Saturday 16 November 2013

MET, NOTAMS, and Route Planning via Twitter

As a great fan of Twitter in terms of its concept and its technical implementation, when I was in the midst of rolling-out Version 3 of the iNavCalc mobile app, I got to thinking that it would be a fun mini-project to combine the Twitter API with iNavCalc. So that's what I've done.

The result is simple set of hashtags (#met, #notams, #route) which you can use to generate MET, NOTAMS, and routes directly from your tweets.  All you need is a Twitter account. To get started, see the simple instructions here.

Enjoy.

Saturday 9 November 2013

iNavCalc version "Three Point Oh"

Version 3.0 of the iNavCalc mobile app has now been released.


Enhancements in V3


  • Load and Save Routes in the Cloud
  • Auto-open app when clicking on .GPX or .FPL files (Android only)
  • Share routes 
    • via Twitter (#ROUTEVIEW)
    • via Email
    • with other iNavCalc users (public or private) 
    • "Like" feature for voting as a "Cool Route" 
  • Various UI improvements and bug fixes


New features in V3


  • METARs & TAFs page with global ICAO lookup 
  • NOTAMs page with global ICAO lookup
  • "Cool Routes" page for displaying most-"Liked" routes 

An comprehensive Users' Guide is available here which describes all features of this latest release.

Sunday 29 September 2013

Bulldog and Chipmunk Formation Meet

A couple of weeks after the last-ever Leuchars airshow, we took the Bulldogs to the BullChipMeet held at Sywell (EGBK) near Northampton, UK, over the weekend 22--23 September 2013. This event focuses on formation flying training. Here is my video and picture diary from the excellent two days flying, made more challenging due to the mixed aircraft types, the Chipmunk being less powerful than the Bulldog.

Here's the route (generated using  iNavCalc RouteView) we flew in to EGBK from EGSF where the aircraft were positioned after Leuchars.

Video Diary: 7-ship (5 Chipmunks, 2 Bulldogs) Formation flypast over Cranfield (EGTC)

Here's the route (generated using  iNavCalc RouteView) for the flypast.


Friday 6 September 2013

RAF Leuchars Airshow 2013



A collection of videos and pictures from RAF Leuchars Airshow 2013. Posted in reverse-chronological order (homeward-bound, airshow day, arrival). Rather sad that this was the last ever Leuchars Airshow, but delighted and privileged to have been part of this little piece of history.


Videos from Bulldog formation flight home 8 September 2013


Here's the route (generated using  iNavCalc RouteView) we flew home. It took 3 hours 10 minutes in a 10 knot head-wind. Longest duration flight I've ever done in my Bulldog!

Videos from flightline 7 September 2013


Photos of flying display 7 September 2013


This collection of aerial shots was taken  by my friend JP Robertson









Photos from the flightline 7 September 2013


An assortment of pictures taken whilst walking down the flightline on 7 September
















































Bulldog Formation Arrival 6 September 2013

Some GoPro video clips taken from the cockpit of my ex-RAF Bulldog xx667 arriving at Leuchars in formation with Bulldog xx546 on Friday 6 September 2013.

...and the route we flew from Prestwick (EGPK) (generated using  iNavCalc RouteView)  to get here.

Pictures from the flightline 6 September 2013

Some photos I took on the flightline at RAF Leuchars after parking-up the Bulldog. The plane-spotters will know what these are !