‘Debrief’ is essentially a slimmed-down flight data management tool but one that needs no connection to your aircraft. The current version simply tracks where you’ve been and replays the flight in a web browser but in due course it will allow you to watch the flight instruments move as they would have done at the time; this will require you to make an in-app purchase to enable the recording of gyro and accelerator data. You’ll be able to tune in navaids and watch the needles move; this will include ILS and GPS indications in due course. You will be able to set alerts so that if the aircraft flew faster than a certain speed or below a certain height, for example, then this will be flagged up, which we see as an extremely useful tool for those who rent out their aircraft as it will scan the file and say whether the aircraft was flown within given parameters.

The app is designed for flight instructors and examiners who want to be able to give objective feedback on flights, both dual and solo; it is currently used by IR examiners and enables students to see what they did rather than just hear it from the examiner. Imagine how useful it would be to see what a student did on a solo flight and to be able to debrief it almost as if you’d been there!

The playback is shown in 2D and 3D, courtesy of Google Earth, and in addition to changing the playback speed you can zoom in or out and pan left or right during flight. To operate the app you simply click a start/stop button and then you can either email the file to yourself using in-app credits or you can connect to iTunes and download the files free.