Read Karlene Petitt's Friday Fabulous Flyer profile of iFlightPlanner co-founder Andy Matthews here!

Head over to KillerStartups.com and check out their recent review of iFlightPlanner.com!  Centralizing and simplying aviation tasks and flight planning were two of our top priorities in developing iFlightPlanner -- and we're thrilled that those qualities came through in their review.

And if you're a fan of iFlightPlanner, make sure to vote for us while you're there!

» Click here to read KillerStartups.com's iFlightPlanner.com review

In full disclosure, we never talked to or met anyone from Killer Startup's either, so hearing someone say "The way in which (iFlightPlanner) simplifies everything is just astonishing - a lot of different operations are centralized through the site," is a great Wednesday surprise!

by Machteld Smith : AOPA Online

Get ready for a change in ATC terminology expected to take place on September 30.  Instead of the familiar phrase “taxi into position and hold,” the controller will issue “line up and wait” instructions to indicate that you may taxi onto the runway and wait for a takeoff clearance.

Just like “taxi into position and hold,” the new phrase is used when a takeoff clearance cannot immediately be issued because of traffic or other reasons.  So, although the words change, the meaning will not.

The new phraseology is also expected to minimize confusion with or misinterpretation of ATC instructions such as “position at hold” or “hold position.”

Here’s an example of how the phrase will be used:

Tower: “Diamond Star 334DS, Runway One Six Right, line up and wait.”
Pilot: “Long Beach Tower, Diamond Star 334DS, Runway One Six Right, line up and wait.”

This change brings the United States in line with standard International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) phraseology, and it will soon be incorporated in the Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM) and the Pilot/Controller Glossary.

For more information and updates to the AIM and Pilot/Controller Glossary visit the FAA’s Air Traffic section of its website.  Remember to “line up and wait” after September 30, and whenever you are unsure of an ATC instruction or clearance be sure to get clarification immediately.

During the process of building iFlightPlanner, we reviewed a number of GIS mapping software applications to help with various tasks, including the processing of digital aviation and aeronautical charts from the FAA. 

Now that we've completed our research and development in that area, we wanted to give a special mention to Global Mapper.  If your company or organization needs to work with geographical data in any image formats (PDF, GeoTIFF, JPG, etc), we definitely recommend you use Global Mapper.  Not only does it handle an incredible variety of image formats and projections with ease, their customer support is second to none, providing insightful answers to any and all questions at all times of the day.

And last, but certainly not least, Global Mapper's SDK makes it possible to integrate advanced mapping tasks directly into your own applications as well, which provides tremendous flexibility to developers.

» Learn more about Global Mapper's GIS software here

At iFlightPlanner, we'll constantly strive to squeeze as much efficiency as possible out of your pre-flight planning process.  Part of this is a constant effort to make parts of our site easier & quicker to use.

We've just launched an updated version of iFlightPlanner that includes an easier to use airport selector.  Once you click into a From or To Airport field, the box shown below will popup.  Your Favorite Airports (click here to edit your favorites), if you've entered any, will appear in the left hand column for easy access.  To find an airport, simply start typing either the airport code or the city name.  Airport codes will begin showing (as seen below) after 3 characters, cities after 4.

If you already know your airport code, no problem, just type the code and hit tab to jump to the next entry field.

We wanted to make it as easy as possible for our members to get right into their iFlightPlanner account, so we've setup my.iFlightPlanner.com as a direct link to your account overview page.

Simply bookmark my.iFlightPlanner.com.  In addition, if you click "Remember Me" when signing into your account, the my.iFlightPlanner.com link won't even require you to sign in again.

Thanks to one of our members for this great suggestion.  If you ever have any suggestions to help improve iFlightPlanner, please don't hesitate to contact us!

iFlightPlanner.com is excited to announce we'll be attending and sponsoring the EAA's AirVenture 2010 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.  Known as the aviation event of the year, we knew we couldn't miss out!

Our Sponsorship

iFlightPlanner is the official sponsor of all AirVenture Arrival and Departure Signs.  We'll also be featured throughout the week on the 14 electronic billboards (including 2 jumbotrons) on site.

