction required as syncing is automatic.

Seamlessly sync your favorites and recents between devices.

With this initial release, sync seamlessly synchronizes your recent and favorite: routes, airports, weather imagery, user waypoints, and recent procedures across all devices that share the same ForeFlight Mobile login.

In the next release, we will add sync support for aircraft profiles and flight plans, with more sync-enabled features to follow.

Because sync stores recents and favorites to the cloud, changes made on one device will automatically be delivered to the other device when it next connects to the Internet. In addition, if you are setting up a new device or need to reinstall the app your activity is protected and restored automatically.

You can manage sync in More > Settings > then scroll to Preferences > Synchronize User Data. The toggle will turn Sync ON (blue) or OFF for that device.

Sync has an ON/OFF switch in the Settings menu.

A note for multi-pilot accounts: sync is disabled by default for multi-pilot accounts with a shared single login.

Sync is available with version 6.2.1 on all ForeFlight Mobile Standard, Pro, and Military service levels. Stay tuned! More to come with sync.

Refinements And Filter Options In Profile View

The Profile view has a new refined look with the highest point, clearance, and first strike figures now presented in a panel on the right-hand side of the view, making that information easier to read. In addition, to best suit each flight Profile now gives you the ability to set hazard altitude and route width parameters for filtering terrain and obstacle alerts.

The new Profile layout is easier to read and adds additional capability to filter terrain and obstacle alerts.

A new terrain settings menu allows you to set your flight path corridor width and alert altitudes right from the Profile view. Tap on the cog to reveal the new menu:

Tap on the cog symbol to reveal the new terrain and obstacle settings menu.

Select your desired Corridor Width, or route buffer, to display terrain and obstacle alert coloring only within the chosen corridor along your planned flight path. The corridor width options are: ½, 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 20 nautical miles.

In this example, 2 nautical miles will alert you to terrain and obstacles one nautical mile to the left and one nautical mile to the right of your planned flight path.

The hazard altitude setting gives you flexibility in choosing what relative altitudes from your aircraft are used for presenting the yellow and red alert coloring of terrain and obstacles.

In this example, selecting Heli-Medium will color hazards yellow within 200’ vertical of the aircraft and red at or less than 25’.

The Hazard Altitude setting is reflected in both the Profile view and the Maps Hazard Advisor layer. This is beneficial for low-altitude flight operations, like helicopters, by giving you options to fly closer to terrain or obstacles before the yellow and red hazard alerting appears.

The inflight toggle between route and aircraft mode is now situated at the top of the new panel layout

Toggle between route and aircraft mode while inflight.

Profile view is a ForeFlight Mobile Pro feature.

Refinements To Annotations Toolbar

Our refinement theme continues in the Annotations feature with a refreshed menu bar. The buttons now have higher contrast making them easier to see.

Shown here is a comparison of the previous versus current Annotation toolbar.

Access the annotations toolbar in either the Plates view or Documents view by tapping on the pencil in the upper right.

A tip for using annotations, select your annotation color, thickness, and opacity settings, then select the text or shape option.

A tip for using annotations is to choose your color, then select the annotation type.

Annotations is a ForeFlight Mobile Pro feature.

ForeFlight Mobile Version 6.2.1 Is Available On The App Store

ForeFlight Mobile version 6.2.1 is a free download for subscribers via the App Store. Click here for instructions on how to update the app.

We are pleased to announce that the FAA’s Aircraft Evaluation Group completed an evaluation of ForeFlight Mobile as an Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) solution and found the app to be operationally suitable as a “complete flight deck solution for continuous accessibility for the pilot.”

The approval letter goes on to say: “[The] ForeFlight Mobile application includes airport flight directory information and instrument departure and arrival procedures and charts for all of the US and Canadian IFR National Airspace System. The mobile application was evaluated and found to be operationally suitable.”

The Operational Suitability evaluation was completed on an iPad 2, however the approval covers the iPad 2 or newer, iPad Mini, and iPhone 3GS or newer hardware. In related efforts, the co-developed Stratus 2 ADS-B receiver with Appareo Systems has received approval for use in Part 121 aircraft operations. The Stratus platform enables the display of ADS-B weather on iPad and iPhone running the ForeFlight Mobile app, as well as WAAS-grade GPS positioning for ownship display. Professional operators with access to inflight weather routinely report saving thousands of pounds of gas by being able to see ahead and work with flight operations on inflight re-routes.

