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WingX Pro ADSB Weather

RV8iator

Well Known Member
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I switched from Foreflight to WingX Pro a while back when I got my Skyradar unit because Foreflight in its infinite wisdom decided to only use the Stratus. Their choice but I know they lost a lot of customers because of that.

Anyway, I also cancelled my XM weather to save the almost $60 bucks a month.

While flying around and really using this stuff now I've noticed that I couldn't find the winds aloft and temps and freezing levels that ADSB provides. I could find the Internet provided WX but it was always hours old.

I called Hilton and was told that, yes, it's not available yet, but they hope the March update will have it.

The WingX website touts all the ADSB receivers it works with but itdoesn't mention that you are not really getting all the available weather.

This is just a heads up not to think you are getting everything you thought with WingX yet. It's a great tool but it's still short on some handy features that it's competitors already have.
 
Jerry, Thanks for the pirep on ADSB with WingX Pro. I'm curious how you like WingX compared to ForeFlight. I only know one person who tried WingX after flying with ForeFlight and he didn't like it. I've been using ForeFlight for better than a year now but I'm looking to add ADSB to my iPad and I'm not really excited about Stratus as my only option.

Just as a side comment, the last time I asked the folks at FF about ADSB options other than Stratus, they said they were looking at Dual to see if it met their criteria (I sure wanted to ask what their criteria was and how Stratus met it). They were clear there was not time frame that they were sticking to. I figure there's a good chance I too will be a former FF customer. I really like their product but I want ADSB and Stratus probably isn't in my future.
 
I subscribe both to ForeFlight and WingX Pro. I tend to mostly use WingX Pro in flight. I may eventually drop Foreflight. The subscriptions were so inexpensive that I decided to try both for a while and make up my own mind about which I like best. I first had FF, then got WingX Pro.

Foreflight is a little nicer for planning trips on the ground, and I like the way everything looks a little better (buttons, information bars, etc.). It also displays internet weather over maps, which WingX doesn't do. However, such weather will be old by the time you are flying, so ADS-B or XM are what matters there.

I mostly fly VFR and usually within 100-200 nm from my home base. I prefer the way I interact with WingX Pro when I am in the plane. Somehow it is more intuitive to me. Though WingX has a home screen with a lot of buttons, you don't really need to go there to access most of the information. You can do it right on the map page.

I like the obstacle information that WingX Pro provides. If there is an obstacle that reaches up to your present altitude along your track, within a couple of miles of your current location you get a warning. There are some pretty tall towers around where I live. They are hard to see, and this feature is nice when you are sightseeing around the countryside.

WingX Pro also includes geo-referenced airport diagrams in the basic subscription. Though I am IFR rated, I don't really fly IFR and don't want to pay for a full set of geo-referenced approach charts. With FF, you'd have to buy the full package to get the airports that are included with the basic WingX.

WingX Pro seems to be a lot quicker in supporting new external hardware. I am interested in the upcoming iLevil hardware that provides ADS-B, WAAS GPS, and a full AHRS system that can let your iPhone/iPad be a backup attitude indicator and DG.

My understanding is that FF has tighter relationships with the hardware vendors they work with. There has to be some sort of agreement between them for support to follow. They won't just take the latest and greatest hardware and support it, without getting something in return from the hardware vendor. That is why they have the relationship with Stratus and why other hardware is very slow to get support. We'll see if this changes in the future. I also do understand it can be difficult to support many platforms, but ADS-B data is not hardware dependent, so aside form a few teaks to access the data stream, supporting the data stream should not be that hard.

My observation is that these two platforms sometimes leapfrog each other. One has the best functions for a while, then the other comes out with some neat features, and so on. I wouldn't say one is head and shoulders above the other. Both have their little quirks, as well as their unique little features that some will just not be able to live without. I also think that personal preference has a lot of impact on which one you might like best. Both need to improve their data download programs. I like the way Garmin Pilot does that best, but I like these two apps for everything else.

Both apps offer free 30 day trials, and a year trial is $74 for FF, $99 for WingX. A three year subscription to WingX Pro is $199, making it cheaper than FF.
 
Jerry, Thanks for the pirep on ADSB with WingX Pro. I'm curious how you like WingX compared to ForeFlight. I only know one person who tried WingX after flying with ForeFlight and he didn't like it.

Don, I too used Foreflight before switching to WingX. I liked Foreflight a bunch and at first I wasn't all that excited by WingX. Now that I've learned WIngX I like it just as we'll. both have pluses and minuses, but overall for me they both are good programs. Like anything else, the more comfortable you are it the more you like it and that's where I am with WingX. If Foreflight started supporting Skyradar I can't say that I would return.

WingX is weak in filing flight plans. For instance, if you build a route in the route page and want to file, you have to enter the ETE. That's crazy. It's on the route and map pages but it won't carry it to your flight plan for filing. It adjusts it for wind from the WX brief so it already knows the ETE.

