GlidePlan reviews

Hope there are GlidePlan users who will comment about their experiences with this program. http://www.glideplan.com/ . Worth the price of admission?

On Monday, August 14, 2017 at 12:18:18 PM UTC-4, wrote:
Hope there are GlidePlan users who will comment about their experiences with this program. http://www.glideplan.com/ . Worth the price of admission?

Ping

On Tuesday, August 15, 2017 at 6:44:19 AM UTC-7, wrote:
On Monday, August 14, 2017 at 12:18:18 PM UTC-4, wrote:
Hope there are GlidePlan users who will comment about their experiences with this program. http://www.glideplan.com/ . Worth the price of admission?

Ping

I have glide plan and like it much. The only flaw I have is my printer ink dries out if I do not print each week. I found GlidePlan well worth the cost.

On Tuesday, August 15, 2017 at 10:09:21 AM UTC-4, Jonathan St. Cloud wrote:
On Tuesday, August 15, 2017 at 6:44:19 AM UTC-7, wrote:
On Monday, August 14, 2017 at 12:18:18 PM UTC-4, wrote:
Hope there are GlidePlan users who will comment about their experiences with this program. http://www.glideplan.com/ . Worth the price of admission?

Ping

I have glide plan and like it much. The only flaw I have is my printer ink dries out if I do not print each week. I found GlidePlan well worth the cost.

I use it fairly often. It is especially useful using the Sectionals and custom charts available at http://www.soaringdata.info/aviation/sectionalTab.html (I donate each time I use it). I use a colour laser printer, and it works well (once I boosted the memory so I could print 2400 dpi vs 600).

Dan

On Monday, August 14, 2017 at 12:18:18 PM UTC-4, wrote:
Hope there are GlidePlan users who will comment about their experiences with this program. http://www.glideplan.com/ . Worth the price of admission?

I use GlidePlan to prepare contest maps. Unfortunately the author abandoned support for it a few years ago - so what you get is what you get. Lynn Alley is still creating current maps that can be used.

On Tuesday, August 15, 2017 at 3:12:37 PM UTC-4, John Godfrey (QT) wrote:
On Monday, August 14, 2017 at 12:18:18 PM UTC-4, wrote:
Hope there are GlidePlan users who will comment about their experiences with this program. http://www.glideplan.com/ . Worth the price of admission?

I use GlidePlan to prepare contest maps. Unfortunately the author abandoned support for it a few years ago - so what you get is what you get. Lynn Alley is still creating current maps that can be used.

And how would one reach Lynn Alley?

On Tuesday, 15 August 2017 18:19:49 UTC-6, wrote:
On Tuesday, August 15, 2017 at 3:12:37 PM UTC-4, John Godfrey (QT) wrote:
On Monday, August 14, 2017 at 12:18:18 PM UTC-4, wrote:
Hope there are GlidePlan users who will comment about their experiences with this program. http://www.glideplan.com/ . Worth the price of admission?

I use GlidePlan to prepare contest maps. Unfortunately the author abandoned support for it a few years ago - so what you get is what you get. Lynn Alley is still creating current maps that can be used.

And how would one reach Lynn Alley?


His web site is http://soaringdata.info/ and the sectionals for Glide Plan can be found here http://soaringdata.info/aviation/sectionalTab.html

There is contact information on the website

On Monday, August 14, 2017 at 10:18:18 AM UTC-6, wrote:
Hope there are GlidePlan users who will comment about their experiences with this program. http://www.glideplan.com/ . Worth the price of admission?

Glide Plan is a good product that gives a pilot (especially new pilots) useful information for use while planning XC badge flights.

It is worth the price.

Mike

It's probably the easiest way to prepare maps for contests and other "away events" where you want to be able to do flight planning in detail. The three key features for contests: Current sectionals. Easily locating the home point along with distance rings. Quickly putting the turnpoints on the map. Since I only use it infrequently (i.e. at new contest sites or when more than a couple of turnpoints are added/deleted at an existing site, I will say that it's not completely intuitive. Especially the process of loading the map files and getting the print set up correctly seems to be trial-and-error each time I use it (typically one every year or 18 months). I probably ought to just write down the procedures for those steps, but it always seems to be late Friday before heading out at o-dark-thirty for a practice day.

P3

On agree with P3's analysis. I use it before flying at a contest site making up colored waypoints for: 1) TPs and waypoints (red for unlandable) 2) marginal landing sites (yellow) 3) airports or sound good landing sites (green). Fiddling with Glideplan to make all this happen is far from intuitive. In fact, it takes me awhile experimenting a bit to make this all work. It doesn't help that I last used the program a year or two before.

But, the software is sound... and works well enough. Lynn Alley makes up sectionals and custom maps that work in Glidplan.

I don't know of any easier way to mark up maps. I used to do it with marker pens drawing circles around waypoints and labeling them. Glideplan is easier. Just don't plan on making up your maps in the last hour before leaving for a contest the next day.

As far as printing it... I just take it to a Kinkos/Fedex down the street; print out 8x10's and use their paper cutters to paste it together... then laminate it with translucent shelf paper.

All told... it probably takes 4-6 hours with all the fiddling and running around.

Walt Rogers WX


P3