In the United States, operators falling under FAR Part 91K, 121, 125, and 135 are required to have formal FAA authorization to use EFB solutions inflight. This letter makes it even easier for operators to obtain approval for use of ForeFlight Mobile on iOS devices. ForeFlight will share copies of the letter to interested customers seeking this approval.

For more information about obtaining ForeFlight Mobile and Stratus approvals, contact ForeFlight at sales@foreflight.com.

No, we didn’t convince the FAA to change the regulations; however, in ForeFlight Mobile we’ve stopped using the term Flight Rules when referring to weather conditions for an airport. Flight Rules has now been replaced with a more appropriate term, namely, Flight Category which appears as a selection below TFRs. Same useful information, just under a new name.

Flight Category overlay is shown selected in the Maps view menu.

Flight rules refers to the regulatory requirements defined in 14 CFR Part 91, Subpart B. These include Visual Flight Rules (VFR), Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) and Special VFR. Although derived from Flight Rules, Flight Category describes the observed or forecast weather conditions at the airport based on the combination of prevailing ground visibility and ceiling. Using a color-coded marker, flight categories include VFR, Marginal VFR (MVFR), IFR and Low IFR (LIFR) as shown below. Although not implemented in ForeFlight, the National Weather Service (NWS) uses a fifth category to represent Very Low IFR (VLIFR) conditions which includes a ceiling less than 200 feet and/or visibility less than 1/2 statute miles.

Flight Category legend used in ForeFlight Mobile.

In the app, you can also display the ceiling and visibility markers separately on the ForeFlight Map. Similar color coding of these markers will occur based on the criteria shown above. For example, ceilings markers are being displayed on the Map below. Notice for Topeka, Kansas,  a marker labeled “26” representing a MVFR ceiling of 2,600 feet so the marker is shown in blue. It is critical to understand that this does not imply that the Flight Category for the airport is MVFR since this marker does not also factor in the reported visibility.

Ceiling markers do not factor in the reported visibility relative to Flight Category color coding.

In this case, tapping the marker for Topeka as shown below indicates that the surface visibility is reported at 1 statute mile representing an IFR Flight Category. Hence the coded observation is colored red accordingly.  Similarly, when displaying the visibility markers on the Map, the color shown does not also factor in the reported ceiling.

Tap on the marker to reveal the Flight Category, indicated by the highlighted observation text, when using the Ceiling and Visibility overlays.

Lastly, ceiling markers are unique in that a marker will only be displayed when the observation is reporting a broken, overcast or indefinite ceiling. In other words, if the sky is clear or there are just scattered or few clouds in the report, a marker will not be displayed on the Map.

While the departure from Flight Rules seems pretty subtle, using Flight Category in the ForeFlight Mobile app now matches FAA documentation and other official weather guidance provided by the NWS.

If you have ever used the Current and Forecast Icing Products (CIP and FIP) or the Graphical Turbulence Guidance (GTG) product available in ForeFlight or on the Aviation Digital Data Service (ADDS) website, you may have noticed a disclaimer at the top of the image like the one shown below. Essentially, FAA policy prohibited pilots from using this automated guidance to make operational decisions without also consulting the official forecasts, namely, G-AIRMETs and SIGMETs that are issued by meteorologists.

Effective January 21, 2015 the NWS and the FAA agreed to relax this limitation and quietly removed the disclaimer from the charts. This opens the door for pilots to make safety decisions based on the information contained within this guidance. This is not to say that G-AIRMETs and SIGMETs can be ignored; they still provide valuable guidance to pilots, but may not have a comparable temporal or spatial resolution found in these automated products.

The disclaimer was also confusing to pilots given that G-AIRMETs for icing are issued for widespread moderate non-convective icing whereas the CIP and FIP provides guidance about all icing hazards big or small. In fact, these automated tools often provide a more realistic picture of the icing environment as it evolves.

