ForeFlight has released an update to its electronic flight bag app that helps pilots view forecast cloud, icing, and turbulence layers in the profile view and 3D preview. The release also adds live internet traffic in the 3D airports view.
To access the new weather layers, after creating a route, users can click on the profile view in the flight planning tab then choose which layers to display. The depth of the profile can be changed by moving the altitude slider up and down. And the four choices—airspace, icing, turbulence, and clouds—can all be selected simultaneously or individually. The same individual elements can be viewed for 3D route preview by clicking on the globe icon in the navlog, but in this case, only one overlay can be selected at a time. This preview shows a route timeline in a 3D view of the flight, and the user can scroll through the route to visualize how each weather element will affect the route.
Live internet traffic is available with 3D View for an airport. It shows traffic flying in the airport vicinity, although unlike the normal traffic view in maps, it’s not possible to click on each aircraft to see more information (heading, speed, relative position, etc.).
Other new features in the upgrade include many more mountain peak markers on the basemap and an airport terrain information button to see the height of nearby terrain around an airport (within a 10 nm radius).
According to ForeFlight, "The Clouds forecast map layer is included in Pro Plus subscription plans and above, while the same layer in Profile View and 3D Preview is available with Performance Plus plans."