United Kingdom & Ireland info page.
Below you will find some information by our Regional Partner and/or Airmarshal for the United Kingdom & Ireland. Do you have UK specific queries or AeroData requests? Please feel free to for the United Kingdom and Ireland.
UK Developments.
| IMPORTANT - French Airspace Changes - 17NOV2011 | ||
| - | The AIP release on 17NOV2011 contains many changes to airspace in France. TMA's at Creil, Beauvais, Lille, Paris, Pontoise, Rouen & Seine and their associated SIV areas have been changed. In addition, there are CTR changes at many airfields in the Paris area including a new CTR at Le Bourget.
Restricted airspace all around Paris has changed and the areas have been given new designators. There also many minor changes in other parts of France, too many to list here. In total, nearly 200 airspace items in France are being amended in the PocketFMS database as part of this release. As always, these AIP changes will be available to all subscribers of PocketFMS and AirspaceAVOID in Cycle 0001 of 201112 which will be available to coincide with the release. Pilots should familiarise themselves with these changes as the paper charts will be very inaccurate until the next published release (probably in 2012). Full details can be found in the AIP release bulletins. If you have any questions about these changes, please contact the Airmarshal for France at fra@pocketms.com. |
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| MAR2011 - Olympics & Paralympics in 2012. | ||
| - | Please see this website for proposed details of Prohibited and Restricted airspace in London and the South East for the duration of the Olympics & Paralympics in 2012. For those wishing to fly in the Restricted area it is being proposed that you will need to comply with the following:
It is understood that EGLC (London City Airport) will be closed completely during certain periods. Please be advised that this information is only draft at this stage. Rest assured that PocketFMS will keep you updated of all developments on this page and that all temporary airspace changes will be populated into the database as appropriate. |
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| JAN2011 - Non-ICAO airports ID updates | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| - | All the airports in the UK and Ireland that do not have an official ICAO code assigned now have been assigned a uniform identifier. These identifiers start with the FIRs first 2 letters (EG of EI), supplemented with the first 5 characters of the airport name. This can however mean that some of your existing Flight Plans no longer work correctly; on loading such a Flight Plan, PocketFMS will report that the specific airport could not be found and will skip it.
The affected airports old and new IDs are:
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| SEP2010 - Flying in Ireland reviewed PocketFMS | ||
| - | Glenn Jacobs and Ian Bennett wrote this great 5-page review of PocketFMS for the Flying in Ireland magazine! | |
| MAY2010 - CAA UK Charts 2010 - Important Airspace Changes | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| - | Please note that the following airfields are now unlicensed and consequently their ATZs have now been deleted:
The PocketFMS AeroDatabase has been updated to reflect the removal of these ATZs but the 2010 paper charts may still show them and are therefore out of date. |
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| MAR2009 - New Air Traffic Services Outside Controlled Airspace (ATSOCAS) | ||
| - | Important changes to air traffic services outside of controlled airspace, which will affect all PPL and NPPL holders, will take place on 12 March 2009. A CD providing PPL and NPPL holders with the information they need know is being distributed now. If you are not a UK licensed PPL or NPPL, or have not received your CD by the end of February, then the content of the CD can be downloaded from the website at http://www.airspacesafety.com. These changes will introduce new services, Basic Service, Traffic Service, Deconfliction Service & Procedural Service which will replace existing services like Flight Information Service (FIS), Radar Advisory Service (RAS) and Radar Information Service (RIS). | |
| DEC2007 - Time flies! Have a warm and splendid X-Mas and a dashing 2008! | ||
| - | Flyer magazine Flyer, leading UK aviation magazine, were quite satisfied with PocketFMS in their December issue! | |
| OCT2007 - Status report. | ||
| - | For most European countries, the AeroData is now up to specs with the current AIPs. A number of East European and Balkan countries is still being worked on. A web page that will facilitate easy contacting of the right person in case of any detected errors in the data is being constructed. | |
| - | Users of a Stratomaster Enigma glass cockpit will be able to update their system with PocketFMS airspace- and AeroData per the next release of PocketFMS. A smooth and easy way to keep your glass cockpit up-to-date without any additional costs besides a PocketFMS subscription! The soon-to-appear Stratomaster Odyssey will also be able to use this concept. | |
| JUL2007 - AeroData / UK Airways. | ||
| - | The UK dream-team, our highly valued Beta Crew members Dave Rowe and Colm Farrell, inform us that the UK & Irish onshore and off shore obstacles have now been updated and will continue to be maintained monthly. Also due to their massive effort, all UK airways outside of controlled airspace (Lower ATS to FL195 and Advisory routes) have now been uploaded into PocketFMS! The UK infrastructure is very complicated with many segments with different levels and numerous airways criss-crossing one another, so this was by no means an easy task. Really, the PocketFMS project would probably grind to a halt without our excellent Beta Crew! | |
| JUL2007 - Tax tip. | ||
| - | A handheld GPS is not normally tax deductible. But if you own your own business or negotiate a package with your employer, a PDA with integrated GPS is allowable, which means the effective cost could be reduced substantially depending on your tax bracket. The cost benefit of a PDA / GPS / PocketFMS solution over a dedicated aviation GPS just got even better! | |
