International procedures training company Scott IPC released the Scott Plot iPad app nearly three years ago and has updated this software to make oceanic crossings even easier for pilots. Scott Plot not only helps pilots eliminate paper charts during oceanic crossings, but it is also part of Scott IPC’s international procedures training program.
This week at NBAA-BACE, the company is trying something new, according to Phil Tyler, head of business development. “We have the booth set up with a welcome sales team," he said, "but the rest of the booth is broken up into instructors, developers, and the Scott flight team.”
Visitors will be able to get demonstrations of the Scott Plot app and customers who are familiar with it will be able to share ideas for new features with the development team. “We’ll give people a better look at all of our wares," Tyler said. "It’s a mini-classroom environment, and we hope to reach more people with what we do.”
The newest feature is the ability to synchronize Scott Plot data between two iPads in a flight deck, he added. This makes it easier for pilots to split up duties during an ocean crossing. For example, one could be doing oceanic plotting while the other does fuel planning on the master document. Data from both pilots is synchronized, which “helps with the internal conversation in the cockpit,” Tyler said.
This feature took a while to develop because Scott IPC needed to ensure data security. “We don’t want to lose data [either],” Tyler explained. “By having the two iPads synced, data is automatically—within seconds—copied to the other.”
When Apple came out with the split-screen view for the iPad, Scott IPC tapped into that technology as well. “Users find that a beneficial tool so they don’t have to get out of the app,” Tyler said, “and they can look something else up and have our app on the screen. This also allows for multiple apps to share the same GPS. The split-screen helps individual apps not lose GPS connectivity.”
While Scott Plot is designed to replace the paper oceanic plotting chart, users are finding benefits in other types of international flying. The app incorporates all the tasks, functions, tools, and forms needed into one master document along with the plotting chart and a customized checklist. Users can add notes and photographs to the master journey logbook and share the logbook with anyone who needs to see it.
A benefit of using something like Scott Plot is that it helps standardize how flight departments handle international documents, Tyler said. The consolidation of information also allows, for example, a chief pilot to share certain material with an FAA inspector.
European ramp inspections are another area where recording plotting information can facilitate the process. “Charter operators and large management companies have aircraft all over the place,” Tyler said. “Trying to get data from each file, standardized, and in a central repository is a challenge.”
The next move for Scott IPC is adding partnerships to bring more utility to Scott Plot. “Everybody wants to do everything in one app,” Tyler said. "We’re good at what we’re good at and we want to add information to put data at pilots’ fingertips.
Some of these developments could include capturing winds and weather information in the app and sharing that with other pilots. “We want to expand tools for contingency situations,” he added. “Like tools for dead-reckoning.”
However, simply adding a neat feature isn’t always productive. “We’ve learned that offering tools for contingencies that never happen is a waste of time unless they’re built around training," Tyler said.
"I’m not going to practice dead-reckoning on my time off, but if I had training and could simulate it and do it at a flight department training session, now there are some things we could do. As we offer more contingency stuff, we want [to offer] training that they can use in conjunction with in-house training,” he explained.