It is certainly understandable for such a disclaimer to be required when a new weather product is first introduced or is considered experimental, especially if the guidance is automated. However, these icing and turbulence tools have been available to pilots for over a decade, so it’s finally nice to see them lift these restrictions.

As icing AIRMETs begin to morph into convective SIGMETs, you’ll be happy to know that ForeFlight Mobile is ready for the upcoming convective season with some enhancements to its Model Output Statistics or MOS forecast. As was announced earlier, MOS provides a TAF-like forecast out to three days for over 2,000 airports in the U.S. and its territories. To help you anticipate convection during your preflight planning, MOS now includes a forecast for thunderstorms over the next three days as shown below.

April Showers

To celebrate the spring thaw, we are taking MOS a step further; in addition to thunderstorm forecasts, ForeFlight’s MOS product now forecasts showery precipitation at the airport as shown below. While rain showers may not seem like a threat to many pilots, it can be a precursor for deep, moist convection or thunderstorms, including embedded thunderstorms. So any forecast for rain or snow showers should get your attention since it means a convective process is anticipated even if natural lightning isn’t likely. Showery precipitation creates a hazardous environment capable of moderate or greater turbulence in those showery clouds. Additionally, a forecast for showers should raise a red flag that a serious threat of airframe ice may exist while flying in visible moisture at a temperature below freezing.

Finding MOS in ForeFlight

The MOS forecast is available to all subscribers with ForeFlight Mobile 6.6 or later. To find it in the app, simply select an airport or station from the Maps view. In the pop-over window, tap the Forecast tab at the bottom. Then tap the MOS button and scroll through the next three days to see if those springtime boomers may alter your plans.

Access the MOS forecast in the Maps view by tapping on an airport.

Team ForeFlight lands in Nashville this week to participate for the first time in the annual Army Aviation Summit. ForeFlight is all about making your flight mission easier,  safer, and more productive. Come by Booth 1902 for a full demonstration of our Military Flight Bag (MFB) electronic flight bag solution.

MFB is your all-in-one app for digital access to charts and maps, weather, route planning, document management, and more. MFB is an enhanced version of ForeFlight Mobile Pro that integrates the global data set of the DAFIF, D-FLIP publications, AQP pages, and geo-referenced D-FLIP terminal procedures, airport diagrams, and enroute charts.

We have extensive MFB deployments in the Army and Army National Guard, United States Air Force, Coast Guard, Navy, and Marine Corps, with major deployments in Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC), US Coast Guard, and US Army Operational Support Airlift Agency.

We can help get your electronic flight bag program off the ground! Reach out using the form here or see us in Booth 1902 at the Summit. Let’s get going on your ForeFlight Military Flight Bag deployment!

Learn more at: www.foreflight.com/military

Apple Watch is the first product Apple has designed to be worn and represents a new chapter in the relationship pilots have with technology. It brings a fresh opportunity for ForeFlight designers and developers to deliver new experiences that make interacting with ForeFlight Mobile and important flight information easier and more personal. We are excited to share with you this preview of ForeFlight for Apple Watch.

At-a-Glance Weather and Time

With a flick of the wrist, ForeFlight displays nearby flight conditions, as well as local and zulu time using the Apple Watch Glances feature. Know when flight conditions are above minimums and forget having to do local to zulu time conversions in your head!

ADS-B Weather to Your Wrist

With a Stratus on board and connected to iPhone, ADS-B weather is delivered right to ForeFlight for Apple Watch. In flight and on the ground, easily view current METARs for airports in your recents and favorites lists.

Customizable Flight Instruments

A customizable dashboard of flight instruments helps you keep track of information like ETE, ETA, distance to destination, track, ground speed, GPS altitude, and more. Configure the instrument layout to suit your preferences.

Flight Notifications and Timers

Apple Watch delivers the ForeFlight flight notifications that you are used to, but in a more convenient way. Get a discreet wrist tap as soon as an expected route clearance is issued. Keep tabs on total flight time or timed approaches in the Timers view.

Get Ready

An iPhone 5 or later running iOS 8.2 or higher is required to run ForeFlight for Apple Watch. The iPhone installs supported applications on Apple Watch and manages communications between the devices. Without an iPhone, you cannot install Apple Watch applications at this time.

