Aviation Weather Tips Every Pilot Should Know

Nov. 14, 2016   

 
Every day pilots use various weather reports and forecasts to make many routine operational decisions. Knowing how to use this guidance within its limitations is paramount. While pilots are taught the basics, many important details are left out of their primary training. This program will discuss some common mistakes pilots make and provide a few tips on how to properly utilize this weather guidance in their day-to-day preflight planning regiment.
New Weather Imagery

This video introduces the new weather collections in the ForeFlight Mobile Imagery view.

Aviation Weather Tips Every Pilot Should Know
Every day pilots use various weather reports and forecasts to make many routine operational decisions. Knowing how to use this guidance within its limitations is paramount. While pilots are taught the basics, many important details are left out of their primary training. This program will discuss some common mistakes pilots make and provide a few tips on how to properly utilize this weather guidance in their day-to-day preflight planning regiment.
Flight Planning Enhancements

You can now preview all route options visually on an interactive map with Route Advisor. Simply tap through the list to highlight each route on the map, then tap “Select Route” to add it to your flight plan. An interactive Route Preview map in the Flights view provides a quick visual reference of your route, showing the departure and destination airports overlaid on a simple basemap with radar.

There are also enhancements to the flight planning workflow in the Flights view: the airport fields at the top have smart search functionality to help you find the right airports, and the Add Next Flight button makes it faster and easier to plan multi-leg flights by carrying forward departure, aircraft details, payload, fuel policy, and more. You can also export your flight plan in the official ICAO format and print, email, share via AirDrop, or save a copy in ForeFlight Documents.

Improved Planning Features

OLD VIDEO: This video was made before the "More" tab was redesigned from a single page to a pull-out menu, but all of the capabilities you access from "More" are the same as they were before. Visit the ForeFlight Mobile Pilot's Guide.

ForeFlight now offers an enhanced flight planning workflow thanks to improvements to aircraft, the Maps view flight plan editor, and the File & Brief view, which is now called “Flights”.

This video is for ForeFlight customers with subscription plans other than Performance Plus, including the original plans and the Basic Plus and Pro Plus plans. If you have the Performance Plus plan, or want to see what is different with that plan, check out our Performance video series.

Files in Flights

ForeFlight allows you to associate files, documents, and photos with flight plans using the Files in Flights feature, helping you keep important flight resources organized and easily accessible. Files in Flights is included in ForeFlight Performance plans.

Flight Sharing

Flight Sharing in ForeFlight allows you to easily share your planned and filed flights with fellow pilots, co-pilots, or crew members for improved collaboration and more efficient flight planning. Flight Sharing is available for all ForeFlight subscription plans.

Filing ICAO Flight Plans

This video walks you through filing a flight plan in ForeFlight using the ICAO flight plan format, including setting up the necessary fields in your aircraft profiles and using the ICAO flight plan form.

File with a Call Sign
ForeFlight now allows you to add a call sign to flight plans. Enter a call sign contraction and number in the field to file the flight under that call sign; your N number will be included in the flight plan’s remarks so ATC can still access it. If you don’t enter any call sign the flight will be filed under your N number. Learn more about filing with ForeFlight at https://foreflight.com/filing.
Select an FBO on the Flights View

A new section in the Flights view planning form allows you to select an FBO at your destination airport, making helpful functions and information easily accessible while planning and viewing your flight. The Destination Services tab opens  the familiar ForeFlight Directory list where you can compare all the FBOs at an airport and view additional details like services, photos, comments, and fuel prices. Once you select an FBO, new buttons appear on the planning form to call or email the FBO, find its location in the Apple Maps app, or view its details.

ForeFlight also remembers your selection at every airport where you choose an FBO and automatically selects the same FBO the next time you plan a flight to that airport, saving you time and making useful functions quickly accessible.

Aviation Weather Tips Every Pilot Should Know
Every day pilots use various weather reports and forecasts to make many routine operational decisions. Knowing how to use this guidance within its limitations is paramount. While pilots are taught the basics, many important details are left out of their primary training. This program will discuss some common mistakes pilots make and provide a few tips on how to properly utilize this weather guidance in their day-to-day preflight planning regiment.
Cloud Coverage Forecasts

Plan to steer clear of clouds at any altitude with the Clouds forecast weather layer, available as a map layer for Pro Plus subscription plans and above, and integrated in Profile View and 3D Preview for Performance Plus subscription plans.

Daily/Hourly Forecasts

Stay on top of weather today or next week with Daily and Hourly Forecasts - an all-purpose, 10-day, hour-by-hour forecast for any location on Earth.

You can access Daily Forecasts in several ways - from the Daily tab in the Airport Weather view, which provides a tappable summary of each day’s forecast; from the Add to Route popup after tap-holding anywhere on the map; from the Nearby Airports list in the top-right corner of the Airports view, which shows the forecast for your current location; and from ForeFlight’s Quick Actions list after tap-holding on the app icon, which provides an even faster shortcut to view your local forecast.

Dynamic Winds & Temperatures

Plan flights with global forecast wind speed, direction, and temperatures at multiple altitudes and times using two stunning animated weather layers. Both layers are available with ForeFlight Performance subscription plans.

Forecast Weather in Profile View

ForeFlight’s Profile View includes selectable Icing and Turbulence forecast layers, providing a cross-section of weather in addition to terrain, obstacles, and airspace along your route. Weather layers in Profile View are included in ForeFlight’s Performance Plus and Business Performance subscription plans.

