Electronic Flight Bag For FSX

[PanzerFodder 0]

Hello Guys.

I was thinking about getting the "Electronic Flight Bag" http://www.pcaviator...productid=19231 for use in my AirHauler missions instead of the default GPS?

Has anyone already used this software? what do you think of it and is it all the advert cracks it up to be?

Cheer's...Graham...

PS: looks like they also have a version for FS2004 as well http://www.pcaviator.com/store/product.php?productid=19235







[mutley 4,487]

Not sure but that's a great price

[allardjd 1,853]

I have a FS9 version but didn't use it too much. I found an old (11/09) text file with some notes I made to myself about it at the time, copied in below. I think I may have made the notes in preparation for a review that never got written. Judging from the last paragraph of my notes it must have been a 20-minute limited free demo version. I still have the relevant files.

 

NOTE: This is FS9 and over two years old. This may not be an accurate description of what it does in FSX now, two years later.

Also, consider the freeware PDF Kneeboard. I find that pretty satisfactory.

 

--- 2009 Notes on FS9 EFB ---

My home-made Airport Diagrams work in it. Hooray.

 

It seems to be able to display anything in a jpg, pdf or htm format quite easily. PDF looks best because it has most of the pdf reader tools available in the margins of the EFB for viewing. The other file format viewers are not so full featured.

 

It’s about the size of the kneeboard, but taller than it is wide – portrait format, I guess.

 

It displays the FS flight plan on a dedicated page if you want to see it. Looks about like it does on the kneeboard. No new features there that I can see.

 

This is a kneeboard on steroids. The biggest differences are the ability to pull in live web sites and to select from multiple documents in a menu/directory tree.

 

As far as live web sites, you can’t browse as such. You have to pre-load the site addresses you want in their menu trees/lists somehow (haven’t seen how yet). It is not limited to WX – I think you can access anything, but have to think of it and load the address in the list before flying. Putting in all the standard WX pages and such would be the way to go.

 

It looks like the web sites can’t be “navigated”. You get a page and that’s that. You can’t move around the site once you’ve accessed it; you just get to view what you put in the menu. The pages will update, either automatically if you tell it to or manually, but that’s what stalled a WX page for me. That’s the only bug-like thing I have seen so far.

 

The menu tree is whatever you put under the four or five sub-folders they provide. You cannot search your drives far and wide with it. (I think).

 

It puts a new pad on the FS Top-Line menu.

 

You are limited to one level of subfolders below their folders (I think).

 

WX from internet sites - no zoom controls or right click menus to adjust the view; just the raw image from the WX site. On-screen browsing tools not visible or able to be used for web pages displayed in EFB.

 

Map zooms in 10 NM increments, 10 NM is tightest zoom. Only flight info given is magnetic and true heading. No speed or wind info at all. Not much else. Has check boxes to show/suppress airports, various kinds of navaids, airspace boundaries, etc, etc.

 

Does not cause FS to pause on task switch, even when pause on task switch is set on in FS. The EFB docs say that and it works as they said. I’d hate to see it throw the Pause flag in FS every time you look at it.

 

Locked up on WX download but let me move to other functions while it still had a problem fetching the WX.

 

If all of doc being viewed is not shown, there are scroll bars. For sectionals, at least, can zoom, pan by dragging too. Sectional views are very good but I think you need to pay for a subscription to get them in their format, at least one time.

 

A little slow. Not bad. No visible effect on FS, but I was in the Follow Me van and parked so not too challenging. Need to check that further.

 

There are on-screen tools in some views for suppressing the border of the EFB and even for taking it to full screen (monitor screen size, not EFB Size). Some screens, i.e. documents, have the tools, web site views do not seem to have them.

 

The EFB box is not re-sizeable, but can be minimzed from the tool bar button at the bottom of the Windows screen (I think) and can be easily moved, even to the second monitor. Do not need to “undock” to move to the second monitor.

 

Overall, it looks like it would be most useful if a guy took the time and effort to collect all the manuals, checklists, reference documents and charts, etc and got them into an organized set of folders and file formats and naming conventions etc. Using this thing to access them from FS would be a big help IF all the stuff were well organized, but that would be a big chore. I suppose it could be done on a flight by flight basis but it would all have to be done before firing up FS. As it is with stuff scattered all around and not necessarily in consistent formats makes it quite a bit less useful than it might be if all that were optimized.

 

A downside is that everything has to be loaded into their menu in the EFB folder under the FS folder. That means having a lot of files in two places.

