Monthly Archives: July 2010

ICAO Flight Plans

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Version 1.0.5.0 was released today. The last few releases have fixed a number of bugs and added some new features.
One of the cool new features is the ability to print off a pre-filled ICAO Flight Plan. Once you’re done planning your flight, click on the “ICAO Flight Plan” link on the Navigation Log page and you will get a PDF of the ICAO Flight Plan pre-filled with your flight details. You can then use this form to hand to your dispatcher, fax to NavCanada, or as a reference for when you file your plan over the telephone.
The change list also includes:

  • corrected Australian weather data retrieval and display
  • added the ability to set preferences for the map display options. For example: You can get the map to always display or hide any overlay (such as airmets, or weather radar). You can adjust these in the “My Account” section.
  • added a scale to the route map, to help you judge distances easier

Check out the What’s New? page for more details on all the recent changes.
We’ve had a tremendous amount of interest in the software since we launched and everyone has been providing great feedback. So keep spreading the word and look for additional functionality in the coming weeks.

Easy Access to Aviation Weather

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If you’re a pilot, work in aviation, or are an aviation enthusiast then more than likely you use the METAR and TAF for your current and short-term weather inquiries. It’s not that the data is necessarily any better or more accurate but that it’s in a format that pilots are familiar with and use all the time.
Although there are a number of ways to retrieve METAR and TAF, if you haven’t tried viewing them using the World Flight Planner website, you should. Access to weather information is free, though the site requires a subscription for access to other flight planning features. Just click on the weather link in the top navbar to search for and view the latest airport and weather information. Or if you know the ICAO code for the airport you want and use that in combination with the country as such:
Other cool features worth mentioning are support for mobile devices, geolocation support and nearest METAR/TAF.
Unlike a lot of weather sites, aviation or otherwise, World Flight Planner has a custom view designed specifically for mobile devices. That means that viewing the weather is fast, easy and won’t eat into your data plan. 
Support for geolocation means that if you don’t know what your nearest airport is and your web browser or mobile device supports it, World Flight Planner will automatically determine the nearest airport and display its METAR and TAF.
Finally, if the airport you are viewing doesn’t have a METAR/TAF then World Flight Planner will automatically display the METAR/TAF from the nearest reporting station.
World Flight Planner also has a complete feature set for pre-flight planning so if you’re looking for a way to plan more efficiently, with more detailed information and superior mapping, give us a try. More details are available in the product tour and all new-users get a free 30-day trial.

Version 1.0 Released! Sign up Now!

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We’re pleased to announce that version 1.0 of World Flight Planner is available now!
All users receive a 30 day trial and after that access to the service is only $10/month.
There are also multiple discounts available:

  • If you are a member of COPA, you are eligible for $2 off per month
  • If you are a member of Hope Air, you are eligible for 5% off the subscription price
  • Pay for a full year, and get one month free

And the best part about these discounts is that they can be combined. Just sign up with one and contact us to have the others applied.
Although there are a variety of pre-flight planning tools currently available, World Flight Planner is the only tool to be designed specifically for access via desktop and mobile-device web browsers. It is also the only tool which brings all the important weather information together and plots it all on a map to more easily visualize the size and location of AIRMET, SIGMET, PIREP and other weather-related details.
World Flight Planner also displays animated weather radar, airport flight rules status (VFR, MVFR, IFR, LIFR), terrain clearance and numerous other aeronautical information on your plotted route map.
Among the list of most handy features in World Flight Planner is the support for mobile devices. The application has a custom view for mobile devices that makes it faster and easier to view on the smaller screens (and using less of your data plan) but at the same time keeping almost all of the same functionality available on the desktop browser version. This means it’s just as easy to look up information and plan flights from anywhere your mobile device can get Internet access. World Flight Planner is also looking at building native apps for various mobile devices including the iPhone and iPad, as well as Blackberry and Android-based mobile phones.
World Flight Planner supports all flight planning functionality for Canada and some functionality for flight planning in the United States. We are also currently beta-testing flight planning for Australia. You can get more details on all the application features and functionality by viewing the product tour. And if you’re interested in trying out the application, all new users are offered a free 30-day trial. Just visit the account types & pricing page for pricing information and to sign up.
The team at World Flight Planner are continuing adding more functionality to the application as well as data for more countries. And because this is a web-based application there’s no need for you to do anything when the application is updated; any new features added are available immediately.
So we encourage you to try out the software and let us know how we’re doing so far. And more importantly, let us know what we’re missing so we can add it to the growing list of soon-to-be-added features.