Pre-orders begin today and Apple Watch goes on sale April 24th.

The Prog Charts that pilots have been using for the last decade or two (pictured below) will be undergoing a facelift sometime in September 2015.

So at ForeFlight we’re giving you the opportunity to test drive the new charts before they become operational and are officially released by the National Weather Service (NWS). We’ve added these forecasts to our USA Ensemble Imagery and you can find them under the NDFD Progs collection as shown below.

So What’s Changing?

The current Prog Charts are issued by highly experienced meteorologists at the Weather Prediction Center (WPC) in College Park, Maryland; that won’t change. The new implementation will still use the fronts and sea level pressure (SLP) forecast issued by those same meteorologists at the WPC, however, the precipitation forecast represented by those pale green lines is being replaced. The new instantaneous precipitation forecast is now being extracted from the National Digital Forecast Database (NDFD). Instead of the green contours, you’ll see the new precipitation forecast as shaded and outlined regions like the ones shown below.

Example of the new NDFD Progs.

The new NDFD Prog Charts contain a mosaic of digital precipitation forecasts issued from all of the local NWS weather forecast offices (WFOs) throughout the United States working in collaboration with the National Center for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) and WPC. The forecasts depicted combine the familiar WPC forecasts of fronts, isobars and high and low pressure centers with the NDFD depiction of expected weather type and likelihood.

The precipitation presented on the new NDFD Progs is forecast coverage just like its legacy counterpart. So it is valid at the time posted on the chart and not over a period of time. Using a color-coding, the legend in the lower left corner of the image describes the precipitation type or weather expected (rain, snow, mixed, ice and thunderstorm) as well as the likelihood (chance versus likely) that the precipitation will occur.

Definitions for the various weather types depicted on the NDFD Progs.

We know that it’ll take some time to become completely comfortable with the new forecast depiction of precipitation, but give them a try now so you’ll be way ahead of other pilots come September.

With ForeFlight Mobile 7.4, SIGMETs issued beyond the U.S. border can now be displayed. These International SIGMETs are advisories that cover a wide range of hazards including convection (thunderstorms), severe turbulence, severe icing, tropical cyclone and volcanic ash just to name a few. In most cases these are displayed on the ForeFlight Map view as polygons similar to the way domestic AIRMETs, SIGMETs and convective SIGMETs are depicted. To help with all of these new advisories, we’ve also added the ability to filter this layer by the type of hazard.

The whole FIR and nothing but the FIR

Unlike advisories issued by forecasters in the U.S., International SIGMETs are not always well defined by the source. Occasionally the origin country may not provide the points that define the advisory area. For those situations, the entire Flight Information Region (FIR) is displayed on the Map as is shown below for a hazard within the Mexican FIR.

When the source of the SIGMET isn’t specific about the exact location of the hazard, the entire FIR may be outlined in red.

Unspecified conditions

Similarly, when tapping on a SIGMET polygon, you may see “Unspecified Conditions” displayed in the title of the popover as shown below. This means the source of the advisory did not specify the details of the type of hazard. While ForeFlight will make an attempt to determine the hazard by parsing the raw text, there’s no guarantee we will be able to make that determination in every case. In these situations it’s strongly encouraged to review the raw text of the SIGMET for the details.

In some cases the type of adverse conditions are not specifically provided by the source government. For those situations, Unspecified Conditions will be shown. You are encouraged to read the raw text for those details.

No more clutter

Another feature added to ForeFlight Mobile 7.4 is the ability to filter the AIR/SIGMET/CWAs layer by hazard type. When this layer is displayed, you’ll notice four buttons at the bottom of the Map view labeled Ice, Turb, IFR and TS representing hazards associated with airframe icing, turbulence, IFR conditions and convection, respectively. Tapping on any of these buttons will add or remove advisories for that hazard type from the Map. For example, the Turb, IFR and TS hazards have been filtered with only the Ice hazard displayed as shown below. Please note that these selections are preserved. Therefore, if you’ve removed the layer from the Map or closed the app, the next time you view the AIR/SIGMET/CWAs layer on your device, the hazard selections you made earlier will be restored.

