Don’t travel without it
Note: X-Planner app for iPhone is no longer being offered in the App Store. The information below is for legacy support purposes only.
First things first: If you travel and you do not have an iPhone yet, then you simply do not know what you are missing. Land at an airport and bring up Google Maps to see the lay of the land in your area, with an icon of you on the map. Then type in “Taxi,” “Hotel,” or “Mexican Restaurant” and watch little pins drop onto the map to show where these things are. Then hit a single button to call the taxi company. Then put in your earbuds and listen to your music library while you check your email. Then take a picture of your plane or other stuff and email it to your friends or company… all with this one device. It’s good looking and absurdly easy to use. If you are inextricably linked to some other cell provider for the time being, then drop them anyway, or get an iPod Touch… it still does most of the stuff listed above.
Now, once you have an iPhone or iPod Touch, you can do your flight planning on it as well!
Keeping you accurate, keeping you safe
X-Planner is a fun and simple flight planning tool that will plot your weight and center of gravity for any flight in a light plane. Lots of pilots take off without checking the weight and balance, but now it is fun to do this on your iPhone before flight! If the FAA does a ramp-check and asks for your weight and balance, you will be glad you have this on your iPhone, trust me.
As well, you can enter your aircraft climb and cruise performance (only needed once), the winds aloft (each flight), and your destination (each flight), and X-Planner will give you the estimated time and fuel expense for each altitude from 3,000 to 24,000 feet (if your plane can go that high). This will let you know exactly when to tell the people at the other end of the flight you will arrive. It will also tell you just how much fuel you’ll need on board and what altitude to use for best speed and minimum fuel burn! As well, you can see the change in fuel expense, and time savings, that result from using high versus low power settings.
Plenty of people have no idea if they are in weight and balance, and have no idea what altitude to fly, and have no idea how much fuel to put on board, all the time. Now you can be sure of your weight, balance, fuel, and altitude selection every flight!
If you choose your altitude to minimize fuel burn, this app will pay for itself in the first half of the first flight you use it.
The app is only $9.99… cheap enough that any pilot with an iPhone should get it, and any pilot without an iPhone should get one, or at least an iPod Touch.
Pull out the coolest device around before each flight and see exactly what altitude to fly and how much fuel you will use. No more guessing. I cannot imagine flying without it.
Get it from the iTunes Store
Purchase X-Planner for iPhone and iPod Touch using this link. Purchase it for iPad using this link.
Using X-Planner
Click the images below to see them at full size (and to read the accompanying instructions, found directly beneath the full-sized image), then click again to close them.