Saw this pop up on Facebook earlier.
Will be curious to see how it pans out as I’m one of those Garmin Pilot users.
It’s an alternative to PDC (a TDLS feature), not CPDLC. ForeFlight has had it for a while for PDC. It’s part of this:
https://www.faa.gov/mobileclearance
Which was just announced.
Me too 
I switched to GP over a year ago. I still have FF for business so I compare from time to time. I wrote an article last winter comparing FF to GP. PDC was one of FF’s advantages, along with a few others including JetFuelX, a better filing system, better system stability, and integrarted TO/LDG performance, amongst others.
GP won on a bunch of other things including flight deck integration for the growingly ubiquitous Garmin flight decks, and of course their amazing SmartCharts.
Garmin has been heavily investing in GP. But they still have work to do.
If you have feedback on features that you’d like to share or suggestions for new ones email them at:
To report erros/bugs email them at:
As a company I’ve noticed over the last couple of years that they’ve become much more responsive to the aviation customer.
1 Like
I’ve thought about testing out FF, but from what I could tell, you can’t actually package stuff up and take it in the air? Maybe I was misreading the limitations of the demo.
I was talking to a buddy and he also mentioned the PDC thing with FF - but it sounds like you “register” your aircraft and get a “Foreflight” call sign to use it. That sound about accurate?
I’d be interested in reading your article on FF vs GP!
You certainly can, they use the term “packing.” It’s a little suitcase icon to “pack” your trip.
Since it works through the PDC system it’s based on the aircraft and relies on airports that support PDC. IOW it’s very limited in availability for typical light GA operations. This new system should be much more accessible for the typical small-iron operator.
For non-towered fields, where it will be most useful, you’ll still have to make a radio or phone call to get your release. And even though they mention canceling in the air from the device I’d still cancel on frequency or on the ground.
1 Like
I would love to have a PDC-like process on GP. Anything to avoid jamming up the frequency with full route clearances and corrected readbacks. My handwriting isn’t getting any better, and neither is my hearing.
1 Like
This is what the FAA announcement is about (not GP specific).