CloudAhoy to Charge for Debrief

Back in March, I wrote a review of CloudAhoy, giving it a shining review.  As far as apps go, it’s rather simple, and the debrief feature offers a ton of data for analyzing flights after you’re done.  It’s useful for debriefing yourself, or it could also be used as an impartial observer to debrief a student as a CFI.

 

If any of you have an account with CloudAhoy, I’m sure you got their email last night.  For those of you who did not receive it, I’ll recap it here.

 

In order to continue debrief your flights, you will now have to pay a subscription fee.

 

First, I have to be fair and address some things that I know others will not address:

• The fact that they are now charging for the service is reasonable, given the benefits it provides.  This move does not surprise me in the least.
• Servers cost money – either to purchase and maintain yourself, or have someone else host
• Domains cost money – either to host yourself, or have someone else host
• Bandwidth costs money – either through you managing this yourself through an ISP, or indirectly in a fee to whoever hosts your site and data server
• Additional employees cost money
• Being an Apple developer costs money

I say that to admit that charging for the service is not uncalled for.  The best things in life are not free, and to be honest, I was surprised that it was free for this long.  My issue rests with the price of the subscription.

 

I’m really trying to approach this from a rational, balanced point of view.  I appreciate that the developer wants to recoup costs, and probably make a little money on the side.  As someone who pays to be an Apple developer, and manages web services for a company, I understand these costs well.  At the same time, I also understand how expensive aviation truly is, and how it’s already difficult enough to justify everything in aviation – particularly to significant others and concerned family members in general.  Most people don’t give me too much trouble when I tell them that the necessary charts for flying are about $75 per year through ForeFlight.  If I said I was spending $70 per year to analyze data that I’m collecting personally, on my personal iPad, using my own personal GPS, I’d get funny looks.  I do understand that CloudAhoy’s servers are doing the number crunching and eventual data storage, but I feel like the business model is all wrong here.

 

I’m sure there are some economies of scale at play, but I don’t believe that it is really driving the price point as much as one might believe.  I understand that the aviation community is a lot smaller than the target audience of other products and services, but it is not a small one in and of itself.  I understand that data storage, data calls, data transfers, data processing, and other tasks can also cost money.  I’m just having a very difficult time accepting that $70 is an acceptable price point to meet the costs of business, or even operate at a modest profit.  As the email states itself, the user base is rapidly growing and spans all continents with the exception of Antarctica.

 

Since I don’t know the costs that they’re operating with, I won’t attempt to make cost arguments based on notional numbers, as they may be misleading.  I really want to stress that this is just my opinion rather than anything else.

 

My arguments are as follows:

• The email states that their data storage is in the cloud.  Cloud storage can get particularly expensive, depending on the provider, and the way in which they price their data storage.  This could drive the cost up significantly if not structured properly for the service provided.
• The profit driver of today’s age is data.  Why is it that Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and the like are all free?  They have to pay for servers and other similar costs, too.  The answer is data.  Your information, interests, and habits are all sold to those wanting the data.  Imagine the amazing amount of information that CloudAhoy servers now contain from all of the tracked flights.  FlightAware provides data to those who request it for many different purposes.  From my understanding of their privacy policy, I do not think that they are taking advantage of this.
• As much as trying to make a living off of something you enjoy would be great, some endeavors require time and clever number crunching to make work.  As the definition of “make a living” can be highly personal, I’ll end my point here.

I’d honestly love to see CloudAhoy succeed, but I don't think that the current model is the best avenue for that success – personally.  I may be completely wrong in that assessment, but I find $70 to be way too expensive for what is provided in return.

 

As a data guy, I know that the data can then be sold to other people.  I’m sure the likes of AOPA, GAMA, manufacturers, and many others would love to see the data.  Based on their answer regarding the privacy policy, I do not believe this is being taken advantage of.  This could significantly increase their revenues, and affect the price point.  All of this would come without directly affecting customer privacy, too.  As an example, CloudAhoy detects airports that you fly to and from.  On an aggregate level, route pairs, airport activity and so on could be sold to people requesting the data, and provided the flights are not referenced to individual users in the data, I would not consider privacy to be compromised.

