With all of the recent deals AT&T has been offering, the number of pilots with iPhones is growing.  After the debacle of Apple showing a “real” airline pilot questioning his dispatcher when the first iPhone was released, pilots have now settled into the idea that the iPhone may be a good weather asset.

With these new iPhone users the top questions are always: ”What Apps do you have?” followed by “Is there any good way to look at weather?”. 

Weather apps for those of us in the cockpit don’t get any better than Aero Weather. It’s free, displays both the METAR and TAF (if available) for any airport I have ever plugged into it, and it’s very easy to use.  Weather is displayed in unencoded format so it’s easy to read as you’re running from gate to gate.

The only thing missing from AeroWeather is the ability to look at radar.  Thankfully, a company called iWeathr has come up with a solution.

Just navigate to www.iweathr.com from your iPhone Safari Browser and you will be presented with an easy array of weather information including maps, radar, local weather and forecasts, lighting strike information, and even local webcams.

I highly recommend both of these apps for any pilot, commercial or not.  It’s great information that you can use even when not near any weather briefing computer. 

AeroWeather can be found at www.aeroweather.ch

iWeather can be found at www.iweathr.com

Be sure to show your support and donate to the developers if you like their work!