Not the usual ForeFlight vs Garmin Pilot Thread

Deelee

Deelee

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Deelee
There are enough GP vs FF threads out there and I have been on this forum long enough to know the answer to this question is going to be - "Buy the high-wing Bonanza with the A20s" - but I'll put this scenario out there anyway:

The situation - The subject is is a Garmin Pilot user who has been a subscriber for several years. He likes the way it integrates with his rental aircraft's GDL 88 for traffic and weather situational awareness. He likes the VFR charts for day-to-day XCs. Likes the flight plan transfer via FlightStream 210. He also likes the geo-referenced approach plates - they really help with his instrument training.

Now our subject and a partner are purchasing an aircraft with no FlightStream and no GDL-88, but instead will come with a Stratus with antenna and power connections in a cutout in the panel (very neat-o). Since Garmin Pilot does not like Stratus (or anything other than Garmin devices for ADS-B/FIS) Our poor pilot will no longer have access to traffic and weather on his iPad. He will no be able to follow any magenta lines on his EFB since his iPad doesn't have a GPS...

If you were in this poor soul's shoes, what would you do?

Would you - Continue to use Garmin Pilot and purchase a GDL-50 portable ADS-B/GPS used for $600 and go on with life as you did before or...

Would you - Purchase ForeFlight ProPlus (need those GeoReferenced charts) and hook up to the Stratus for ADS-B/FIS/GPS/(I think synth vision too??) for $50 more per year?

Easy math says that it would take 12 years for the GDL-50 to match the additional $50 per year switching to ForeFlight.

Anybody go through this? My gut says to make the switch and just use the Stratus and start using FF instead of buying another device to put on the glare shield. Anybody think otherwise?....
 
I’ve spent the last year trying to like ForeFlight but I just decided to switch back to Garmin and buy a gdl for the Mooney. I just prefer GP so much better.
 
It's a lot easier to carry another iPad app than another electrical box.
 
I’ve got both but I started with ForeFlight and that is what I became comfortable with. I do have the flight stream as well and it works great with that. Could they possibly get a flight stream for their new radio set up?
 
Personally, I think FF sucks and really dislike that I wouldn't be able to use it on my phone (I will never, EVER, own an iPhone). GP is like using a 750 on a tablet or phone, with the ability to file. It is also less steps and faster to file. I also agree that $600 is noise and own a GDL50 for use in my plane that doesn't have ADS-B In (my other one has in, so I don't use the GDL in that).
 
Just get ForeFlight and see if you like it. They offer 30 day trial, but even if you subscribe to the most expensive plan, the cost is low compared to all other aviation expenses.

I have both. I mostly use GP in flight and FF for planning, but with the most recent version that allowed to rearrange tabs, I want to give FF another try in flight.
 
Deelee said:
He also likes the geo-referenced approach plates - they really help with his instrument training.
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How far along are you in your instrument training? I would be inclined to stick with Garmin until the check ride to avoid adding one more thing to my training workload.

Otherwise, I would give Foreflight a try. Grab a free trial and put it through it's paces.
 
Thanks all for the advice. Couple of things stood out that I was kicking around in my own head - 1.) What's $600 in the grand scheme of things 2.) Do I really want to learn a new piece of software that is integral to how I fly on top of all the other stuff in my head related to instrument flying this close to the ride? 3.) I actually like Garmin and wouldn't switch if it weren't for the hardware in the new plane 4.) low-wing better than high-wing

Thanks for all the perspectives and help making the decision.
 
If you do get the GDL50 and it only needs to be in the 2nd plane I would recommend ships powered and mount it where you can just always leave it.

We used a GDL39 before the GTX345 install. The battery life was okay and plugging it into the cig lighter was okay (hated the wires though). But one mention to our A&P and he he put it on ships power and we always just left it in. If you have a loss of electrical you will still have ADSB-in since it will run off its always charged battery. This setup will make it more like the first plane - probably one hr of labor of a AP/IA. I have seen some GDL39 installs where they even run the 1090/xxx antennae down to the belly so ADSB-in is more omni-directional. With the GDL39 up on the dash we would often have less GBT's being received because some where behind us.
 
Sinistar said:
If you do get the GDL50 and it only needs to be in the 2nd plane I would recommend ships powered and mount it where you can just always leave it.
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This is an excellent point and I may be able to do just that depending on how common the connections are between a stratus/ux and the GDL-50. The new plane has a cutout I think where an ADF used to be that has power and an antenna connection for the stratus that is coming with the plane. Wonder if the GDL-50 can be connected to these cables? Anybody know? This photo only shows what looks like a micro-usb, but the owner said that he has an antenna and power supply running in to power the stratus. Are these connections pretty standard? If so, I can just pop the unit in the cutout, connect it to power and antenna and away we go.
image885 (2).jpeg
 
Deelee said:
The new plane has a cutout I think where an ADF used to be that has power and an antenna connection for the stratus that is coming with the plane.]
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Wait... you’re flying without an ADF?? The horror.
 
