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Fly GPS 5.6 (Shareware)

This application uses your handheld GPS to give you a moving map and other navigation information.

Features Include: Moving map and compass information screen will show: course, time/date, altitude, speed and position. You can also add custom points with informational pop-ups (i.e. Airport layouts). The route screen will show: waypoints, magnetic heading (MH), distance and estimated time enroute (ETE), and wind for each waypoint and total trip. Also supports memory cards and high-resolution devices.

Review

Pros: Nice route display shows lots of information.  You can also download WAC and Sectional maps via wireless connection (or internet connection via land modem or cradle connection -- see website) from Aeroplanner.com directly to the application.
Cons: Cartographer software is difficult to use, most functions require use of stylus.
Notes: Download Cartographer software to build custom maps.  Download free waypoints or custom airport databases for this application.

Company & Download Information

• Company (Developer): GPSPilot Send eMail  Developers Products
• Web Page: http://gpspilot.com/products/fly.shtml
• Language: English
• Requirements: Palm OS® 3.5 (and up), GPS and 597K of memory (RAM)
• Price: $69.95 USD = €54.48 Euro
• Documentation: HTML user documentation
• Download (55 times): ZIP File

Customer & External Reviews

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Aug 14, 2005 (Sun) - Brian Henry using Palm OS

"I feel that the concept of this program is very good, but I have found it to be somewhat unstable, particularly with older Palm Pilots. I purchased version 5.6 with the Aeroplanner upgrade. I have used the program with a Palm Vx, a Palm M505, and a Palm Tungsten T. By far, the most stable platform for this program is the Tungsten T. Using the sectional charts downloaded from Aeroplanner.com, the Tungsten T would occaisionally lock up while the Vx and M505 would lock up within minutes after the moving map display was initiated. If you are planning on using this product, I recommend that you have a Palm that is at least as fast as the Tungsten T. For GPS, I used a Magellan GPS Companion with all of them. For me, it was difficult to figure out how to get the program to run on each of the different platforms because each has an idiosyncracy associated with it. When using the M505, there is a box in Preferences labled InetLib that is checked "on" by default. I found that if this box is checked, you cannot connect with Aeroplanner.com via a PPP connection. It took me hours to figure this simple fix out. Once I did, I was able to download maps into the M505, but then had the disappointment of having it quickly crash once the moving map display was implemented. On the Tungsten T, a Memory Expansion card needs to be installed, or the downloaded maps will not display properly. This apparently is due to a limitation with Palm OS 5.0. I might also add that to establish a PPP connection you need to install either MochaSoft PPP (if you are using a serial cradle), or Softick PPP (if you are using a USB cradle) onto your desktop to make the connection to Aeroplanner.com. Overall, I like this program very much, and it is clear that the developer went to a great deal of effort to implement a moving map display for aviation charts onto the Palm platform. I particularly like it that you can download chart chunks from Aeroplanner.com. If you can't find where you are on a sectional map, this program with a little assistance from your GPS and your Palm will quickly get you oriented. I feel that if the issues that cause the program to lockup occasionally could be resolved along with some other minor issues, it would be a real winner! I found the information on the GPS Pilot web site to be very comprehensive and informative. There is no "manual" as such, but generally if you read everything on the web site you can figure things out. They did respond to my email inquiries, but I pretty much ended up having to figure things out myself using on line manual. {version 5.6}"

Mar 31, 2004 (Wed) - Steve Maher using Palm OS

"A very impressive package, might have good potential for usage and expansion. But customer support is very spotty - they don't even publish a phone number - and the lack of a manual for the Fly program is crippling - a puzzling black mark in an otherwise excellent and low-priced package. The Fly program might have many good features, but it's very difficult to learn how to find and use them. I hope they come out with a detailed User's Manual for Fly soon, it would be a vast improvement."

	Dec 31, 2003 (Wed) - Robart using Palm OS
"Pros: V 5.1 is simple to understand & simple to use - good for hobby pilots. In combination with cartographer and the existing databases a impressing application. Cons: Documentation does not cover complete software. How to create other databases then POI-DBs? "

Dec 22, 2003 (Mon) - Anonymous using Palm OS

"Customer support is non-existent. Version 5.5 is buggy." Developer's Response: "GPS Pilot support policy is to answer every emails in the day -24 hours- During the Holiday Season, we try to honour this as much as it is possible. Also, please, in order to assist you, describe as completely as possible the troubles you might have encountered. Concerning 5.5 version, we have release a 5.5b upgrade that takes care of few glitches inherents to the different and several display format (T3, Treo 600, Sony NX) - Jan 7, 2004"

Total Reviews (4) - Average User Rating (3 stars):