 

I’ll keep hacking away at it. Just not sure yet. Can’t say it blows my dress up, but could be useful if charts for it are easy to find. It looks like approach charts, airport diagrams, etc, have to be pre-loaded as individual files because you cannot navigate the web sites once you access one. If you’re going to a place with six IAPs and want all of them available, you’d need to have six files loaded in their little directory tree. Not sure the rest is worth much.

 

---------------------------------------------------

 

Putting a shortcut to another file in the EFB file structure doesn't seem to work. It appears that the exact file must be there. The EFB menu doesn't seem to recognize or display the shortcut nor the represented file. Pity!

 

When displaying a jpg file, there are zoom tools available in the margin, and scroll bars where needed.

 

---------------------------------------------------

 

Mouse scroll wheel works on pdf.

 

Airport diagrams in jpg landscape formats show width of image but are squashed in the horizontal axis, severely. - OK, it toggles and can be panned with drag or scroll bars.

 

The three sectionals in the demo appear to all be terminal area charts. Good scroll and zoom capability. Can you get full sectionals and IFR charts?

 

Might be good for capturing and saving the approach plates for a destination (and alternate?) as part of flight planning - cheaper than paper and ink.

 

---------------------------------------------------

 

Did some testing using EFB for an actual flight, about 10 minutes of pre-flight operations and then about the first 10 minutes of a flight until reaching the 20 minute timeout. I noted some significant delays and stutters, not in the EFB but in normal FS operations, including tuning radios. I was located at TJIG, on the edge of the photo-realistic scenery area at San Juan, PR, so am not sure whether that or the EFB was causing the performance issues.

 

The problem was noticeable, but not to the point of making the sim unusable. More testing is needed.

 

---------------------------------------------------

[PanzerFodder 0]

John, that was a brilliant post also thanks to Mike as well .

When I saw that the newest version of EFB had a moving map I thought it would be a good replacement for the Garmin GPS that comes with the 182 RG that I'm flying ATM in AH, I only have one monitor and to be able to pull up stuff on an in flight knee board type thingy seem's an very attractive option to have I do have Plan-G and think it's great but having to Alt-Tab out to view it is a bit of a pain in the bum.

I have REX 2 but the weather engine seem's a bit temperamentalon my PC, I have a few lock ups and FSX crashes when useing it .

Cheer's...Graham...

[allardjd 1,853]

Check out PDF Kneeboard for viewing documents in flight. It's freeware and works very well, but no moving map. You can put a map in a pdf and load that but it won't synch up with your flight. It's kind of like having a paper chart, but it's easier to fold...

 

John

[PanzerFodder 0]

Thanks for the Comments Guy's.

Just thought I would do an update:

I Bought it! never can resist these sales at PC Aviator Store .

Got it running with no problems, except I had to download the latest version of Adobe reader X, coz EFBFSX won't work with version 8 that I had before

I downloaded the free moving map that use's google maps as well, but have not worked out how to get the flight plan to show on it yet (see pic below).

Also like being able to store all my aircraft manuals in a place where I can read them and tinker with my plane "on the fly" so to speak

This is a handy little add-on for people will only one monitor IMO, no more Alt+Tab out to see what mountain range your flying over is called

In the shot below I'm just crossing from BC into Alberta in my latest AH mail flight back to CEN4

Cheer's...Graham...

[UKJim 502]

Do you have a link for the free moving map with Google earth etc?

Cheers!

UPDATE: Found it - its on FSWidgets free utilities section!

[mutley 4,487]

Thanks for the update Graham, that is looking really good and and very useful for single monitor set-ups

[PanzerFodder 0]

Do you have a link for the free moving map with Google earth etc?

Cheers!

UPDATE: Found it - its on FSWidgets free utilities section!

Yes and they also have a Garmin clone version if you prefer that kind of look

Thanks for the update Graham, that is looking really good and and very useful for single monitor set-ups

The only down side that I can see ATM is the fact the EFBFSX can only be viewed in flight if FSX is set to run in windowed mode (which was putting me off this add on a bit, but now I have tried it with the task bar on auto hide and FS menue hidden I think I can live with it.

I'm pleased I found this one as I don't really have enough room on my PC desk for another monitor .

Cheer's...Graham...

[mutley 4,487]

Hi Graham I always fly FSX in maximised windowed mode

[PanzerFodder 0]

Hi Graham I always fly FSX in maximised windowed mode

Yes, and I think I will as well from now on, AH seem's to connect to FSX much better when its in windowed mode (I used to get stuck when Alt-tabing out at the end of each flight and have to open up the task manager to shut down FSX ).

BTW: I got my flight plans to show up now on the EFBFSX map, (I just had to show it the path to where all my flight plans are stored ).