Deelee said:
Thanks all for the advice. Couple of things stood out that I was kicking around in my own head - 1.) What's $600 in the grand scheme of things 2.) Do I really want to learn a new piece of software that is integral to how I fly on top of all the other stuff in my head related to instrument flying this close to the ride? 3.) I actually like Garmin and wouldn't switch if it weren't for the hardware in the new plane 4.) low-wing better than high-wing

Thanks for all the perspectives and help making the decision.
Click to expand...

I was going to offer my opinion until I got to this point. Deal is OFF THE TABLE!
 
Deelee said:
This is an excellent point and I may be able to do just that depending on how common the connections are between a stratus/ux and the GDL-50. The new plane has a cutout I think where an ADF used to be that has power and an antenna connection for the stratus that is coming with the plane. Wonder if the GDL-50 can be connected to these cables? Anybody know? This photo only shows what looks like a micro-usb, but the owner said that he has an antenna and power supply running in to power the stratus. Are these connections pretty standard? If so, I can just pop the unit in the cutout, connect it to power and antenna and away we go.
View attachment 86775
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I dont own the GDL50. From the images on the website the usb connector appears to match so you will have power. The GDL50 has a separate proprietary power and data connection which you could probably use to connect directly to ships 12/24vdc but why bother if you already have the usb.

The GDL also has an optional GPS antenna which looks pretty close to standard coax so you need to figure out if the antenna in the ADF slot is for GPS or the ADSBin.

As for leaving the unit in that empty compartment...hard to imagine it will work 100% as the little popup antenna (for ADSB?) Would place it out of line of site. Try it! But doesnt seem like it would work in there. Maybe someone with a GDL50 can explain it all better.
 
Sinistar said:
As for leaving the unit in that empty compartment...hard to imagine it will work 100% as the little popup antenna (for ADSB?) Would place it out of line of site. Try it! But doesnt seem like it would work in there. Maybe someone with a GDL50 can explain it all better.
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Thanks for this. And yeah, that's what I am wondering - how much line of sight the unit needs to the sky to get the ADS-B in data. That's what I read that antenna is for - ADS-B in. Wondering if anybody has had any luck at least placing their GDL 50 anywhere except on the glareshield. In the end, if I have to put it up there, I guess it's not a huge deal. But it would be nice to keep it tucked away. Anybody with success placing it other than on the glareshield, if you could chime in that would be great. Thanks!
 
Switch to FlyQ
 
Salty said:
I’ve spent the last year trying to like ForeFlight but I just decided to switch back to Garmin and buy a gdl for the Mooney. I just prefer GP so much better.
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That’s because GP is what you started with and got accustomed to. I started with FF in 2011 and when buying my 345 in 2018, they gave me free GP for three months or something. I gave it a fair, not a brief, trial and was actually ticked off at FF at the time, but went back to it.

One is as good as the other, but a person just gets their thinking aligned with one which then makes it hard to get smitten with the other.

Which is better, a Ford or a Chevy?
 
EugeneR said:
Just get ForeFlight and see if you like it. They offer 30 day trial, but even if you subscribe to the most expensive plan, the cost is low compared to all other aviation expenses.
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Yeah, this. 30 day free trial of ForeFlight. If you don't like it, let it expire, buy the GDL-50, and continue using Garmin Pilot.
 
MBDiagMan said:
That’s because GP is what you started with and got accustomed to. I started with FF in 2011 and when buying my 345 in 2018, they gave me free GP for three months or something. I gave it a fair, not a brief, trial and was actually ticked off at FF at the time, but went back to it.

One is as good as the other, but a person just gets their thinking aligned with one which then makes it hard to get smitten with the other.

Which is better, a Ford or a Chevy?
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Maybe. There are a few things I like better about foreflight, but Garmin has more and the things foreflight does better aren’t a big deal to me.
 
Missed my point. It’s not about features. It’s about what you get used to. How you navigate between functions. Which one of those little pictures pulls up what you’re looking for. That sort of thing.

My wife’s new Expedition has a knob to turn for a gear selector. Her Daughters Tahoe uses the good old lever. Neither is better than the other, but she mentions it when she drives her daughters car.
 
MBDiagMan said:
Missed my point. It’s not about features. It’s about what you get used to. How you navigate between functions. Which one of those little pictures pulls up what you’re looking for. That sort of thing.

My wife’s new Expedition has a knob to turn for a gear selector. Her Daughters Tahoe uses the good old lever. Neither is better than the other, but she mentions it when she drives her daughters car.
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I didn’t miss your point. UI Navigation is part of it, but there are simply features missing from foreflight that Garmin has. Profile view has way more functionality in Garmin, background downloads like on the other thread, and many others. Foreflight has a few, but Garmin does a lot that foreflight doesn’t.

I really like the runway and final approach notices on foreflight, weather frequencies popping up when you get close, briefings are better. But except for briefings those are minor to me compared to what Garmin has over foreflight.
 
Thanks for all the replies, folks. I think my plan now is to download the trial version of Foreflight and try it out with the Stratus in the new plane. I still have my Garmin Pilot subscription I can use in the rental to finish up my instrument training. If I can't get into Foreflight, I can always pick up a GLD-50 and keep using GP in the new plane. If the transition is smooth enough and I feel it won't impede finishing up instrument work prior to checkride, I may just switch over to FF completely.

Thanks for the options and opinions. This was very helpful and I hope it benefits someone else in a similar situation.
 
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