When the AIR/SIGMET/CWA layer is active, use the buttons at the bottom to hide or display the advisories by hazard type.

The only hazards that are never filtered are those SIGMETs issued for tropical cyclones, radioactive cloud or volcanic ash like the one shown below. These SIGMETs often persist for days or even weeks at a time once they are issued.

Not all hazards can be filtered. These include volcanic ash, radioactive cloud and tropical cyclone advisories.

Pilot weather reports are the eyes of the skies. They are not only consumed by pilots, but they are critical data for meteorologists as discussed in this earlier blog post.  For example, SIGMETs for turbulence and icing often live and die by pilot reports. It’s rare to see a SIGMET issued for severe or extreme turbulence until pilots begin to report those conditions. As such they are an important part of any preflight briefing and are even more valuable as they trickle in over ADS-B while en route. That’s why we’ve given pilot report symbols used in ForeFlight a much needed facelift.

The new ForeFlight pilot weather report symbols help to quickly identify adverse weather along your proposed route of flight.

The hunt is over

In ForeFlight Mobile 7.5.2, we’ve significantly enhanced the way you see pilot weather reports displayed in the Map view. Prior to this release, pilot reports were loosely organized into three types, namely, turbulence, icing and sky & weather – each represented by a single pilot report symbol (chevron, snowflake and eyeball, respectively). However, this required you to tap on each and every PIREP marker to see important details such as altitude and intensity. Moreover, routine (UA) and urgent (UUA) pilot reports looked exactly the same. Now, standard pilot report symbology used in this release makes it clear as to the type of report, intensity, altitude (when known) and whether or not it’s an urgent pilot report without the need to tap on the pilot report symbol. So the hunt is over; with the added glance value, the truly nasty weather conditions reported by pilots jumps right out of the glass.

The good, the bad and the ugly

Pilots can include all sorts of things in a report, like seeing a flock of geese or even critters camping out on the runway. But reports of adverse weather (or lack thereof) of turbulence and icing are typically made through a subjective estimate of intensity. In order to enhance the glance value and minimize taps to get information, ForeFlight now uses standard pilot report symbols for turbulence and icing reports. Reports that do not contain turbulence or icing details are defaulted to use the legacy sky & weather “eyeball” symbol. These may contain reports of precipitation, cloud bases and cloud tops as well as outside air temperature and winds aloft (speed and direction).

Each icing and turbulence pilot weather report is shown in the ForeFlight Map view with one of the symbols above that depict the reported intensity.  From left to right, the top row includes icing intensities of null (negative), light, moderate and severe. Also from left to right, the bottom row includes turbulence intensities of null (negative), light, moderate, severe and extreme.

Some intensity reports are “rounded up” to minimize the overall number of icons to remember. For example, you may notice in the symbols above that ForeFlight doesn’t use the official symbol for trace icing. Consequently, a report of trace icing is rounded up to use the light icing symbol. Similarly, we’re not providing a symbol for reports that straddle two intensities such as “moderate to severe.” Therefore, a “light to moderate” turbulence report will be rounded up to use the moderate turbulence symbol; a report of “moderate to severe” turbulence will be rounded up to use the severe turbulence symbol and so on.

All urgent pilot reports and reports of a severe nature will be tagged with a red badge to add increased glance value to those reports. For example, shown here is an urgent pilot weather report for severe turbulence at 8,000 ft MSL in the Florida Panhandle.

Above and beyond the different turbulence and icing symbols and to further attract your attention, urgent pilot reports in ForeFlight contain a red badge in the upper-right corner like the turbulence report shown above. These badges will typically be included on a turbulence or icing symbol for a report for severe or extreme turbulence and/or severe icing, respectively.

However, you may also see a red badge included with a weather & sky report like the one shown below. This is typically an urgent pilot report for low-level wind shear (LLWS) or mountain wave activity that did not also include any turbulence or icing details. Also, reports of hail, tornadoes, waterspouts or funnel clouds will be classified and tagged as urgent.

