Marc,
I bought an iFly700 when I saw Dan's. I have a G396 in the panel, and wanted a sectional chart and airport diagram replacement. The iFly looked like a good fit for that. I've been to OSH and back as well as to a few races around the country using it, and it's a very nice unit. Nice compliment to the 396 with XM and terrain.
I'd been running SkyCharts on my iPhone, but the size was a bit small. Upgrading to an iPad and continuing with SkyCharts and/or Foreflight is still a possibility (the programs are great and the iPad is very inviting from a display appearance...still mulling on that one)...but for the entry price, the iFly700 has been a very useful tool. The size is nice too...not too big, not too small...just about right.
Upsides: Fast refresh rate when scrolling the map, great resolution at all ranges, nice airport diagrams and approach plates (I'm not using the plates in my VFR machine, but they are nice, and I use the AP diagrams at unfamiliar fields a lot), flight plans appear as a magenta line, and you can rubber band them if needed. Airplane posit updates quickly and the map moves under it if you select "follow airplane", and can spring right back to that after you scroll around looking at things, with the same command. Some nice user interface buttons that pop up on the display when you touch it. Update links are pushed to users via e-mail, and are easy to install (flash drive upload). Big upside are the developers/producers...met them at OSH and have talked to them on the phone. Really nice guys, and they are very responsive to customers, and are really interested in adding features customers want.
Downsides: No Wx and no Autopilot connection, so as it is, it may not be a fully stand-alone (or full-featured) X-C GPS, like an X96. But its screen is bigger, and those two features have been discussed a lot on their forum, and may be in the future of the product. Glare is a factor, as with many glass avionics items. I built a little glareshield for mine, and it helped. I may add an antiglare coating, but need to research that first (any hints from the gallery?). I've found some of the flight plan entry methodolgy a bit cumbersome, but it could be my point on the learning curve. I'll make some suggestions after playing with it some more, and my guess is they will be very responsive. Also, no range gouge when changing scales...it just says level 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. and there is no range legend...but I think that has been suggested as an improvement, and may be in work. (I know I could use Latitude tics, but I'd prefer a quicker method of estimating range from my course line to the dark brown points on the sectional.)
I have it mounted on a Ram mount on the forward side rail...there's a mount on either side, so I can swap the iFly and the iPhone (i, i, i
). Really poorly lighted iPhone pic below, but gives you an idea:
The internal GPS has been 98% in that position, just an occasional hiccup...but I have an external GPS antenna ($15) that could supplement (haven't used it yet). An iPad, ala Pat Hatch's mount could work there too, and I'd have more glass than my 737 (wait, I already do, sort of!
)
At any rate, the iFly is a great little piece of gear for the $$, and the capabilities are only getting better. All FWIW...have fun shopping!!
Cheers,
Bob
