App That Gives You More Excuses To Fly

By Kathryn Creedy

Sponsored by the top manufacturers in the general aviation industry, SocialFlight is now tapping their expertise, linking them directly to its pilot and aircraft owner subscribers to help them solve their flying problems.

“The problem with most online forums is you never know whether what you are seeing is accurate,” said President Jeff Simon. “The other problem is you don’t see a lot of participation from the manufacturers. We decided to directly connect the general aviation community and the manufacturers to answer questions about technology, training, products and more. It also provides the general aviation community with the opportunity to learn about innovations. What we have created is a great peer-to-peer platform and when someone gets an answer they are alerted by email what the answer is.”

SocialFlight sponsors include Jeppesen, Piper, Lightspeed, Bose, CamGuard, Aspen and FreeFlight, all of which will be active participants on the forums as moderators along with the SocialFlight staff to ensure high-quality information. SocialFlight’s Expert-Led Community Forums are included in the 5.1 release of the free SocialFlight mobile app available for both Apple and Android devices, as well as on the web. 

The forums include aircraft ownership, operation and maintenance; pilot training, safety and technique; headsets, cameras and pilot products as well as travel, clubs and rentals. A channel on recreational travel is also available and like all of SocialFlight’s forums, pilots and organizations can share their own advice and experience.

“At Lightspeed, we value innovative partners such as SocialFlight,” said Teresa De Mers, executive vice president of sales, marketing and customer support for Lightspeed Aviation. “SocialFlight’s new expert forums offer a much needed, mobile-friendly platform that we can use to connect with pilots, answer their questions and learn from them as well. It’s another great reason that SocialFlight should be on every pilot’s list of must-have apps.”

The second feature SocialFlight introduced is part of its core mission which is encouraging increased general aviation flying. It wants to give pilots more reasons to fly and found the best way to do that is to connect them with events and destinations.

“If you get more people flying, we get more people investing in general aviation and buying aircraft and equipment,” said Simon “To that end, we have an event planner which gives weekly, highly personalized information on what may be available to do and what is happening in your local area based on the profile you create.”

The Weekly Event Planner email alerts them to upcoming aviation events in their local area so that they can plan ahead for their next flying adventure. In addition it has introduced an interactive map of more than 20,000 aviation events or aerial tours both near and far. The feature includes local points of interest as well as user-generated destination ratings, which also link to reviews from Yelp and other sites.

“Pilots from around the world can use this app to connect with one another, share photos and build the general aviation community,” said Simon. “It includes flying trips pilots may want to take. On the Mid Hudson River trip, for instance, you will not only find all the information a pilot needs such as NOTAMs, but also the cost and the fact you can fly at 1,100 feet and circle the Status of Liberty. You will also see reviews and stunning pictures that will make you want to do it.”

And, to further increase interest in general aviation, SocialFlight has created a similar app, Where to Ride, for the motorcycle community for one simple reason. “One in four of all riders have some sort of connection to aviation,” he said. “This only helps us build the strength of general aviation. That’s a big part of why we do what we do.”

FMI: www.socialflight.com