A red badge on a sky & weather (eyeball symbol) pilot report means that the report was tagged as urgent even though no icing or turbulence details were provided. Most of the time this means that low-level wind shear or mountain wave activity was reported by the pilot.

Altitude at a glance

If the pilot report contains a flight level (MSL altitude), this flight level is displayed below the symbol using three digits. For example, from the icing pilot report shown below, 057 is added below the symbol which identifies the reported altitude of 5,700 feet MSL.

A light icing pilot weather report at 5,700 feet MSL (FL057).

On the other hand, when the flight level is unknown (FLUNKN) as it is in the icing pilot report below, we will just show the appropriate symbol (turbulence, icing or sky & weather) without an altitude. Even so, there may be specific altitudes reported, but you’ll have to tap on the pilot report marker to examine the raw report for those details. In this case, light rime ice was reported between 6,000 and 4,500 feet MSL, for example.

Flight level in this light icing report is unknown (FLUNKN). Tapping on the report reveals more details.

I see double

If the pilot reported both icing and turbulence in the same report, you will see a pair of symbols side by side like the ones shown below with the center of the symbol pair representing the actual location of the report. This pair of report symbols indicates light icing and light turbulence at 16,000 feet MSL.

A pair of reports means that both icing and turbulence details were provided for the altitude shown in the marker.

Spreading the wealth

To keep everything consistent you will also see these standard symbols show up when tapping on the Map with the AIR/SIGMET/CWAs layer displayed. AIRMETs for turbulence and icing are displayed with their respective moderate symbol and SIGMETs for turbulence and icing will be displayed with their respective severe symbol. For example, in the list below, it’s very simple now to see that the last item in the popover is a SIGMET for turbulence.

Standard symbology is also used in the display of AIRMETs and SIGMETs for icing and turbulence.

Even though there’s now more information available at first glance, you will still want to examine the details of any relevant pilot reports by tapping on the specific markers. Like anything new, it may take a little while to get used to the new pilot report icons. But we feel that the use of standard symbology is critical for flight safety and these changes will provide less taps and a much higher glance value for determining the location and altitude of the most nasty weather being reported by pilots. Lastly, keep those pilot weather reports coming; they are important for all stakeholders in aviation safety.

In the pilot world there is a ubiquitous debate that continues to thrive over what ground-based radar product is better to use – NEXRAD composite reflectivity or NEXRAD base reflectivity from the lowest elevation angle. Without question, both of these radar mosaics provide a high glance value to the pilot to highlight the location and movement of the truly nasty adverse weather along your proposed route assuming you understand each of their inherent limitations. Now in ForeFlight Mobile 7.7, you’ll have the opportunity to wrangle over which is best since we’ve added a high resolution base reflectivity layer from the lowest elevation angle to complement the current composite reflectivity layer within the app.

But wait…there’s more! In addition to this new layer, we now offer two new low resolution NEXRAD mosaics, namely, a composite reflectivity and lowest elevation angle base reflectivity layer. These two four-color ground-based radar mosaics comply with the dBZ-to-color mapping standards defined by the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA) documented in Table 3.2 of DO-267A. More on these later.

You can now select from one of two radar mosaic depictions in ForeFlight Mobile. The selections include Composite reflectivity and reflectivity from the lowest elevation angle or Lowest Tilt.

Base does NOT equal lowest

First, let’s squash a misnomer about base reflectivity. Many pilots (and even weather professionals) may use the term “base” in base reflectivity to imply lowest. That’s not what it means. In fact, every elevation angle generated by the WSR-88D NEXRAD Doppler radars has a base reflectivity product. The amount of energy directed back to the radar is measured and recorded in a logarithmic scale called decibels of Z (abbreviated dBZ), where Z is the reflectivity parameter. Next, these base data returns are processed by a radar product generator (RPG) to produce hundreds of meteorological and hydrological products including a few near and dear to pilots such as reflectivity.

