SkyDemon Navigation Features

Using SkyDemon in the air to help you navigate and stay safe will make your life easier, and free up more time to actually enjoy your flight. Its features are designed to lessen your workload, protect you against hazards and give you the briefing information you want when you need it.

Just like our flight-planning features, SkyDemon's navigation features are available on multiple platforms. This page gives you a taster of some of our major features, and how they can help you.

SkyDemon Vector Charts

The clarity of SkyDemon charts is unmatched, no matter which chart style you have selected. This is perhaps most important while you are actually flying, and do not want to be distracted by details that are not relevant. Our charts can adapt themselves as you fly, dynamically hiding airspace thousands of feet above where you are for a clearer view. Choose north up, track up or course up orientation and rest assured that the chart will remain crisp and readable.

You'll notice that it's not only mapping data that appears on your SkyDemon chart when flying: as your approach your destination, extended runway centrelines spring out, and pieces of airspace light up and you approach and enter them.

GPS Navigation

SkyDemon will guide you through your route, from one waypoint to the next, giving you clear instrument readouts that keep you aware of your progress, the outside conditions and how far left you have to run. A direction indicator shows you current track (true or magnetic) with a bug that is automatically updated to point to your next waypoint. Depending on which product you are using, a position report is either displayed permanently onscreen or is accessible by simply touching the aircraft icon.

As you approach your destination you will see extended runway centrelines spring out from the airfield on the chart. These help you align early and form a quick appreciation of your position relative to your destination runway. The rest of the features on this page all expand on how SkyDemon helps you once airborne.

Live Pilot Log

Once in flight, the pilot log transforms to highlight each leg as you fly it, with visual cues clearly showing your progress. An extra column appears showing your ETA or ATA at all waypoints forming your journey. In planning mode, the pilot log suggests all the frequencies you are likely to want to use during your whole flight. When actually in flight, you can see at a glance every ATS unit that you can speak to from your current position. Switching between the map and pilot log is easy.

We offer a Direct To function, which quickly lists all nearby airfields with their longest runway lengths, and at the touch of a button you can instantly plot a route directly to the destination of your choice.

Live Virtual Radar

Arguably the most significant instrument in SkyDemon, virtual radar switches into live mode once you are in navigation mode. It shows a realtime projection on your trajectory ahead relative to terrain, airspace, NOTAM, ground-based obstacles and other features. Your vertical speed is clearly represented, making it easy to see where your climb or descent will take you over time.

Navigation Warnings

As you fly, SkyDemon sends out virtual radar pings into its charting data to generate warnings when approaching any hazard. Here are some of the warnings we use to help keep you safe.

• Airspace Warnings
  When approaching airspace, a colour-coded warning is displayed and you are shown a callsign and frequency (where available) to gain penetration. These warnings are configurable and can include danger, prohibited, restricted, controlled, sporting, MATZ and ATZ areas.
• Obstruction Warnings
  When approaching a fixed ground-based obstacle a warning is displayed with an advisory level to climb to for avoidance.
• NOTAM Warnings
  When approaching an area covered by a NOTAM a warning is displayed allowing you to view the details associated with the notice.
• Terrain Warnings
  When approaching terrain, a warning is displayed and your path relative to the terrain is clearly visible in the virtual radar.

Instruments View

Whether you wish to simply glance at your current groundspeed for interest or you want to navigate your entire route with the onscreen HSI, SkyDemon has it covered. The altimeter can show either altitude above local mean sea level or your height above the highest nearby terrain. The distance and time readouts brief you for your next waypoint, your destination or for the approaching runway threshold.

Once aligned with your target runway you can switch to instruments view to use the pseudo-ILS. This offers horizontal corrections to keep you on the extended centreline and optionally vertical corrections, based on GPS altitude and a user-definable glideslope, down to 500ft AGL. This is great as a training aid for IMC flight, and for conditions where visibility is impaired.

Airfield Approach Information

When you are nearing your destination airfield, you want as much information about your approach at your fingertips as possible. We created the approach information screen to instantly provide you with runway layout, elevation, frequencies, local weather and any applicable NOTAM.

You can even touch a runway end to nominate it, at which point both circuits will be roughly depicted overlaid onto the runway map so that you can quickly form a mental picture of how you will join the circuit and land.

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