Also, have set up my G15 keyboard so I can flick the whole flight bag on and off without have to press about a 100 keys to do the same task ( thanks to Sabre for that tip, he's a wizard on the G15 keyboard )

Cheer's...Graham...

[allardjd 1,853]

I recently discovered something the rest of you might already have known, but just in case...

 

This is related to the mention of windowed mode, but may still amount to hijacking the thread.

 

I've always understood that FSX must be in Windowed mode to Undock a pop-up and move it across to a second monitor. That much is true.

 

What I didn't know is that after having done that with one or more pop-ups, the main FSX window can be returned to Full Screen (i.e. no title bar, border, task bar). FSX and the Pop-ups continue to function normally and there's no change in the ability to move the mouse pointer across monitors and operate things on the undocked windows.

 

Why didn't someone tell me?

 

John

[Sabre 28]

Why didn't someone tell me?

John

Good question - my logic is that if you didn't know then I had absolutely no chance of knowing. :)

I'll have to test that out tonight.

[aeromax 10]

Great idea, indeed. Is that also for external use, on other screen and full sim-screen-mode ? Should be - or ? WideFS ? About that no plan, even i hold already 3Screens...!

Cheers.

[PanzerFodder 0]

I'm still loading stuff into EFBFSX, and must say the more I use it, the more I like it Can even get in flight internet on it as well

Have a look at these, all shot's taken in a AH flight over Montana

It's always handy to be able to get your manuals when you need too

One of John's airport plates, and very handy they are as well

And then there's always the internet to relieve the boredom of endless hours flying over snowy landscapes

Cheer's...Graham...

PS: I'm going to try watching an You Tube video in flight nexp

[allardjd 1,853]

Good stuff - I particularly like the airport diagram...

 

John

[PanzerFodder 0]

Good stuff - I particularly like the airport diagram...

John

You should, It's one of your's

Need some more Canadian one's really, mainly for the South Alberta area, and maybe some in the states North Montana sort of area, as my AH base is CEN4 High River

Cheer's...Graham...

[allardjd 1,853]

Send me a list of ICAO codes.

[Sabre 28]

I've always understood that FSX must be in Windowed mode to Undock a pop-up and move it across to a second monitor. That much is true.

What I didn't know is that after having done that with one or more pop-ups, the main FSX window can be returned to Full Screen (i.e. no title bar, border, task bar). FSX and the Pop-ups continue to function normally and there's no change in the ability to move the mouse pointer across monitors and operate things on the undocked windows.

Why didn't someone tell me?

John

:Hijacked:

Apologies Graham

This indeed works - the only problem I've experienced with this is using A2A aircraft the pop-up menus go out of focus when not running in windowed mode. I suspect in my case though this may be to do with my second monitor running on a diffrent resolution.

[gigemaggs99 0]

I've been reading reviews on the two, it's kinda hard to find a side by side comparison.

Does anyone have the Aivlasoft EFB? It seems like it does pretty much the same thing from the details section I read online, http://www.aivlasoft.../efb/index.html

The main difference I can see from reading about them online is it looks like FSWidgets requires you to purchase their EFB plus additional "Cloud Based" charts for your navigation charts. It looks like Aivlasoft supports Navigraph to be used to update your chart information. It looks like FSWidgets EFB is cheaper at first, once you add in the costs of the Cloud Based charts it jumps up above the cost of the complete Aivlasoft efb.

Does anyone have both or can they give pros/cons on the Aivlasoft version?

Thank you.

EDIT: Another question, what if the FSWidgets can download information, I'm assuming you have tell it where to look, why can't you use something like skyvector for the sectionals and hi/low enroute charts? Would they work just as good as the Cloud Based services they provide? Skyvector is free.

[gigemaggs99 0]

I have both. Stopped using the FSWidgets EFB ages ago. Non-resizable "window", no flight planning of any use. Charts? Forget it. etc. etc. Moving map - Huh! All too small. I'm afarid its a bag of paper reduced in size to A6 and digitised. You have to supply the originals.

Aivlasoft has proper flight planning import export, SIDS and STARs, a database included and you can update from Navigraph or the Aerosoft one, by using the Level D 767 FMS update (You don't actually have to have the Level D - just use that update and it'll create the necessary folder when you execute the update. All the correct charts show as you fly if following a plan, in sequence, your aircraft shown etc. moving map, lots of options. Its a no-brainer. Also, free 30 day demo, unlimited. If you like it, just pay the registration, if you don't like, I'll sell you my FSwidgets one half-price! A bargain! But really no comparison except they're both called EFB.

Mike

Awesome, thank you sir.