A more accurate description would be to prefix the product with the elevation angle such as “0.5 degree base reflectivity.” Nevertheless, you may see labels like “Composite Reflectivity” and “Base Reflectivity” on various public and subscription-based websites including those from NOAA. It’s likely that the base reflectivity is from the lowest elevation angle (or lowest tilt) of NEXRAD radar. That’s because the lowest elevation sweep is most representative of precipitation that is reaching the surface which is helpful to the average person on the street including hikers, golfers, boaters and anyone else who wants to know if they need to take the umbrella to work. Unfortunately, the elevation angle is usually dropped (likely due to ignorance or brevity) from these labels.

This is an animated comparison of the composite reflectivity and lowest elevation angle for convection in Florida. Notice the composite reflectivity provides a larger footprint since it picks up on the ice crystals that make up the cirrus anvil.

You might be surprised to learn that in many locations across the U.S., the composite reflectivity image you study before or during a flight is largely made up of only three or four of the lowest 14 elevation scans of the radar.  So in these areas the composite reflectivity and base reflectivity from the lowest elevation angle are not all that different. These areas include regions where the NEXRAD coverage is sparse. Which surprisingly doesn’t only occur in the western U.S. Places such as my home town of Charlotte, North Carolina have distinct gaps in radar coverage.

Radar to the max

Each NEXRAD radar makes multiple 360° azimuthal sweeps at increasing elevation angles from 0.5° to 19.5° depending on the current mode of operation. The number of elevation angles (or tilts) depends on the scanning strategy or Volume Coverage Pattern (VCP) of the individual radar which is set by the radar operator that is located at the local weather forecast office that monitors and manages that particular radar site. A composite reflectivity image considers the base reflectivity from all of the most recent sweeps at each elevation angle and shows only the maximum reflected energy in the vertical column above each location within the radar’s effective coverage area.

It’s all about range

With respect to ground-based radar, range or distance is the key.  Even though the lowest elevation angle is only 0.5°, at 124 nautical miles away the center of the radar beam is already nearly 17,000 feet above the surface due to the curvature of the earth.  So it is easy to see how the higher elevation angles may easily overshoot precipitation that is not in the immediate vicinity of a radar site. Moreover, even if the beam is low enough to see the storm, it may still overshoot the precipitation core.  Let’s take a look at an example.

Below is a two-image animation from the NEXRAD located at the Greenville-Spartanburg Weather Forecast Office in Greer, South Carolina. This shows the returns received from the lowest elevation angle or lowest tilt of the radar which is 0.5° and the fourth elevation angle which is only 1.7° (remember that 19.5° is the maximum elevation). Notice the radar at the lowest elevation has identified an area of weather over Fayetteville, North Carolina (seen on the far right). This cell is approximately 150 miles away from the radar site in Greer (on the far left). However, given it’s distance from the radar, the 1.7° elevation scan completely overshoots this area of precipitation. That means the composite reflectivity image in the Fayetteville area is likely made up of only the lowest three elevation angles of the radar. The remaining higher 11 elevation angles overshoot the precipitation in this region.

This two-image animation from WDT’s RadarScope app shows the base reflectivity from the 0.5 degree and 1.7 degree elevations. The NEXRAD radar producing this image is located in Greer, SC on the far left. Notice that some returns farther from the radar completely disappear as the radar beam overshoots the weather entirely.

Now it’s true that other adjacent radars such as the one from Raleigh Durham, North Carolina might be able to see this area of weather at higher elevation angles. However, due to the curvature of the earth, the radar beam from the highest elevation angles often overshoots much of the precipitation out there unless it is close to the radar site. This means that locations where there is little overlap between adjacent radars, expect the composite reflectivity image to be very similar to the base reflectivity image for the lowest elevation angle in these gaps.

The four-color radar

If you are flying with airborne radar, you may want to look at the new low resolution four-color NEXRAD mosaic now available in ForeFlight Mobile. The colors depicted in this radar mosaic match the standard color-to-dBZ mapping defined by the RTCA as documented in Section 3.8.2 (Table 3-2) of RTCA DO-267A (shown below). This standard is also used for airborne radar displays.

This is Table 3.2 of DO-267A that defines the color-to-dBZ mapping for airborne radar.

To see the four-color radar depiction, simply select one of the two radar layers on the Map view. Then tap the gear button next to the Map mode button and scroll down the Settings window until you see the setting switch labeled Four-color Radar just above the Radar Opacity slider. Tapping on the right side of this switch will change the radar depiction from the high resolution radar mosaic to the four-color mosaic. You can also find this four-color switch in the general Map View settings.

