Experimenter is a magazine created by EAA for people who build airplanes. We will report on amateur-built aircraft as well as ultralights and other light aircraft.
Issue link: http://experimenter.epubxp.com/i/307497
40 Vol.3 No.5 / May 2014 LIGHT PL ANE WORLD text section under the home screen button beautifully displays translated METARs, TAFs, and forecasted winds aloft. On the negative side, the moving map window does not include a graphic track line indicator, and the NAV data bar described in the manual is not included in the smartphone version that I am previewing at this time. The moving map features only an airplane icon and a course line. Garmin Pilot has very nice NAV screens, but the smartphone version does not enable split screens. The NAV units can only be set to knots and nautical miles. The annual subscription is $74.95. Garmin of ers an external GPS Bluetooth receiver for $129 and a combination GPS and ADS-B receiver with advanced weather and traf c displays for $599. AVILUTION – FOREFLIGHT FOR ANDROID? Avilution AviationMaps is a fast, full-featured GPS fl ying app with more than 10,000 installs on Google Play and has been compared to ForeFlight for iOS. The manual is sparse, but the developer gets top marks for product support. The display of airport information and weather is simply superb, but fl ight planning was not as easy for me. This is the only app of the four tested that enables a split-screen function on a smartphone. If you are careless, it's possible to get a confusing mixture of overlapping screens all at the same time. There is no separate HSI or NAV screen and no graphical track indicator on the map screen as included in Avare and Naviator. On-screen NAV data is displayed in a large font, but it needs to run in landscape mode on my phone. In portrait mode, the NAV data at the bottom of the map screen displays in vertical columns, using up too much screen space. The button controls seem a little small on my 4.7-inch screen. The app is probably better suited to a tablet where it apparently excels. The stan- dard subscription is $54.95 per year or $114.95 per year with geo-referenced approach plates. A single subscription is good for one user on multiple devices. Avilution uses the SkyRader DX ($849) or the Dual XGPS170 ($495) for ADS-B weather and traf c advisory functions. REAL FLIGHT TESTS AND CONCLUSIONS Working these apps on the ground for fl ight planning is only half the picture. Will they be functional enough in fl ight to serve as an ef ective backup? To fi nd out, I started all four apps running on a Motorola Moto X phone and set them for the same destination. I then took of in my trike (open cockpit) on a sunny day while wear- ing gloves. Removing a glove in an open cockpit to operate avionics is a good way to lose it. A solution is to cut a small slit on the inside of the glove's pinky fi nger so you can slip your fi nger out to work the touch screen. The phone stayed fi rmly attached to my kneeboard Garmin map screen with multipurpose radial ring tool centered on airport. The Garmin NAV screen looks like the real thing. Photography courtesy of Dan Grunloh E A A E X P _ M a y 1 4 . i n d d 4 0 EAAEXP_May14.indd 40 5 / 5 / 1 4 3 : 2 0 P M 5/5/14 3:20 PM