A Pre-Flight Planner
www.navmonster.com with a Great Weather Summary for Any Route You Define.
Weather, Charts, Fuel, Food & Lodging, and FAA data for all airports along a
route!
Here are links to another Fuel Planner,
developed by Beech Lister, Don S. These planners organize the fuel by corridor
distance and fuel price (low to high). Check them out, you might like the
format.
AirBrief.com was the first to provide approach
charts specifically formatted for the Kindle DX. This site was also the first
to provide the page index lookup scheme.
In addition to approach charts, AirBrief.com
provides free A/FDs as well as a selection of freely downloadable FAA
publications (including the current Federal Aviation Regulations, fully
Kindle-ized for both the standard Kindle as well as the Kindle DX).
Visit
www.AirBrief.com to see how they differ from the other plate providers
(e.g. live updates via the Kindle's Whispernet access, automated file manager,
etc.)
Here are some questions I put to
AirBrief.com and their responses:
How will the $0.15/mb download fee impact
an AIrBrief user?
Regarding the $0.15/mb fee from Amazon, that is only for "LiveBriefs". These
are the on-demand airport books users can generate that are sent directly to
the Kindle via Whispernet. While the cellular network is great and gives you
access without having to find WiFi, it is a bit slow for downloading entire
TERPs volumes. So, the full sets of charts are downloaded from our website to
the user's computer and then to the user's Kindle via USB. There is no charge
associated with the specific downloads
.
How will the downloads be priced after the
free period?
Small monthly
subscription allows unlimited downloads of everything AirBrief offers
How long will the free period last?
The introductory period will run roughly through
August
What will be the service cost after the
free period?
The subscription fee has not yet been determined,
but suffice it to say, we do intend to keep it VERY affordable.
Even after the introductory period has ended,
users may register for free and download any or all of the A/FDs without
charge as well as any of the FAA publications we have formatted for the
Kindle.
A Kindle offering that allows full navigation and also a PC
software program that allows pilots to keep their approach plates synchronized
(without requiring a download of all of the plates each time). Both of these
are free, I believe the kindle files are the first of their kind.
Currently this service gives you plates for the airport
identifiers you load. I'm told they are working on a "corridor" feature that
will give you all the plates for a flight between two identifiers and a defined
corridor width.
You will receive an email to your registered email address
with your pdf file consisting of all the plates you selected. For example, all
the plates for DTO and ATW were a 9MB file.
Check out their Checklist Download Option!
Maybe one day they will offer Beechcraft checklists?
"FlightKit provides an easy and intuitive mechanism for
downloading approach plates from the internet. Simply enter the departure
airport, destination airport, and a course width, and FlightKit will provide you
with a list of all plates from all airports on that route. Select the plates
that are of interest to you, and they will be downloaded to your computer.
Voila! It's that easy."
I have used it and it works nicely. My personal preference
currently is to use
ReaderPlates for
$10/month on my Sony Reader,
however, you could have all the IAPs from the
$14 NACO DVD on your CSOB
Tablet PC and the plates for your departure, destination and usual alternates
in hard copy paper with you in the plane. (Pssst,
ReaderPlates will give
you a complete monthly IAP download subscription for $10/month! See the CSOBeech
details HERE)
I've been using
www.FltPlan.com for several years to file my flight plans and download
approach plates for my trips and am extremely pleased with their service and
their web interface. Their weather is an FAA approved alternate source of an
official briefing.
I love FltPlan.com's
Approach Plate Interface. Just put the identifier in and all the plates are
displayed, check the ones you want and they are "compiled" for you so that they
can be printed in one print queue. Very NICE feature!
You can even see your "expected clearance" in
your flight plan just after FltPlan.com files your plan and many folks report
this is just exactly what they get from ATC! This makes loading the GPS up or
briefing yourself on the DP before engine start a literal snap. They have also
added a "Fax the FBO" feature that will automatically fax a form to the FBO of
your arrival with your info and requested needs!
Click
HERE to Check Out this Awesome FREE FltPlan.com Approach Plate Compiler. You
get IAPs for any Identifier then select any or all of them to print them all at
once or download them all to your computer!
Click
HERE to Check Out this Awesome FREE FltPlan.com Airport/FBO Directory that
you download and place into your Pocket PC/Crackberry/PDA or Cell Phone. This
find is courtesy of Beech Lister Jeff R. based at
KMKO.
This is a flight where the
CSOB XM
Weather Box was really handy and I used LOP 2250RPM/20"MP/11,000'/20.4 GPH/6C/148
KIAS for a TAS of about 180 KTAS no need for my
maximum
range operating procedures with >30kt tailwinds and ground speeds in excess
of 200kts. Landed severe clear in KATW
with over 50 gallons remaining (136 gallons useable).
Are you registered for eAPIS yet? The
current eAPIS system is up and running on a voluntary basis until May 17th, 2009.
After that it will be mandatory to file your manifest 60 minutes prior to your
departure for arrival into or departure from US soil.
By the way, APIS stands for "Advance
Passenger Information System".
If you take trips out of the US in your
Beechcraft, you'll need to get very familiar with this newest level of CBP
"security". You will also still have to make your arrival ETA phone call to
the Customs office at your arrival airport for clearing Customs at your
arrival airport in the US.
Here is the CBP statement about APIS:
Attention Private Flyers: The Advance
Information on Private Aircraft Arriving and Departing the United States Final
Rule requires that pilots of private aircraft (or their designees) transmit
notices of arrival and/or departure and traveler manifest information to CBP
electronically a minimum of 60 minutes prior to departure through eAPIS or
another CBP-approved electronic data interchange system.
Once the rule becomes effective on December 18, 2008, persons seeking eAPIS
Private Aviation accounts should expect enrollment responses within five (5)
business days.