App Detail » Personal Black Box

App Description

Personal Black Box is designed for air travelers who want to follow along or know what is out the window. The app has two major functions.

First, Personal Black Box is a map. Personal Black Box displays groups of aviation charts in a scrollable and zoomable mosaic. Each chart group covers a geographic area using a general format. Charts are downloaded from within the app. You can switch between different chart groups. With a little practice, anyone can learn to track their position using the maps.

Second, Personal Black Box can track your flight. If your device has a GPS, personal black box can show where your are and where you have been.

Third, share your flight tracks with other applications.

Personal Black Box works best on a GPS equipped iPad. However, it can run on an iPhone as well.

Due to the size of the aviation charts, they are downloaded separately from the App Store. These chart groups are currently available:

1) Continental U.S. Visual Chart Group (Cost: Free)

Visual chart allow you to pinpoint your position and spot landmarks from an airplane window. These charts show features visible from the air, including major roads, topography, bodies of water, airport runways, and landmarks. They also include political boundaries, navigation aids, and airspace restrictions. This chart group is divided into regional packages for easier downloading.

The Continental U.S. Visual group uses three different types of charts. Most of the coverage is provided by Sectional Charts at 1:500,000 scale. Where available, the mosaic uses Terminal Area Charts around major airports at 1:250,000, showing even greater detail. World Aeronautical Charts at 1:1,000,000 scale fill in some areas of Canada, Mexico, and oceans.

Due to the size of this chart group, it is subdivided into 6 downloadable packages covering different geographic areas.

2) Alaska Visual Chart Group (Cost: Free)

This chart group has the same format as the Continental U.S. Visual Chart Group. It covers the state of Alaska.

3) Hawaii Visual Chart Group (Cost: Free)

This charge group has the same format as the Continental U.S. Visual and Alaska Visual Chart Groups. It covers the state of Hawaii.

4) Continental U.S. Jet Routes Chart Group (Cost: Free)

Jet Route Charts show the airways used for navigation above 18,000 ft. They show airports, navigation beacons, and airways in detail. Other than coast outlines, there are few visual details. These charts can be used to determine the route your flight is taking.

5) Alaska Jet Routes Chart Group

This chart group covers Jet Routes for the state of Alaska with coverage extending South to Oregon. The individual charts in this group cover large areas so they do not match up well, except over small areas.

6) Hawaii Pacific Jet Routes Chart Group (Cost: Free)

This chart group covers Jet Routes from the U.S. West coast to Hawaii to Guam.

7) Northern Atlantic Planning Chart (Cost: Free)

Planning charts cover a large area at low resolution. They show the locations of major airports, coast outlines, and some route information. The Northern Atlantic Planning Chart coverage spans the U.S. East coast to Western Europe.

8) Western Atlantic Planning Chart (Cost: Free)

The Western Atlantic Planning Chart coverage spans the Southeastern U.S. coast, Cuba, Caribbean Islands, and part of South America.

9) Northern Pacific Planning Chart (Cost: Free)

The Northern Pacific Planning Chart covers most of the Pacific ocean, spanning from the Alaska/U.S./Mexico coast to Australia/New Zealand to China.

Warning: Personal Black Box is not intended to be used to operate an aircraft or any other type of vehicle. In order to save power, Personal Black Box does not update the position continuously. Charts are not up-to-date for navigation.

App Changes

• April 24, 2015 Initial release
• July 13, 2015 Price decrease: $2.99 -> FREE!