ForeFlight has been great dealing with me. Since my queries and comments yesterday I have received several emails and a phone call. Great service ForeFlight Team!
Below is ForeFlight’s annotated responses to my queries yesterday (the one with red notes). Note departure procedures, called SIDs in Canada, are under Procedures not Taxiways. There are no SIDs under taxiways in ForeFlight. Also note a Taxi Chart under ForeFlight’s Ottawa Procedures? I included the ForeFlight’s Buffalo Procedures screen and ask you to note the Takeoff Minimums item there listed. As well I included Ottawa’s Taxi Chart from ForeFlight’s Procedures for Ottawa. (Raises the question why Nav Canada shows the Aerodrome Chart and not the Taxi Chart in its list of Aerodrome Diagrams on its webpage?)
OK, I looked in the wrong spot for takeoff minimums at Canadian airports. But I did so using the same logic ForeFlight applies to takeoff minimums for airports in the USA, specifically they are under Procedures!
My preference would be to start from some objectives like:
- Keep IFR procedural information in one place, e.g., Procedures.
- Keep ground movement information in one place, e.g., Taxiways or Taxi Diagrams.
With these objectives in mind, below is what I would expect to see:
- Procedures would include Arrival, Approach, Departure, Takeoff procedures and Noise Abatement, deicing.
- Taxiways or Taxi Diagrams would include taxi charts, parking/gate locations, hot spots, and other ground movement information as appropriate. Perhaps deicing too.
I find it interesting that Nav Canada publishes Taxi Charts for some airports, e.g., Ottawa CYOW and ForeFlight shows these under procedures, but not Taxiways or Taxi Diagrams. For many Canadian airports there is only one chart that shows both takeoff minima and taxiways. I believe ForeFlight should show these charts in both Taxiways and Procedures. A little repetition will not hurt.
Speaking or repetition, ForeFlight repeats all approach plates under Runways and Procedures. That is probably useful and intuitive for some pilots, but I wonder if this increases memory requirements and download time?
My goal is simply to point out how one Canadian Pilot misunderstood the logic behind ForeFlight, with the thought that other pilots might make the same mistakes and not find that for which they are looking.
2 comments:
ForeFlight has been very responsive.
They have put Aerodrome Charts in the Procedures section so IFR types can find Canadian Take off minima.
Nav Canada 1866-992-7433 wxbrief number under other frequencies. Not sure how to use that in flight?
Still problems with some Airport Frequencies for RADIO that are not correct.
And they put aerdrome charts for larger airports under Taxi Diagrams. Unfortunately taxiways are not labeled on these charts. The Taxi Chart for such sites is under Procedures / Airport.
The ForeFlight Team is doing their best to accommodate Canada's idiosyncrasies. Thanks guys.
That is good to hear, at least they are listening!
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