Nav Trainer Pro
Ratings & Reviews
Nav Trainer 3.4.1IPad Pro 9.7 v.11.1.2• Settings > Instruments “BIG \/ SMALL” does not work.• Motion sensors still changes heading at warp speed. Absolutely useless.• If you are going to provide an option for turning via the motions sensors, use an algorithm which works similar to a real control wheel/yoke. [Ref. X-Plane 10 for iPad]• Add delay variable when rolling in/out of standard rate. [Ref. VOR Tracker]• Based upon most textbooks (FAA, Jeppesen, ASA, Rod Machado, etc.) and typical training aircraft with ‘standard’ instrument configurations, the HI should be either on top or bottom—not in the middle of the NAV instruments. If you disagree, make the option to place any instrument in any of the tree locations. [Ref. IFR Trainer]• My guess, however I could be wrong, it’s general aviation students/pilots or CFIs using this app. Having to press twice to achieve a standard rate of 3 degrees per second is distractive. Put an option in Settings to set the default to match the pilot’s preference.! Based upon the Law of Primacy, train the student’s eyes, motions, and thinking (even with simple trainers) according to norms/standards from the very beginning. Negative Transfer of Learning is expensive! “It’s an iPad typically held in the left/right hand” is a poor excuse.! “This is not a flight simulator” is not an excuse for making something that could have been made otherwise and better with a little research, foresight and testing by a few CFIs / CFI-Is.
Developer ResponseThank you for the detailed review. I am considering updates to address some of the issues you mentioned.1. I've tested it on different devices. Std. rate turn in the app is correct at 3º per second. Please note that the turn buttons are multi-rate. Each press on the button increments the rate starting at 0.5 to 2.5 x Standard Rate. You might have hit the button only once, which resulted in a 1/2 standard rate turn. A second tap on the button will produce 1x standard rate.2. Position of the panel is configurable via the settings screen. The reason the displays are on the right by default is that most users are right-handed. Therefore, it is much easier to control the instruments from the right side for most users. However, you can change this on the settings screen.3. I'm not sure why you'd expect the heading indicator on top. In a traditional instrument panel, the HI is on the bottom row and the VOR displays are to the right of the primary instruments. In the app, the heading indicator doubles as a control for the airplane's heading. The middle position on the screen is easier to control. I will look into having an option to reconfigure the position of the instruments in a future version if more users are interested.4. This is a very specific configuration that may work for one user but not for another. I'm considering adding an option to save airplane and navaid positions for quick scenario setup.5. Not sure why you'd expect specifically 5 NM, but it's a good idea to add an option of configuring grid spacing in the settings. I'll work on this for a future update.6. Since the controls are being so sensitive, I will work to improve this soon.7. That is a good idea for an improvement, thanks.8. Please keep in mind that Nav Trainer is not a flight simulator, and therefore doesn't have all the instruments you'll find in an actual airplane. That would be a distraction from the scope of the app of training pilots on the use of radio navaids. However, this may be a nice idea for an add-on in the future.I appreciate the feedback, and hope I've addressed some of your concerns. Safe flying!
I like the app, for the $5 it is a good value. It demonstrates clearly what the instrument would display, relative to the aircraft position from the VOR, ILS, or radio signal station. The "fly" mode is interesting, but not very useful. The pitch control barely responds and the speed control (reverse?) is really just silly. Turning with the compass on the tiny little ipod screen is a little touchy This app could be improved by fixing those things and maybe adding VOR morse identifiers and ILS marker signals.
The CDI needle has very low resolution. It ticks in 1 degree increments. One dot is 2 degrees, so from full deflection to intercept is only 10 ticks... it looks terrible. The CDI does not move fluidly in an analogue manner like in real-life. There is not as much trend information as in real-life. Not good.Update: Your response is nonsense. I’ve used plenty of modern digital displays like Garmin G5 and G1000 and while the OBS is only capable of selecting a course in 1 degree increments, the CDI needle itself still moves fluidly in an analogue manner as bearing to the station is changed. Stop making excuses. The instrument in this app does not behave the same as a real life VOR indicator in virtually any GA airplane.
Developer ResponseHi,I'm sorry that you find the app unuseful. The OBS, in fact, ticks once per degree like you said. This is consistent with the way the OBS knob works in many modern, non-analog, VOR displays. Please feel free to contact me if you have any further concerns.
Well put together; really gives good visual interpretation of what your nav indicators are showing you, including wind effects. Only suggestion would be to make OBS and DG a little less sensitive so that changes could be more precisely set. Test feature is great - really makes you think about what you're seeing on the DG & OBS. About to get an iPad; hope this is set up to run on the iPad, too, with a larger display.
I was hoping for something useful for maintaining instrument currency, but this is not it! This is basically a very cut-down version of OddSoft RANT.If it was a better imitation it would be quite useful, but this is missing too much functionality. In its current version it's just a really simple introduction. This might be quite a useful tool for instructors introducing students to first principals of radio navigation. But after 30 minutes mastering it, this program would have little to offer.On the plus side, it's nicely programmed and the controls work well.
This is a great program for learning awareness and to stay current. You can rotate the compass card one degree at a time and practice awareness for that degree. Worth every cent and well written. The only fault which is minor is sometimes the airplanes are to close to each other which can result in a missed answer. Overall it is a great program.