Hi Peter, yes I meant the charts depicted above. They also call this option “Bottlang” on their website.
What I wanted to know was whether the approach and taxi chart for a certain airport was accessed by zooming in (like is the case in Jeppesen FD VFR – haven’t played around with Garmin yet) or are these separate charts that need to be opened from within the application?
The link below is a video from Jeppesen where this zooming in from the enroute map to taxi chart is demonstrated. From 2’10”.
In the US version you chose the approach and then load the plate manually, the taxi diagram overlays automatically (this can be configured) once you’re on the ground during rollout. The above assumes instrument approaches, as there are no VACs as such in the US. You’d need to check a EU version how that works. In the US some airports publish VFR approach charts, but these invariably have to do with noise abatement and/or terrain features. Around here in SoCal, Big Bear (KL35) and Santa Paula (KSZP) and others have them. These are not geo-referenced but simple PFDs that you can load into the ‘documents’ section of FF.
To clarify. You have to load the DFS and Jepp VFR aka Bottlang charts manually, but they are georeferenced and very easy to switch thanks to the little Foreflight icon in the upper left corner.
Otherwise the zooming from navigation scale down to airport and taxiway level is very smooth thanks to the Jepp VFR data. This is how it looks at the VAC level:
Hi nickflyer,
Thanks for the screenshots. Appreciated!
So if I understand correctly, if the map in the lower screenshot allows you to zoom in to airport and taxiway level, the “Bottlang” charts in the above screenshot offer no real advantage and are, as a result, optional? Any idea why ForeFlight offers the Bottlang charts as a paying option? Is this to offer people the choice or is certain data missing in the map that one would need to find in the Bottlang charts?
Sorry, I hope it’s clear what I mean. Easier to show than to explain I’m afraid :-)
In Europe, the Jepp charts are generally much nicer than the (free) AIP charts (or some vectorised version thereof), and this is true for both the IFR terminal charts (“approach plates”) and the VFR charts.
For airport charts there probably isn’t much difference however.
I suspect Foreflight can license the Jepp VFR Europe package for not a lot of money, whereas the approach plates are much more (best part of €1k/year for all of Europe). And if you want to penetrate the European market you have to offer a very good VFR product, because (due to both historical and current effort of getting the IR and making good use of it) that’s where something close to 99% of the traffic is.
I find the georeferenced airport charts (which Garmin sell as “Safetaxi”) absolutely wonderful. Such a simple thing, and so brilliant.
Images were taken from the Foreflight press release. ;)
I believe they are completely optional but do provide additional information, like noise sensitive areas or special geographic features. But I didn’t have a really good look at it, will post again once I had…
Thanks for the answers guys.
I’m actually looking forward to seeing it work. As said, I currently use Jepp FD VFR which is very good as it combines maps, charts, text pages, weather & NOTAMs in one application, but other than that, it’s severely underdeveloped and it doesn’t look like Jeppesen has the intention of doing anything about that.
ForeFlight’s website states “this summer” for the roll-out. Did they narrow this down at Aero 2018?
Tried to get a more precise release date out of them but naturally they can‘t tell yet. It seems the integration of the new products is already working well, but I bet there are tons of small issues. I‘m hoping for a late June, early July release…
Let’s hope so. From a commercial standpoint, I think June is already quite late. I’m guessing most subscriptions people have with other suppliers are due for renewal around April-May and once these are paid upfront most people will be hesitant to splash out on another suppliers product. Pure speculation, I know…
The ForeFlight announcement for this coming summer appears to be largely Europe VFR & IFR enhancements to the existing product.
I have been using ForeFlight for nearly a year with both IFR and VFR (“Bottlang”) Europe Jepp charts. From a chart and documents viewpoint, IFR/VFR is already pretty well integrated now. Both chart types can be overlayed on the map and are geo-referenced (Pro+). The web site mentions enhancements to the Jepp IFR/VFR navigation data as well as new non-Jepp options such as DFS charts, national AIP en-route charts, procedures, taxi charts, and AIP docs.
I’m guessing that they’ll add a European coverage base product price (e.g. Europe or US or Canada coverage with Jepp Europe @ additional charge) based on Eurocontrol-sourced national AIP data + std DFS/Skyguide anomaly chargeables. Current product pricing is mandatory US or Canada plus Jepp Europe (IFR or IFR/VFR). If they keep the current price point, that would mean $200/yr for FF Pro+ incl Europe natl AIP data (VFR/IFR) which if true would be a real crowd-pleaser. Jepp data of course would still come with its own separate pricing (currently $782 IFR or $889 IFR/VFR Central Europe).
From a SnF video, it appears that FF10 will include hazard and profile enhancements for all geographies.
