Increased search ability - iFly Wish-List

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iFly Wish-List

Increased search ability

4/26/2016 10:28 PM

Jeff Clark

Joined: 9/20/2012

Posts: 1254

Re: Increased search ability

As it turns out, iFly already has this capability and it's easier than what I posted above. Simply tap and hold on your destination for 2 seconds, then let up. On the options that appear, tap "Search Nearby". You'll get the same flyout window as "NRST". The advantage to this over just looking at a sectional chart is that they are sorted by nearest, can be filtered, and each airport can be checked for fuel avalibility, FBO info, and other airport info that isn't available by looking at a chart.

Jeff Nokomis Clark, Mooney M20G, iFly app on ASUS ZenPad Z8s, ASUS ZenFone AR, ASUS Windows 10 tablet, Stratux ADS-B w AHRS

4/26/2016 11:49 PM

lastdeadmouse

Joined: 7/9/2015

Posts: 14

Re: Increased search ability Modified By lastdeadmouse on 4/26/2016 11:58:51 PM

The current ability doesn't match my intended use case. Currently, it is incredibly easy to plan flights to an area you already know. The way I'd like to see it work, I could think, "hey, I'd like to visit some friends that moved to [city without an airport]..." Then, simply search the city/state I intend to visit, see nearby airports and perhaps distances from them to my intended final destination.

With the example I used, if I have a meeting in Orland Park, IL, I have to use Google to find a nearby airport (less than ideal and certainly an incomplete picture of available airports) or find out where Orland Park is, then locate Orland Park on a sectional (a very cluttered Chicago sectional), still not find it, hold a finger on about the right place based on it's location on another map, and then find the nearest airport.

I simply think it could be done intuitively, and I don't even think it's necessary to have all the data included. It could be an optional download or even accessible internet only. The required data may be as little as a list of cities and coordinates, distances could be determined via simple calculation on device. Hell, google maps may even have a usable API.

I don't see how this request could make ifly LESS intuitive. It seems to me to be an even simpler way than currently exists for certain scenarios that could even be a selling point, despite the potential development challenge. To the iFly team, I appreciate the speed at which you tackle problems and make improvements. It's my top reason for using your product!

4/27/2016 9:32 AM

Shane

Joined: 4/21/2010

Posts: 1709

Re: Increased search ability

One efficient solution, we simply need to add an optional Cities layer to our Vector Map database. This is already on the wishlist. Then you could simply enter the name of the city and it could search nearby that city lat/long. The issue as it stands today, is we use the FAA Apt database and it's listed city for the airport, many times is not that actual city. If we added a City Database, then we could optionally add city names to the Vector Mode, and use that city lat/long as a Search reference point.

This approach would actually knock out two birds with one stone. City name option to the Vector Mode, then search near a city location, and that way we would not be relying on an inaccurate Apt database from the FAA.

I'll add this to the wishlist for something to look at further.

Shane Woodson
Vice President | Adventure Pilot LLC.