Sam Taylor, ForeFlight’s senior video marketing specialist, on April 14 hosted a virtual update at Sun ‘n Fun of new features added to the company’s software in the first quarter of 2021. At the top of Taylor’s list was mention of changes to ForeFlight’s efforts to learn from the successes inherent in the original traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) now standard in most transport category aircraft. Taylor said pilots will now see nearby traffic outlined either in yellow or in red depending upon their proximity. “We’ve been inspired by TCAS alerts and now account for an aircraft speed and direction of flight. He said the software is now predictive relative to the ForeFlight user aircraft’s direction of flight. “Targets expected to pass within two nautical miles of your airplane and within 1,200 feet vertically will be outlined in yellow. If within the next 25 seconds the traffic will come within 1.3 nm and 1,200 feet vertically it will be highlighted in red.” He added that for safety concerns, traffic alerts are disabled when aircraft enter the airport traffic pattern and are flying near to other airplanes.
ForeFlight Gives Pilots a Look Under the Hood
Key Takeaways:
- ForeFlight introduced new predictive traffic alerts inspired by TCAS, color-coding nearby aircraft (yellow or red) based on proximity, speed, and direction of flight, though alerts are disabled in airport traffic patterns.
- Key updates include the integration of a FlightAware feed for tracking aircraft and an improved map feature that displays airport information in a sidebar to prevent obscuring the airport icon.
- ForeFlight now exclusively uses Jeppesen as its NOTAM source for better data curation, especially for international flights, and has enhanced its flight binder system for organizing approach data.
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