Weather Layer Time Slider

ForeFlight’s radar and satellite layers now use an interactive time slider tool that provides more control when viewing and animating weather timestamps.

Icing, Turbulence, and Surface Analysis Layers

ForeFlight’s weather capabilities now include five new layers for icing, turbulence, and surface analysis forecasts, available on Pro Plus, Performance Plus, and Business Performance plans. The Icing and Turbulence layers each have a US and global option, and the Surface Analysis layer provides a global view of isobars and associated pressure readings, and a more detailed view of pressure centers, fronts, troughs, and other features for North America. All five of the new layers are also available on ForeFlight’s web application.

New Weather Imagery

This video introduces the new weather collections in the ForeFlight Mobile Imagery view.

Using the Airports View

OLD VIDEO: This video was made before the "Airports" tab was redesigned, but all of the capabilities you access from "More" are the same as they were before. Visit the ForeFlight Mobile Pilot's Guide.

The Airports view is your all-in-one source for any kind of information about airports. From current and forecast weather to runways, procedures, and FBOs, the Airports view is one of the most important places in ForeFlight when it comes to flight planning.

Aviation Weather Tips Every Pilot Should Know
Every day pilots use various weather reports and forecasts to make many routine operational decisions. Knowing how to use this guidance within its limitations is paramount. While pilots are taught the basics, many important details are left out of their primary training. This program will discuss some common mistakes pilots make and provide a few tips on how to properly utilize this weather guidance in their day-to-day preflight planning regiment.
Color IR Satellite
The Color infrared Satellite layer is an alternative to the original satellite layer (now called Enhanced Satellite) that extends ForeFlight’s weather planning capabilities.
SXAR1 Cloud & Echo Tops
ForeFlight Pilots flying with SiriusXM’s SXAR1 have access to two new weather layers - cloud tops and echo tops.
SXAR1: SiriusXM Radio & Surface Wind Layer

Learn more about the integration with SiriusXM’s SXAR1 and find support resources at foreflight.com/siriusxm. For personal assistance with your SiriusXM account, call 1-855-838-8563.

SiriusXM Weather in ForeFlight Mobile
ForeFlight and SiriusXM partner to bring nationwide XM weather to ForeFlight Mobile via the portable SXAR1 receiver. Connect your iPad or iPhone to the SXAR1 via Bluetooth and access high resolution radar with storm cell attributes and tracks, winds and temps aloft, METARs, TAFs, AIRMETs/SIGMETs, and more. The SiriusXM Pilot For ForeFlight subscription is available from the SiriusXM Aviation website. The SXAR1 integration is available with ForeFlight 8.1 or later. Learn more at http://www.foreflight.com/siriusxm
Basics of Flight Plan Filing (August 2022)

Join the dynamic duo of Rob MacLeod and Tim Stahl from ForeFlight's FlightOps Team to learn the essentials of filing flight plans and have your questions answered. The two will walk through the entire filing process, from basic aircraft setup to route planning, filling out the flight plan form, and amending, canceling, opening, and closing flight plans. Although this webinar will focus on filing in the U.S., pilots from other countries will still find much of the material helpful to their own flying.

Improved Planning Features

OLD VIDEO: This video was made before the "More" tab was redesigned from a single page to a pull-out menu, but all of the capabilities you access from "More" are the same as they were before. Visit the ForeFlight Mobile Pilot's Guide.

ForeFlight now offers an enhanced flight planning workflow thanks to improvements to aircraft, the Maps view flight plan editor, and the File & Brief view, which is now called “Flights”.

This video is for ForeFlight customers with subscription plans other than Performance Plus, including the original plans and the Basic Plus and Pro Plus plans. If you have the Performance Plus plan, or want to see what is different with that plan, check out our Performance video series.

Flight Planning Enhancements

You can now preview all route options visually on an interactive map with Route Advisor. Simply tap through the list to highlight each route on the map, then tap “Select Route” to add it to your flight plan. An interactive Route Preview map in the Flights view provides a quick visual reference of your route, showing the departure and destination airports overlaid on a simple basemap with radar.

There are also enhancements to the flight planning workflow in the Flights view: the airport fields at the top have smart search functionality to help you find the right airports, and the Add Next Flight button makes it faster and easier to plan multi-leg flights by carrying forward departure, aircraft details, payload, fuel policy, and more. You can also export your flight plan in the official ICAO format and print, email, share via AirDrop, or save a copy in ForeFlight Documents.

Filing ICAO Flight Plans

This video walks you through filing a flight plan in ForeFlight using the ICAO flight plan format, including setting up the necessary fields in your aircraft profiles and using the ICAO flight plan form.

File with a Call Sign
ForeFlight now allows you to add a call sign to flight plans. Enter a call sign contraction and number in the field to file the flight under that call sign; your N number will be included in the flight plan’s remarks so ATC can still access it. If you don’t enter any call sign the flight will be filed under your N number. Learn more about filing with ForeFlight at https://foreflight.com/filing.
Helpful Web Features
ForeFlight on the web includes helpful features that enable fast flight planning from your desktop browser.
Aviation Weather Tips Every Pilot Should Know
Every day pilots use various weather reports and forecasts to make many routine operational decisions. Knowing how to use this guidance within its limitations is paramount. While pilots are taught the basics, many important details are left out of their primary training. This program will discuss some common mistakes pilots make and provide a few tips on how to properly utilize this weather guidance in their day-to-day preflight planning regiment.

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