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Flying Reviews AOPA FlyQ

Pilot Member association enters the app arena.

The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association has long provided its members with online flight planning tools, but with the advent of FlyQ, AOPA has taken those services up a notch, providing fliers with plenty of capability on the go in a user-friendly, intuitive platform. While the app has some detractors who question why AOPA is going into business, we aren’t taking sides.

FlyQ Pocket, the smartphone version of the app, offers a number of preflight planning features, but what really distinguishes it is the ease with which it can construct a highly tailored, detailed flight plan. Simply enter the departure and arrival points, what time you’re leaving and your preferred routing (Victor Airways, GPS Direct, etc.), and FlyQ will take care of the rest.

The resultant flight plan comes complete with waypoints, fuel requirements, distance, duration and a weather briefing, and can be optimized for winds aloft. Once a plan is saved in the system, it can be accessed anytime either on your phone or iPad or on AOPA’s website. FlyQ Pocket is available for both iPhone and Android devices, and the good news for AOPA members is that it’s free.

The iPad version of the app, known as FlyQ EFB, takes things much further, offering users a full-fledged inflight companion complete with a moving map, ADS-B weather, geo-referenced approach plates and synthetic vision. The app offers a variety of customizable features, including configurable gauges and a split-screen option that lets you look at multiple diagrams at once.

While many of these capabilities are offered by FlyQ’s competitors, what sets AOPA’s new app apart is its ability to provide such an easy-to-use interface, one that minimizes pilot workload and helps pilots navigate the app quickly and instinctively. The low price is a great asset too.

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