iFly GPS Forum

On the VST instrument, its be nice if you could tap it and a pop-up would let you set an altitude. For instance, ATC tells you to "Cross ABCDE at 3,200; cleared for the XXX approach...". Tapping the ABCDE waypoint and setting it to 3,200 would then tell you how fast or slow you need to descend (or climb for crossing altitude/airspace restrictions) to comply.

Building on Jeff's idea, perhaps tap the chart, QV pops up. If not in already in "NAV," tap "NAV." Tap "Flight Plan" "(or "More Options"); tap [new] "Crossing Altitude" (or if "More Options" then [new] "Add Alt Marker"); tap digits. "Enter."

It's a lot more tapping that I like (much more than 2), but I can't think of a quicker way just now.

(Could one set a marker in the VP instead? Just brainstorming. But since the VP is already dealing with altitudes, it seems like the better paradigm for visually crossing altitudes. In fact, perhaps a mini-version of the altitude optimizer window could pop up, since it already has our waypoints drawn on it. Then you would merely rubber-band the magenta line to your crossing altitude like we already do for course?)

While there should also be a way to set crossing altitudes in the Flight Plan (for known, planned minimums or maximum altitudes - say in a SID or STAR), ATC often restricts us in unpredictable ways (sometimes traffic, sometimes ???). So it would be nice to have a quick way from the chart to drop an Altitude Marker (or similar) set an impromptu crossing altitude.

If implemented, some smart person should come up with a way to clear the crossing restriction too.