F

FinnFlyer

Well Known Member
I was waiting for the usual 4 extra months discount on subscription renewal at Sun'n'Fun.
Apparently not this year. Just a 10% discount (of off $95 -- up from $70 a few years ago).

I've done all of two cross country trips (actually each < 100 miles) last six months.

Wondering if really worthwhile to renew my iFly VFR subscription or if I should switch to Avare.

Finn
 
I like Ifly, price is just consistent with everything else related to politics that we cannot mention here.
 
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I've been using Avare for almost as long as it has existed. Love it. I run it on my tablet, and also on my phone, for back up. My tablet and phone talk to my uAvionix ADSB, so I get weather and traffic, and that all works great. I'm sure iFly is great as well, but Avare is free. I send them some money every year for their efforts; a personal decision.
 
Another Avare user, for a long time now.
Download the free data sets into it and go.
Traffic works great with my Stratux.
I've got no complaints.

However I still do primarily fly with paper IFR approach plates. That's just me not wanting to depend on some tablet device for that.
But for VFR charts, it's my go-to and has been used for multiple long cross-country flights.
 
FinnFlyer said:
I was waiting for the usual 4 extra months discount on subscription renewal at Sun'n'Fun.
Apparently not this year. Just a 10% discount (of off $95 -- up from $70 a few years ago).

I've done all of two cross country trips (actually each < 100 miles) last six months.

Wondering if really worthwhile to renew my iFly VFR subscription or if I should switch to Avare.

Finn
Click to expand...
I use ifly for the last 6 years. It works well and the buttons/ menus are well laid out. It is updated regularly. I’m a vfr flyer. I don’t think the price is excessive to keep the company in business but then I send money to vans air force also.
Wilson
 
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blaplante said:
Another Avare user, for a long time now.
Download the free data sets into it and go.
Traffic works great with my Stratux.
I've got no complaints.

However I still do primarily fly with paper IFR approach plates. That's just me not wanting to depend on some tablet device for that.
But for VFR charts, it's my go-to and has been used for multiple long cross-country flights.
Click to expand...
The IFR charts are there to download and you dont need that goofy ipad cellular service for the geo plane to show on the charts, it shows just by turning the gps on on the tablet and is accurate, use it all the time for taxiing, spot on
 
Ruready said:
The IFR charts are there to download and you dont need that goofy ipad cellular service for the geo plane to show on the charts, it shows just by turning the gps on on the tablet and is accurate, use it all the time for taxiing, spot on
Click to expand...
I know the IFR approach charts are there. I just choose to still use paper.
Maybe because in my career in software I've seen the 'blue screen of death' too many times. I just picture having the tablet crash 2 miles from the airport on an approach and no paper backup. Not that I've ever had it happen with Avare. But I've heard of many iPad users having the iPad spontaneously shut down from overheating.
 
I have used Avare since it first came out and subscribed to iFlyGPS for a year. Now I just use Avare on a 7" Samsung tablet as it does everything I need. GPS and ADSB in come from a Crew Dog stratux ADSB in box. Just a couple of suggestions for Avare is how the maps and METARS display. Sometimes only 3/4 of the map displays on the screen and I have to move the point of reference to get map to show on the whole screen. The METARS show on the screen as colored blobs not always over the airport.
 
I used Avare with my Stratux for a couple years, and even kept in on my tablets after I subscribed to iFly. But now I use iFly EFB only. iFly has so many more features and is easily customizable. It has the AHRS screen so you can do 'highwway in the sky', you can share flight plans between devices, winds aloft, airport info with wind data, vector map with terrain, just so many more features, etc,etc,etc... I reckon you get what you pay for. Avare worked great, iFly just works better for me.
 
Has anyone successfully used Dual XGPS170 as the GPS and ADSB-in source for Avare on an Android tablet?

Port to listen to?

EDIT: Oh, XGPS170 is a BlueTooth device. Avare wants an WiFi device.
Answering my own question:
In Avare, scroll the buttons on the bottom (MAP, Plate, CSup, ...) all the way over to the right so the "IO" button is visible.
Tab the IO button.
On the top of the screen, where it probably says WiFi, tab the down-arrow and select Bluetooth.
XGPS170-xxxxxx should now show (if on) as an available device. Select that and click "Connect".

So many "hidden" options and features in Avare! I guess it's time to read the manuals and watch YouTube tutorials.

Finn
 
Last edited:
FinnFlyer said:
Has anyone successfully used Dual XGPS170 as the GPS and ADSB-in source for Avare on an Android tablet?

Port to listen to?

EDIT: Oh, XGPS170 is a BlueTooth device. Avare wants an WiFi device.
Answering my own question:
In Avare, scroll the buttons on the bottom (MAP, Plate, CSup, ...) all the way over to the right so the "IO" button is visible.
Tab the IO button.
On the top of the screen, where it probably says WiFi, tab the down-arrow and select Bluetooth.
XGPS170-xxxxxx should now show (if on) as an available device. Select that and click "Connect".

So many "hidden" options and features in Avare! I guess it's time to read the manuals and watch YouTube tutorials.

Finn
Click to expand...
Long time Avare user with Dual170 and 190- works great.

Pair it to Android device, then just go to I/O tab, bluetooth dropdown, then dual id dropdown, Dual will link up with blue led and white LED flashes once receiving wx or traffic.

I/O tab will show a bit of the data stream, even just the GPS position if you have a solid green LED on the dual.


If not using the supplied 12V adapter, it may take some trial to find a power supply that keeps it charged.

Voice traffic, ownship, etc take some practice to find what you like.
 
I am an avid ifly user for a few reasons. One, my 740b drives the autopilot. Second, the price is very reasonable. Most of the others you need to pay for are much more expensive. Third, A year ago I was talking on the phone about 5 pm with Walter Boyd, the founder of iFly. We'd been talking about 15 minutes when he said to me, "UH OH! My wife is calling I have to call you back." A few minutes later he called back. You just can't get this level of service which without fail... I've consistently received for my 12 years of using iFly. There is some free stuff out there but sometimes there is some things in life that are worth paying to have. I strongly feel iFly is one of those. And like someone mentioned earlier, it's super user friendly and easy to use with out watching a bunch of tutorials.
 
Over the last 4 years I logged a whopping 7 hours of cross country, all the while keeping my iFlyGPS subscription current (at about $70/year).
With about $40/hour in operating cost for my RV-4 (87 octane MoGas +2-stroke oil +oil) I felt that additional $40/hour for iFlyGPS really wasn't warranted.

Granted, it's nice to be able to see local traffic (what little there may be around my airfield in the middle of nowhere).

Finn
 
FinnFlyer said:
Over the last 4 years I logged a whopping 7 hours of cross country, all the while keeping my iFlyGPS subscription current (at about $70/year).
With about $40/hour in operating cost for my RV-4 (87 octane MoGas +2-stroke oil +oil) I felt that additional $40/hour for iFlyGPS really wasn't warranted.

Granted, it's nice to be able to see local traffic (what little there may be around my airfield in the middle of nowhere).

Finn
Click to expand...
Two other points- IFly is bright, clear screen and no overheat issues- two common Andoid and iOS issues.
 
I have been using iFlyEFB for a few years now and like it. It runs on both Android and iOS. My experience has been that the GPS in my Android tablets have been rock solid. My iPhone and iPad GPS have been a lot less reliable. The Apple GPS is fine when connected to a cell or wifi network but with no connectivity they haven't worked well for me.
 
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