United Kingdom FAQ
Q. Can PocketFMS display official charts?
A. PocketFMS can display a scanned chart through its User Map function. However it should be remembered that charts were designed for paper, not electronic screens, and don’t necessarily provide the best representation on a small format screen - it can take a lot of panning to find the vertical limits of controlled airspace for example, and many systems become unreadable when zoomed in or out from the standard scale. PocketFMS maps have been specifically designed for electronic display and include all the features necessary for accurate ground reference and easy information retrieval.
Another big problem with scanned maps is that, like a paper map, if you rotate the view for track pointing ahead the way most pilots are taught, names and other text will be rotated and difficult to read. PocketFMS map text is displayed independently of the map background and always appears right-way-up.
PocketFMS airspace boundaries are also displayed independently of the map background. This means they are visible for visual reference as with a scanned chart, but unlike a ‘dumb’ scanned image, PocketFMS knows the location of the boundaries in relation to your GPS position and can provide warning of an impending airspace incursion. Amendments to airspaces do not require new maps, a simple and small AeroData download provides you with up-to-date information.
Finally, with scanned charts it is necessary to deal with map boundaries and overlaps. The detail on the PocketFMS map has a high level of detail and seamlessly covers the entire country, as well as Europe, USA, Canada, Australia . . . all included.
Q. Why does PocketFMS use a subscription pricing model?
A. The PocketFMS Foundation believes strongly in promoting aviation safety, and that current maps and data are crucial to safety. The PocketFMS subscription allows you to always be current for the whole of Europe, at less cost than continually buying digital chart updates of the UK for other systems. It also means that you benefit from our rapid product development - typically you will receive 2-4 software upgrades per year at no extra cost. If you prefer not to commit to a subscription, you can purchase a non-expiring PocketFMS licence (PocketFMS Fusion) and update the software and data as needed.
Q. Can PocketFMS be used for car navigation and boating?
A. The PocketFMS moving map display is detailed enough for inter-city travel anywhere in the UK, Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand - with PocketFMS there is no excuse for getting lost while on holidays in a foreign country. Personal waypoints and breadcrumb files allow you to follow your favourite rambling tracks or find your favourite fishing spots on the weekends when you’re not flying.
Q. Can PocketFMS do E6B calculations?
A. PocketFMS is an all-in-one flight planning and navigation system. Simple point and click route selection, automated route optimization to avoid restricted airspace, high terrain, and low cloud, W&B, fuel and flight time calculation, Plog creation and printing, winds aloft calculation, . . . and it will even drive the autopilot! All included at no extra cost.
Q. Does PocketFMS have a searchable towns database?
A. PocketFMS AeroData includes cities, towns and villages across the map coverage.
Q. Does PocketFMS provide a link to a PDA based navigation software sold by other companies?
A. Better than that, PocketFMS provides the same flight planning and navigation functionality for both PC and PDA, in the one package. Do your flight planning with the relative luxury of a fast, large screened PC and then seamlessly transfer the plan to the PDA to carry on to the aircraft, car, boat, or backpack. Need to make some last minute changes to the plan at the airfield? No problem, the PDA software offers the full suite of flight plan creation, met download, and editing tools - simply point and tap on the PDA screen. Alternatively, plan and fly with a tablet or laptop PC. PocketFMS supports all these options at no extra cost.
