<http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archives/a ... tml#205722>
The days of inexpensive navigation and chart apps for your mobile devices
appear to be numbered with the FAA's announcement that it will begin
charging for downloads that were previously free starting April 5, 2012. A
story in the December issue of our sister publication Aviation Consumer says
the Aeronautical Navigational Products Directorate
<http://www.faa.gov/air_traffic/flight_info/aeronav/> (Aeronav), which
currently makes the latest charts and other navigational products available
online for free, says it has to recover the costs associated with developing
and hosting the products. That means charging fees to companies for those
downloads and no longer allowing individuals access them at all. As of April
5, only those with distribution contracts with Aeronav will be able to
download the data. The most noticeable impact will likely be on the small
but increasingly popular industry segment (like ForeFlight and WingX) that
develops flight-related apps for iPads and other consumer electronics. It
will also have an impact on websites like RunwayFinder that use the data for
their online products, some of which are currently available for free. How
much impact isn't known because the FAA hasn't announced what it intends to
charge for the data. Affected companies have been invited to a meeting Dec.
13 in Washington to hear details of the FAA's proposal and offer input to
the final pricing structure and the distribution contract. More...
<http://www.avweb.com/eletter/archives/a ... tml#205722>
Related Content:
*
<http://www.avweb.com/blogs/insider/AVwe ... 723-1.html
BLOG: Data - The Great Black Hole in the Panel
-----------------------------------------------------------------
List archives located at: https://mail.dcsol.com/login
username "rebel" password "builder"
Unsubscribe: rebel-builders-unsubscribe@dcsol.com
List administrator: mike.davis@dcsol.com
-----------------------------------------------------------------