What about SimPlates X? Has anyone used this? I'm thinking the moving map is nice and all, but I have the GPS on the plane already so I'm not 100% sure what the difference is in the moving map from FSX vs Aivlasoft's moving map? I'm looking more for charts, sectionals, TAC, approach plates (IFR, RNAV, etc..) I see SimPlates X has the charts I'm looking for. Will the navigraph updates have these same charts for Aivlasoft?

I'm flying in the Orbx AU sceneries and I'm having a hard time finding charts, SimPlates X advertises multiple charts for A LOT of AU airports. I'm used to flying in the US and I use skyvector and Flightaware for my free charts, but they do not provide much as far as out of the US.

[allardjd 1,853]

Skyvector now has three new series of charts, world-wide, in formats very much like US Sectionals and High and Low Altitude Enroute charts, all free to view on-line.

 

John

[Kasper 14]

Aivlasoft EFB has all the charts available that you can need. Ground, Departure, Enroute, Arrival and Approach + flight planning (do it yourself or import from where-ever) + flight log + weather import for flight planning + possibility for making your own checklists + aircraft editor + it changes to the correct chart or checklist depending on the phase of flight + it can run on the same pc as FS or a different pc or the server on the same pc but the client on a different pc + you can use the data available from FS (and so get the extra data for add-on fields) and the updates from Navigraph or Aerosoft.

I use it for most of my flights and have been using it for a while now.

I like it.

I have no experience with simplates but as far as I can tell it has nothing that EFB doesn't have.

[edit] Skyvector is very good for planning VFR flights, I like that too![/edit]

[gigemaggs99 0]

Aivlasoft EFB has all the charts available that you can need. Ground, Departure, Enroute, Arrival and Approach + flight planning (do it yourself or import from where-ever) + flight log + weather import for flight planning + possibility for making your own checklists + aircraft editor + it changes to the correct chart or checklist depending on the phase of flight + it can run on the same pc as FS or a different pc or the server on the same pc but the client on a different pc + you can use the data available from FS (and so get the extra data for add-on fields) and the updates from Navigraph or Aerosoft.

I use it for most of my flights and have been using it for a while now.

I like it.

I have no experience with simplates but as far as I can tell it has nothing that EFB doesn't have.

[edit] Skyvector is very good for planning VFR flights, I like that too![/edit]

Thank you very much sir.

I'm doing as much reviewing and reading as I can and you guys seem to give more complete information than I can find anywhere online, so thank you.

It seems like from reading reviews here and bits and pieces from other places, please tell me if would be correct:

-SimPlates X is already inside of Aivla EFB via the navigraph updates.

-FSwidgets will do most of the same things Aivla EFB will do and maybe a few more but the user has to program all the sites and tell it where to find the information? It seems Aivla does more of the work for you? Right?

Does the Aivla have sectionals? If not, since (as allardj) pointed out, Skyvector now has these for areas outside of the US, is it possible to tell/point Aivla EFB to Skyvector to find these sectionals? Possibly in an extra flight planning window?

I assume it's possible to tell FSWidgets where these Skyvector charts are, but there again it seems like I have to gather the information and then make sure I have the file paths correct in order for FSWidgets to see it.

I have 2 PCs, this one that I can pull up charts, flight plan (via Plan G), etc... it's on the same desk with my FSX PC so I can see both monitors. It would be "nice" to have everything in one spot, this is what attracts me to AivlaSoft EFB. I guess in the perfect world I could put AivlaSoft EFB on this PC and have it open and it would track my progress while FSX is flying on the other machine, it seems like this is an option via the network feature as you pointed out above.

[gigemaggs99 0]

birdmanmike,

Thank you very much. I'm gonna give the AivlaSoft demo version a shot. It sounds like it does more than the FSWidgets and if nothing else I don't have to worry about typos and my own user error trying to tell FSWidgets where to locate all my information and documents/charts/.jpeg, etc.....

I like things that come out of the box, with installers. I like that most programs you can edit and alter if you want and are in the know-how...but I also know I can really mess things up with one or more typos. This is one reason I haven't messed w/ the REX Essentials Plus, or the REX Essentails. I have REX 2.0 OverDrive, it has an auto installer and to me it makes FSX look amazing. I worry about messing things up with REX Ess +, they give detailed instructions on how to edit the files and locations on where/how to do so, but I still worry...an auto-installer and I'd switch over in a heart beat. Right now REX 2.0 OverDrive is running like a champ and I don't want to mess with a good thing.

Off to try the AivlaSoft EFB demo. Thanks again for the reviews, insight, and opinions.

Happy Flying,

Gus