Aircraft with sophisticated GNSS (aka GPS) navigators may have approach plates installed in the database. SkyDemon offers a simple way of accessing geo-referenced plates. It uses the AIP plates (whose format varies from one country to another). Geo-referenced? This means that they are displayed to scale, in the right location on the map display.
They are a great aid for situational awareness and for coarse positioning on an instrument approach. They should not be used as a substitute for receiving the relevant radio navigation aid (VOR, NDB, ILS, GNSS) using NAV equipment such as a CDI (Course Deviation Indicator).
Here’s how to go about it:
- In Setup, Planning options, enable IFR features
- Right click on Airfield, right click on Information
- Click on Instrument Plates. Select the plate(s) you want. Green means they are available on your device. On some devices, you may have to click on individual plates to make them available offline
- In flight, click on the Airfields tab. Click on the Pin symbol to display the plate you want. It appears to scale on the chart.
