FltPlan.com - FLTBRIEF - July 2009 Vol.1

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Newsletter - July 1st, 2009

FltPlan.com Now Offers Full Flight Planning to Hawaii
You can now create and file flight plans to Hawaii using FltPlan.com.

Free GPS RAIM Prediction Service from FltPlan.com
Starting July 1, 2009 FAA Advisory Circular AC90-100A will require GPS RAIM predictions if navigation will be predicated on GPS, and you are filing RNAV routes (Q and T), RNAV STARs, and RNAV DPs. Using FAA approved methods, FltPlan.com automatically calculates your flight for GPS RAIM if your aircraft profile indicates that you have GPS equipment. An icon on the bottom left of your NavLog lets you know whether or not there will be probable outages along your route. Click on the icon to get a full report.

Do You Need to Block Your Tail Number?
In the not-so-distant past it was possible to fly your aircraft in relative privacy. Flight tracking vendors didn't release information to the general public - only to those in some way connected to the flight. This has all changed. Now your flight information and history are easily available from any internet computer or smartphone. Anyone who knows your N number can track every move that your aircraft makes. This could include the press, your competitors, your neighbor, disgruntled employees, banks, governmental agencies, etc. If you feel your flight schedule and history should remain private, you might want to block your tail number.
Blocking your tail number is a free process
Don't be fooled by companies that want to charge you hefty fees to block your tail number. This is a free service provided by NBAA. NBAA manages the BARR program, or Blocked Aircraft Registration Request. The BARR program is available free of charge to both members and non-members.
How to block your Tail Number
Operators with privacy and industrial security concerns resulting from the availability of Aircraft Situation Display to Industry (ASDI) data have two options for blocking aircraft flight tracking data:

Option #1 - Blocked by ASDI vendors
NBAA, through the BARR Program, centrally coordinates with all ASDI vendors to have your aircraft registration number blocked from their respective programs. Blocking the aircraft registration with the ASDI vendors removes the aircraft registration from view of all non-authorized persons. If your aircraft is blocked at this level, you will be able to track your own flights through an ASDI vendor.
Option #2 - Blocked at FAA source
For an additional level of security operators may choose to block their aircraft flight data at the FAA Source, which will remove all aircraft flight data before it is transmitted to the ASDI vendors. This means the information never reaches any ASDI vendor and therefore is not incorporated into their system. You will not be able to track your own airplane if blocked at this level.

As a note, NBAA does not block tail numbers itself; the FAA blocks them. NBAA acts as a go-between, passing numbers to be blocked to the FAA and to ASDI vendors.
Tracking your blocked tail number
If you want to track your tail number once it's blocked, FltPlan.com can help. FltPlan.com lets you track your blocked tail numbers as part of our Premium Flight Tracking program. Premium Flight Tracking starts at $14.95 a month and allows you to track up to 10 tail numbers at no extra cost. Be aware that some vendors charge over $700.00 for one plane. For more information on blocking your tail number or tracking your blocked tail number Click Here.

FltPlan.com welcomes Bombardier
FltPlan.com would like to welcome our new corporate sponsor, Bombardier. Be sure to check out the Challenger 850, Bombardier's premier business jet. Click Here for more information.

FltPlan.com Voted Best Online Weather

For the second year in a row, pilots have voted FltPlan.com No. 1 for Best Online Weather in the 2009 Professional Pilot PRASE survey. FltPlan.com's weather is FAA approved. It allows you to retrieve individual location weather reports, winds aloft charts, radar and satellite images, and airmet/sigmet charts. You can even get a complete enroute weather briefing for a specific flight plan or for more than one flight plan at a time. FltPlan.com provided over 4 million weather briefings in 2008. Thank you to all of our users for voting us No. 1.

FltPlan.com on Twitter
Follow us on Twitter for up-to-date information on busiest airports, most used aircraft, and more. www.twitter.com/FltPlan

Calendar Sync
The FltPlan calendar can now be downloaded to be imported to most popular programs such as Microsoft Outlook and Google Calendar. There are two formats that can be downloaded. The .ics format is used for Google Calendars, most web based calendars, and it also works with Microsoft Outlook. The .vcs format is used for Microsoft Outlook, Palm Desktop, and other calendar programs. The link to download the files is located when displaying the Calendar next to the Email button. The "Calendar Sync" link provides the .ics download, and the ".VCS Format" contains the .vcs (Fig.1).

Fig.1

The Calendar Sync can also be used with Smartphones and PDA devices. The Calendar can be synced to mobile devices by using Google Calendars, which provides support for Syncing to BlackBerrys, iPhones, and Windows Mobile Devices. The .vcs format can be directly imported into Palm Desktop and synced directly with a Palm device.

Notable Quote
Occasionally our support desk gets a comment in an email that's too good to keep to ourselves.
"I don't know where you guys come from but I can tell you I have been flying for 28 years and would rather give up the girlfriend of 7 years before I gave up FltPlan.com."

Lead Editor: Claire Warner - Claire@FltPlan.com
Contributing Editor: David Wilson
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Advertising Contact: Lisa Kessler
(203)262-8942
Lisa@FltPlan.com