A recent review in Aviation Consumer summed it up nicely by saying,
"Computer capable VFR-only pilots who actually own sectionals and an E6B (or
a GPS) probably don't need anything beyond DUAT. For the rest, you needn't
expect any of the three to be idiot proof and completely hands off for IFR
planning. At some point, each gave us an improper SID or STAR, an incorrect
MEA or a plain silly route, particularly if we let it go with its default
options. "
The "three" were Flightsoft, FlightStar, and Destination Direct, and their
conclusion was, "We don't think you can go wrong with any of the three."
Having said that, in my own experience with Destination Direct (the recently
superseded version) for VFR flying I found that it was seriously lacking
because it could not, under any circumstances, automatically plan a flight
to avoid any kind of restricted airspace. It would, however, keep you from
flying over open water, and since the only body of water around here (within
a day's flying time) is the Pacific Ocean I don't need much help avoiding
that. For example, a relatively short flight from the coast of southern
California to Death Valley had the program spinning its wheels without ever
reaching any decision on what route to recommend. DUATS planned the same
flight almost instantly and avoided the numerous MOAs along the route.
Numerous calls to DD's tech support finally resulted in them telling me that
I should not expect a VFR program to keep me out of restricted airspace.
Huh? I wonder what they think we intend to use the program for if not VFR
flight planning.
Best regards,
Rob Housman
A070
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-europa-list-server@matronics.com
[mailto:owner-europa-list-server@matronics.com]On Behalf Of Paul Atkinson
Subject: Europa-List: flight planning software
<paul@theatkinsons.demon.co.uk>
Hello all,
I'm thinking about what package to buy in the near future, and would
appreciate any comments good or bad (not too slanderous) about your
favourite software. I am after something that will allow me to upload
flight plans to my skymapIII , and print out a route on A4 sheets, thus
avoiding having too many unfolded maps flying around the cockpit. I
assume that these are common features, but the blurb I have read does
not always highlight them.
Thanks in advance
Paul
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