Friday at the Mobile Zone

If you'll be at AirVenture on Friday, make sure to stop by the Mobile Zone in Hangar C on Friday.  We'll be showcasing all of the iFlightPlanner features that are available on mobile devices, including iPhones, iPads, Droid-based phones, Blackberries and more.  We look forward to meeting a lot of you in person!

The Terrafugia Transition is not the sleekest looking aircraft or vehicle we've ever seen, but it just got FAA approval.  Is this a peek at the future?

Check out this article written in the Wichita Business Journal about the lack of new pilots in the pipeline.

By request from our members, iFlightPlanner has created a company profile on LinkedIn, so that our non-Facebook members can keep up with iFlightPlanner's news!

If you're a LinkedIn member, visit our profile to help grow our community and receive updates!

The FAA TPP (Terminal Publications and Procedures) for the cycle beginning June 3, 2010 has been imported, so that you know you're accessing the most accurate information about the facilities you fly from or to!

Have you ever wanted to easily decode an aviation METAR or TAF?  iFlightPlanner's METAR & TAF Translator will do just that for you.  Simplify your aviation weather and quickly translate raw METARs or TAFs into color-coded, plain language.

» Convert raw aviation weather data with iFlightPlanner's METAR & TAF Translator

Sample Screenshot

Part of iFlightPlanner's ongoing commitment to our members is to provide the most up-to-date aviation information.  Included in this is the official FAA airport information and documents, which are updated every 56-days. 

The FAA TPP (Terminal Publications and Procedures) for the cycle beginning April 8, 2010 has been imported, so that you know you're accessing the most accurate information about the facilities you fly from or to!

iFlightPlanner now includes real-time aircraft weight & balance calculation graphs.

Each time you you calculate your aircraft's weight & balance, you'll have immediate visual feedback on the location of your Ramp, Takeoff and Landing center of gravity.

Green dots indicate your center of gravity is in an envelope. Red dots indicate your center of gravity is outside of your envelopes.

These graphs are now included on both our full web version and mobile version!

In the next couple days, we'll be releasing new versions of our  web-based flight planning interface and our complete mobile  interface.  If you have an iPhone or iPodTouch, you can easily add quick links to specific iFlightPlanner pages to your home screens. 

The first step is check the "Remember Me" box when signing into the new mobile interface, so that you don't have to sign in everytime you visit iFlightPlanner Mobile.

Once you've done that, just use the "+" sign at the bottom of Safari to add iFlightPlanner bookmarks to your iPhone or iPodTouch home screens for one touch access to aviation weather, including animated RADAR, color-coded METARs & TAFs and plain english NOTAMs at your primary airports!

One of the great features of iFlightPlanner is our mobile version, streamlined and custom designed for web-enabled handheld devices, including iPhones, BlackBerrys, Android and more.  All you need is a web browser on your mobile device.

To check it out, just visit http://m.iflightplanner.com and sign in using your iFlightPlanner account.

What's on it?

Aviation Weather (animated RADAR, METARs and TAFs for your favorite airports, color coded for VFR, MVFR, IFR, and LIFR)

Flight Planning - generate a custom flight plan and route from anywhere

Weight & Balance - calculate your weight & balance in less than 30 seconds and have the result texted to your phone

Flight Wizard (coming soon!) - perform the complete iFlightPlanner flight wizard from your palm

Flight Plan Filing & Closing (coming soon!) - after you land safely, close your FAA flight plan in a matter of two clicks!

Airport/Facility Directory - access complete A/FD anytime you need it!

The Green Flight Project is working on electric hybrid propulsion for light general aviation planes.

Check out the iFlightPlanner Features page to view some of our new demo videos.  Additionally, we've created a comprehensive features list as well - check it out and let us know if there are any new features you would like to see!

FAA Chief Discusses Looming Changes For Pilots, Airlines and Travelers

Signs That General Aviation Is Brightening

AOPA Online - GA: We're Not Down, We Have Another Round