I FINALLY got my new stainless steel apple watch. My motivation to purchase this very expensive watch, is to use the watch in conjunction with my favorite iPad app … Foreflight!
I currently have Foreflight on my iPad and iPhone and I am always amazed just how much information is literally at my fingertips in planning my flight, and when I use Foreflight with the Stratus II ADS-B receiver, I can monitor any aircraft broadcasting ADS-B out. With the impending requirement due by 2020, I’m sure there will be more and more ADS-B broadcasters to see on the moving map.
But will the Foreflight Apple watch app, be enough to keep my iPhone in my pocket and allow me to only use the watch? I haven’t taken a flight with it yet, but I can tell you that the information is limited.
On the first screen after i launch the app, I can display my recent and favorite airports taken from the app on my iPhone.
Then when I tap one of my favorite airports, such as KVNY, I will get METAR data.
On the second screen after swiping left, I can display 3 customizable “instruments”. I have chosen ground speed, Altimeter and Distance to airport. The last choice would be my favorite since I don’t have a PFD or a DME to give me this information. In the past I have had to “two finger” tap the Foreflight app and drag from my displayed plane position to my destination. Not an easy task if I’m in turbulance.
And the last screen, after swiping left again, is for two clock timers. I usually just hang a stopwatch around my neck when I’m using Nav Logs for any x-country flights. (Student Pilot with 100 hrs) I know … “whats taking me so long?”. Did I mention I am approaching 60 years old? Anyway … nothing fancy but you tap to start the timer and tap to stop it … or force touch to reset each or both of the timers.
Thats about it! I’m anxious to try out some other pilot apple watch apps such as Aerovie Reports, NRST, Pilot Log, RWY Go, SkyNav, FlightStats and Weather Underground, and report on my experiences soon.
All of above mentioned apple watch apps are briefly described at http://ipadpilotnews.com/2015/04/aviation-apps-apple-watch/
Happy flying, thanks for reading and feel free to share if you find this useful.