The four-color radar switch is located in the general Map View settings or can be found under the gear button at the top of the Map view.

If you use the Stratus (FIS-B) to receive weather while in flight, you won’t find the capability to select the lowest tilt, but you will find the four-color radar will also be available for the composite reflectivity mosaic. As you can see below, the four-color radar mosaic (second image) provides a much more ominous depiction of the weather as compared to its higher resolution counterpart (first image).

Normal resolution radar mosaic from FIS-B (Stratus).

Four-color radar mosaic from FIS-B (Stratus).

The reason for this may not be obvious. The data broadcast for FIS-B radar does not specifically include the raw dBZ values. Instead it uses intensity encoded values or “bins” that map to dBZ ranges as shown in the table below. Notice the wide 10 dBZ ranges for intensity encoded values of 2 and 3. Based on the RTCA standard defined in the table above, these are mapped in the ForeFlight four-color radar to green and yellow, respectively. Red is mapped to intensity encoded values of 4 and 5 with magenta mapped to 6 and 7. Because of the wide ranges as they map to the RTCA standards, the four-color radar depiction from FIS-B will use much “warmer” colors than the standard depiction.

This table from RTCA DO-358 defines the intensity-to-dBZ mapping for FIS-B radar broadcasts. The intensity encoded values of 0 and 1 are considered background and are not displayed as a color. ForeFlight chose to use magenta for intensity encoded values of 7.

Keep in mind that the four-color radar mosaic is a low resolution depiction and will not emphasize storm characteristics like you may see with the Internet radar. This is especially true for the initial evolution of convective cells.

The radar depictions you see from the SiriusXM broadcast are highly filtered to provide only real precipitation areas. Ground clutter, anomalous propagation, birds, insects and such are carefully removed to provide the cleanest and most representative image. But like any process, there will be times where non-precipitation returns do not get filtered out. More importantly, you may see real areas of precipitation filtered out as well.

While rare, the latter usually occurs in regions where WSI (the weather provider for SiriusXM) implements what is called a manual gross filter. This kind of filter is the most efficient way to eliminate any clutter in large areas that are not expected to see precipitation. But when that filter is left on too long, it’ll be just as efficient at removing real precipitation from the broadcast.

Lightning and a single hail storm attribute marker with no radar depicted.

Here’s one such example depicted above. While connected to the SXAR1 I panned the map over Texas and I saw some lightning and a lone hail attribute marker showing echo tops at 45,000 feet in north-central Texas, but no radar returns. Hmmm?

I verified that I had the Radar Composite turned on (I did) and zoomed the display out as shown below to see that there are plenty of other precipitation areas shown to the northeast and southeast of this area. Given that the area wasn’t cross-hatched with “Radar not available” why wasn’t there any precipitation shown?

Zoomed out to show the presence of other precipitation on the radar composite.

About 15 minutes later I came back to the map to see if there was any change. Notice below that plenty of lightning and storm attributes are being depicted here in north-central Texas; however, there are still no radar returns being rendered. Given this activity, you’d expect there to be some precipitation shown when both lightning and storm tracks are present. This is a classic indication that the real precipitation in this region was being erroneously filtered.

This is a classic signature for a gross filter being left on too long. With the radar composite on, no precipitation is being shown despite the presence of lightning and storm tracks.

Just five minutes later, the gross filter was removed by WSI and the returns suddenly popped into existence as you can see below.

Once the gross filter was removed, the NEXRAD returns associated with these thunderstorms were rendered.

I took a look at the NEXRAD archives and discovered that the first precipitation developed in this region around 12:05 p.m. CDT. The gross filter wasn’t removed until 12:50 p.m. CDT. That’s 45 minutes with no radar for this area of rapidly developing and potentially severe thunderstorms. Moral of the story is to always have lightning ON and be sure the SiriusXM Storm Markers are also set to ON in the Maps Settings menu (the gear button on the Maps view). Having both of these layers on will likely expose these kinds of uncommon events.