It's little things like that but they are time consuming. It's continually improving and Hilton is good at returning calls and answering emails and questions.

All in all I like WingX and will stick with it now.
 
One gripe I've got with both is that they don't include the TAC charts. Those are really handy when you're in the area of one.

Good thing SkyCharts Pro does.

Dave
 
Just got my copy of Aviation Consumer and they tested Five NAV apps and they rated WingX the top pick.

Guess I'm smarter than I thought.
 
Dave,

WingX Pro (and I believe FF too) include TAC charts seamlessly integrated with sectionals. As you zoom in, the area within the TAC boundaries comes from the TAC, instead of the sectional. You don't have to go to a separate view to see it. This works pretty well and is nice to have.
 
Dave,

WingX Pro (and I believe FF too) include TAC charts seamlessly integrated with sectionals. As you zoom in, the area within the TAC boundaries comes from the TAC, instead of the sectional. You don't have to go to a separate view to see it. This works pretty well and is nice to have.

That's correct. On the sectional view, the TAC areas are surrounded by a white square that shows the TAC boundaries. The image below is a screenshot of WingX moving map page. I have Airspace option turned on and the area inside the white bounded box is the ATL TAC. It's a seamless transition when zooming in inside this box.

8414688614_23edec81e1_b.jpg
 
Tried most of the them

and stayed with WingX --- still subscribe to FF just to keep all the "documents/books". I do like the Hilton lineup when it comes to adapting the various ADS-B boxes.

My favorite all-in-one box though is still the iFly 720 --- that is my main "moving map/charts" on the RV-10 panel and it supports many of the ADS-B boxes, also.
 
For documents, I just use iBooks. I have my POH, and other documents (both flying related and for other purposes) there. I either transfer them with iTunes, just put them on my Dropbox, copy them from e-mails, etc.

WingX Pro includes FAR and AIM information, along some advisory circulars on certification, and stalss/spins, a pilot/controller glossary, aeronautical contractions and FSS phone numbers. You can't add anything yourself, though. I've never missed being able to do that, since I prefer to have my own library of publications within iBooks.
 
Dave,

WingX Pro (and I believe FF too) include TAC charts seamlessly integrated with sectionals. As you zoom in, the area within the TAC boundaries comes from the TAC, instead of the sectional. You don't have to go to a separate view to see it. This works pretty well and is nice to have.

Being the developer of SkyCharts I never thought this was a good idea, so in my app you get as much as possible of the TAC chart in a separate view
(you can always flip back&forward between the TAC and sectional chart):
entire-tac.jpg


The app has also had all FLY charts (the reverse side of the TAC chart) geo-referenced since 2010:
fly.jpg


The app also has extended WAC coverage of Baja, Bahamas and the Alaska corridor:
baja.jpg

bahamas.jpg

bc-ak.jpg


There are more screenshots here if interested:
http://www.skycharts.net/?page_id=291
 
I have skycharts pro and been using it for several years. Do you anticipate ads-b integration?
 
I have skycharts pro and been using it for several years. Do you anticipate ads-b integration?

Thanks for your support!

Short answer: Yes
Long answer: I have been working on several other aspects of aviation charts&updates (check on AppStore next week for one of them) but after that I really want to add support for some sort of ADS-B device.

Please check the website for new announcements.
 
Last edited:
I have skycharts pro and been using it for several years. Do you anticipate ads-b integration?

Also been using it for a couple years, really like the program.

Thanks for your support!

Short answer: Yes
Long answer: I have been working on several other aspects of aviation charts&updates (check on AppStore next week for one of them) but after that I really want to add support for some sort of ADS-B device.

Please check the website for new announcements.

It would be great to have ADS-B :D

Please let us know when you have it available.
 
wingxPro7 + Stratux = No weather

We are using an Ipad Mini4 and get good GPS and Traffic, but we are not getting the weather painted on the map.

Is there a setting I am missing?

This airplane does not have adsb out, but a I am getting traffic and adsb data such as tail numbers ect.

Thanks
mitch
 
Wx is only broadcast on 978 MHz (UAT freq) so make sure that part of the Stratux is working. Also you must be within range of a ground station to get the wx. With no ADSB-out, the ground stations will not uplink non-ADSB radar traffic to you, so you won?t see ?everyone?.
 
Wx overlay

From your app when the app is open in the map, touch the arrow down (top right) and then touch wx overlay. Choose off, single, or animate, I have the nexrad 5 min on mine. (Animate)
 
From your app when the app is open in the map, touch the arrow down (top right) and then touch wx overlay. Choose off, single, or animate, I have the nexrad 5 min on mine. (Animate)


That?s only for the Baron weather services that need an Internet connection for updates .

Ensure the ADS-B weather overlay is selected under View 1 or View 2 to display Stratux weather
 
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