Approach plate expiration date questions

If you're checking for valid dates of the plate by looking at the side of the plate, you're being misled. The FAA prints two dates on the side of each plate. Although they look like expiration dates, they are not. They simply represent the print cycle of when that plate was last printed by the FAA. That is, even if a plate doesn't change for two years, every 28 days, it will have a new set of dates on the side. Our apps ignores these dates and uses a database that the FAA publishes to download only the plates that really have changed or been added. Thus, even when all your plates are current, you may see 'old' dates on the side. You have to keep in mind that, unlike IFR enroute charts or Sectionals, there is no planned expiration date for a plate -- they just update it when necessary. Thus, it's not possible for them to print an expire date on the plate since they have no idea when it might expire.

Plates do have revision info on them in the lower left corner, however. This revision info remains constant even when the date on the side changes (unless the plate really was changed, of course) but it's hard to decode as it sometimes involves what's called a Julian date. Moreover, unless you know for sure what the "current" revision info is, it doesn't help you much as there is nothing to compare it to. We all just have to rely on the FAA accurately marking plates when changed. The good news is that we've been doing this for 10 years and we've NEVER seen them make a mistake about this.

Finally, in the ChartData Manager, you can force the system to download ALL plates, even the ones that have not changed, but we strongly recommend against it


ChartData (Dynon, Aspen, etc.)

Automating thg ChartData Manager

The Seattle Avionics ChartData Manager is a software application (Windows OS) for downloading and transferring of Seattle Avionics ChartData to the data card of your avionic. This includes ChartData for Aspen MFD, Bendix King KSN\AV8OR ACE\AV8OR HH, Dynon Avionics SkyView, GRT Horizon HX/HXr, Advanced Flight Systems AF-5xxx, and AvMap EKP V. It is not used for iPad apps such as FlyQ EFB.

What are Data Manager automation features?

Imagine if you will, on your next flight if all you had to do was swap data cards. No waiting for data to be download from the internet. No waiting for data to be copied to the data card. What if this could be done while-you-sleep dreaming about airplanes?

Data Manager starts every time when Windows starts; unless you have disabled that feature under Options. Data Manager was designed to run in the background, checking for updates once-an-hour. When Data Manager finds new data, it will *automatically* download only the data that has changed from the last-cycle to the local PC hard drive.
But wait there’s more! It gets even better, leave a extra data card in the computer, Data Manager will *automatically* update that too!
You can install the ChartData Manager on up to 5 computers. Run a copy of Data Manager at the office, home, laptop, and hangar.
All this convenience is built right into Data Manager is enabled by default. If you let your computer go to sleep, turn it on about 72 hours before the next Cycle. You can let the display sleep as its not required.
ChartData updates follow the same 28 Day Cycle as the FAA. Normally data is released 48 to 72 hours before the 28 Day Effective Date.
Follow these easy steps and you’ll never have to wait for data again.


Formatting a USB stick or SD card

You can purchase your own USB stick or SD card for some devices but not for all. In particular, you cannot use your own microSD card for Aspen due to an FAA requirement. Assuming you're not using Aspen:

1. Connect the new USB stick or SD card (as approproate) into your PC.

2. Open the ChartData Manager by right-clicking the icon in your system tray (lower right corner of the PC screen).

3. On the left side, select your device

4. At the top of the ChartData Manager section for your device, click the button that says About USB flash drive (or SD card) or Create USB flash drive. If you don't see these choices, your device may not support automatic data stick preparation.

5. Within the Storage Manager, select the drive letter associated with your new USB stick or SD card. Note: If you don't see your device letter, select Show all drives first.

6. Look at the information on the right side of the Storage Manager. If you see problems noted, you cannot prepare the stick/card until the issues are resolved.

7. Note: The Storage Manager does NOT erase the contents of the new USB stick or card unless you check the Format (erase) USB flash drive choice at the bottom of the screen. Normally, the Storage Manager simply writes files and folders required for the ChartData Manager to use the new stick/card and does NOT erase any existing files from it.

8. Click OK when you're ready. Unless your chose to format the stick/card, the preparation process should happen almost immediately.


FlyQ efb

Upgrading to a new version

Upgrades to FlyQ EFB are free. If you’re reading this on your iPad, just click below (won’t work on a PC or Mac):

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/flyq-efb/id915571252?mt=8

If you’re reading this on a PC or Mac, go to your iPad then:
1. Open the App Store app on your iPad (usually on the first Home page).
2. Within the App Store, tap the Updates tab at the bottom.
3. Look for FlyQ EFB and tap the Update button next to it.

Tip: You can have the iPad automatically do updates for all apps in the future. This saves a lot of time! To do that:

1. Go to the Settings app on the iPad
2. Tap the iTunes & App Store item on the left side of the screen (scroll down to see it).
3. Turn the switch next to Updates to ON (green).

The GPS doesn't seem to be working

When you first ran the app, the operating system asked if you wanted to allow FlyQ EFB to use Location Services. If you said No, the app would not be able to access the GPS. You can check and change this if necessary:

1. On the iPad, tap the Settings icon
2. Tap Privacy
3. Tap Location Services
4. Ensure that Location Services is ON
5. Find FlyQ EFB in the list and make sure the switch is ON
6. You may need to kill/restart FlyQ EFB if this changed but try firing up FlyQ EFB first.

If that doesn't work, restart FlyQ EFB by:

1. Tap the Home button on the iPad (the physical button on the iPad's face) to get to the home screen
2. Double-tap the Home button to see a list of running apps at the bottom of the screen
3. Swipe FlyQ EFB up off the screen like you're tossing something away.
4. Tap the Home button again to stop the wiggle
5. Tap the Home button one more time to go back to the real Home screen
6. Fire up FlyQ EFB
Note: You'll see a blue dot rather than an aircraft icon when you're not moving or moving very slowly (like < 5 mph).

The flight plan line is missing

Plates and Airport Diagrams are just map layers, similar to all the other map layers in the app. Remove procedures from the map by turning off the Procedures layer:

1. Tap the Layers icon on the map (looks like a stack of papers)
2. Tap Procedures to toggle the layer on and off

How do I delete or change Personal Waypoints?

The Personal Waypoints are a list, like your list of pilots and list of plane, so they're all in the same general place:

1. Tap the Settings button at the top of the app (looks like a gear) 2. Scroll the display down to the Flight Planning section 3. Tap Personal waypoints 4. Tap the waypoint you want to delete or change. 5. To change, overtype the new information then tap Save at the top of the page. 6. To delete, tap Delete at the top of the page.

How do I add fuel stops?

Once a flight plan is open...
1. Go to the Plans tab, NavLog subtab.
2. Tap anywhere on the row that contains the airport at which you want to add fuel.
3. Tap the Edit button just above the NavLog
4. Tap into the Fuel Added field. The app will ask if you'd like to make it a fuel stop. Tap Yes. You'll notice that the Type field now says Stop.
5. Tap into the Fuel Added field again. Enter the amount of fuel to add.
6. Tap the Done button at the upper left of the Waypoint popup.
7. Tap the Done button just above the NavLog (where the Edit button used to be).