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  #1  
Old 10-07-2010, 07:00 PM
skyhawk73 skyhawk73 is offline
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Dallas, TX
Posts: 12
Thumbs up Anyone seen the iFly700 by Adventure Pilot

I'm looking at RV6 and 7's and want an affordable GPS for VFR use. I came across this article today in Plane and Pilot. Looks to be very promising, anyone familiar with it. I noticed they are for sale on Aircraft Spruce.

P&P link
http://www.planeandpilotmag.com/prod...-ifly-700.html

Marc
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  #2  
Old 10-07-2010, 07:14 PM
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Vlad Vlad is offline
 
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Location: Utah
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Welcome Marc,
Several RV owners are already flying with 700. There are couple reviews on this board. I was this close to buying one but iPad release interfered
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  #3  
Old 10-07-2010, 09:03 PM
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Ralphieflies Ralphieflies is offline
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Central Florida
Posts: 289
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Quote:
Originally Posted by skyhawk73 View Post
I'm looking at RV6 and 7's and want an affordable GPS for VFR use. I came across this article today in Plane and Pilot. Looks to be very promising, anyone familiar with it. I noticed they are for sale on Aircraft Spruce.

P&P link
http://www.planeandpilotmag.com/prod...-ifly-700.html
Marc
I recently purchased an Ifly 700. For $500 its a nice unit....The geo referenced charts are very nice...Nice screen with decent brightness....Good feel to unit too....

Subscriptions are cheap too...The main negative is no internal battery.....
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Last edited by Ralphieflies : 10-07-2010 at 09:10 PM.
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  #4  
Old 10-07-2010, 10:13 PM
guccidude1 guccidude1 is offline
 
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Reno NV
Posts: 542
Default Anyone seen the iFly700 by Adventure Pilot

I have one and think it is a good deal for the money. I bought it in the latter part of June and flew it for 20 days, 41.7 hours and 4850nm. My wife and I flew from Reno NV to ABQ NM to Plainview TX to McKinney TX, Richmond VA to Morgantown WV to Nashville TN to Tulsa OK to Colorado Springs CO to Boise ID to Aurora OR back to Reno. After the first hop, she begin to program and flight plan on the Ifly 700 (not a pilot). From that point on, I never had to tell her how much further, when we would arrive, or do we have enough gas. In fact, one down side of the unit is that is gives how many feet you are left or right of planned course. That little item was pointed out to me more than once. Lucky for me, I have a TT DIIVSG autopilot and guess who got the blame? It is a great unit and well worth the money and annual updates for $70 or $90 depending if you want full IFR maps. Dan
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  #5  
Old 10-07-2010, 11:40 PM
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rvmills rvmills is offline
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: Reno, NV
Posts: 2,125
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Marc,

I bought an iFly700 when I saw Dan's. I have a G396 in the panel, and wanted a sectional chart and airport diagram replacement. The iFly looked like a good fit for that. I've been to OSH and back as well as to a few races around the country using it, and it's a very nice unit. Nice compliment to the 396 with XM and terrain.

I'd been running SkyCharts on my iPhone, but the size was a bit small. Upgrading to an iPad and continuing with SkyCharts and/or Foreflight is still a possibility (the programs are great and the iPad is very inviting from a display appearance...still mulling on that one)...but for the entry price, the iFly700 has been a very useful tool. The size is nice too...not too big, not too small...just about right.

Upsides: Fast refresh rate when scrolling the map, great resolution at all ranges, nice airport diagrams and approach plates (I'm not using the plates in my VFR machine, but they are nice, and I use the AP diagrams at unfamiliar fields a lot), flight plans appear as a magenta line, and you can rubber band them if needed. Airplane posit updates quickly and the map moves under it if you select "follow airplane", and can spring right back to that after you scroll around looking at things, with the same command. Some nice user interface buttons that pop up on the display when you touch it. Update links are pushed to users via e-mail, and are easy to install (flash drive upload). Big upside are the developers/producers...met them at OSH and have talked to them on the phone. Really nice guys, and they are very responsive to customers, and are really interested in adding features customers want.

Downsides: No Wx and no Autopilot connection, so as it is, it may not be a fully stand-alone (or full-featured) X-C GPS, like an X96. But its screen is bigger, and those two features have been discussed a lot on their forum, and may be in the future of the product. Glare is a factor, as with many glass avionics items. I built a little glareshield for mine, and it helped. I may add an antiglare coating, but need to research that first (any hints from the gallery?). I've found some of the flight plan entry methodolgy a bit cumbersome, but it could be my point on the learning curve. I'll make some suggestions after playing with it some more, and my guess is they will be very responsive. Also, no range gouge when changing scales...it just says level 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. and there is no range legend...but I think that has been suggested as an improvement, and may be in work. (I know I could use Latitude tics, but I'd prefer a quicker method of estimating range from my course line to the dark brown points on the sectional.)

I have it mounted on a Ram mount on the forward side rail...there's a mount on either side, so I can swap the iFly and the iPhone (i, i, i ). Really poorly lighted iPhone pic below, but gives you an idea:



The internal GPS has been 98% in that position, just an occasional hiccup...but I have an external GPS antenna ($15) that could supplement (haven't used it yet). An iPad, ala Pat Hatch's mount could work there too, and I'd have more glass than my 737 (wait, I already do, sort of! )

At any rate, the iFly is a great little piece of gear for the $$, and the capabilities are only getting better. All FWIW...have fun shopping!!

Cheers,
Bob
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RV-6 "Rocket Six" N49VM
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President/Sport 47/49, Sport Class Air Racing
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  #6  
Old 10-08-2010, 07:09 AM
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Ron Lee Ron Lee is offline
 
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Posts: 3,275
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Bob, from that Plane and Pilot article I read:

"Vertical navigation, terrain warning voice prompts, streamlined IFR flight planning, NMEA serial output (for autopilots, fuel-flow computers and more?experimental aircraft only), simulated analog instruments including CDI (course deviation indicator), and road maps also are on the docket for future upgrades. All feature upgrades are software-enabled and included in the subscription."

The article also states that ADS-B is on the horizon. IF they do something to get free weather, this could be my nect GPS since Lowrance orphaned my Airmap 500. I still use the Airmap since most of the info is still valid and it is just a situational awareness aid.
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  #7  
Old 10-08-2010, 12:35 PM
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rvmills rvmills is offline
 
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Location: Reno, NV
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Yep, they seem to be working hard to make it a nice piece of gear. Glad it was discussed in the article (shoulda read the link! ). It may end up better for me than the iPad, since my little co-pilots will no doubt steal an iPad in flight to play games!

Let me see, can I somehow justify both to my "CFO"....how many aviation bucks is that?

Cheers,
Bob
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Bob Mills
RV-6 "Rocket Six" N49VM
Reno-Stead, NV (KRTS)
President/Sport 47/49, Sport Class Air Racing
President, Formation Flying Inc (FFI)
Flight Lead, Lightning Formation Airshows
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