 

Again, as much as I think they have a great product on their hands, and as much as I like to see success in aviation, I won’t be springing for the service unless something changes.

Here is the full text of the email for those who are interested:

Allow me to interrupt your flight debriefs for a news flash.

 

There is a significant change coming. In December 2013 we will start charging a subscription fee for debriefing flights.  I am very excited about this; let me tell you why.

 

On May 2011, the first version of CloudAhoy landed at Apple’s app store. In the two and a half years since, CloudAhoy became an important tool for a rapidly growing community of pilots.  It spread by word of mouth - first in flight training, then in GA, military and commercial aviation.  It is being used in every continent except Antarctica.

 

CloudAhoy started as a hobby of mine, and the first CloudAhoy server ran from my house.  It soon became my day job (OK, also my night job) as well as that of other people, and our servers are now hosted securely in the cloud.

 

We have grown, and plan to keep growing our team.  Your subscription will let us continue to provide you with the same level of dedicated and fast response to questions, feedback and feature requests, large and small. Our road-map for the next year is full of exciting developments - I think you will be delighted.  Oh, and BTW your subscription will also allow us CloudAhoyians to pay the mortgage, and occasionally indulge in consuming $100 hamburgers.  We do this work both because we are passionately in love with it, and because we want to make a living off it. 

We will transition your account as follows:

• On December 2nd you will get a free and unlimited use of CloudAhoy, expiring 35 days after your next fight (flown after December 2nd).
• 12-month subscription with unlimited use: introductory price of $45 if bought before May 2014, $70 afterwards.
• 3-month subscription: $20, all of which can be used later towards buying an upgrade to 12-months.
• As an existing user you will receive a special appreciation bonus days equal to 10% of the time since you’ve signed up. It will be awarded when you purchase a 3 or 12 months subscription. Thank you!
• If your free use or the subscription expires, you will still have full debrief access to all your flights (plus flights shared with you) prior to the expiration.  You will also be able to log new flights and have them listed in your flight list, but you will need to renew your subscription in order to debrief them.

 

Habits Versus Instructions

N571DS - DA40 - 1.1 hours

Similar to the last flight, this one was somewhat of a last-minute flight, where I was asked at 1500 if I wanted to fly at 1700.  Since my planned flight to Roanoke (ROA) got cancelled this past weekend because of wind, I was in need of a flight and jumped at the chance.  Since the flight school likes us to keep current in the aircraft by flying the type of aircraft every 60 days, I needed to fly the DA40 before 6 June.  Nick suggested Charlottesville (CHO), just to keep things simple, and I suggested the DA40 to keep me current.  Unfortunately, as my flight bag was still prepped for my ROA flight, it lacked the blinders.  That meant I didn't log any of the simulated instrument that I really should be getting.  I'll have to make that priority one after my hiatus.

Apart from an intimidating towering cumulus cloud in the direction of Manassas (HEF), and some associated wind, the lead up to the flight was normal.  I set up all three cameras - one looking out on each wing, and the third looking forward - the audio setup, and the aircraft in general.  The fuel truck also passed by, asking if we'd like fuel.  Given my luck with getting fuel recently, I accepted the offer.  The departure was normal, though I'm still getting used to using rudder alone to keep myself on the centerline.

[Video got lost when Contour closed down for a while.]
Once out of the SFRA, and climbing under the Class B airspace, I passed the controls to Nick so he could get a feel for the Diamond.  When he wasn't at the controls, he got some time picking the G1000 apart to find the various functions, which will definitely help in case he gets checked out at the flight school for either.  I called the tower about 15 miles out and was instructed to proceed straight in for Runway 21.  After landing, I brought the plane over to Landmark so that we could grab something quick from the vending machines and head back out.

[Video got lost when Contour closed down for a while.]

After jumping back in the plane to head home, I called the tower and the instructions were the usual: "Runway 21, taxi via Alpha."  Getting closer to the runway, Nick switched the frequencies for me, and I let the tower know I was ready for departure.  This time, however, the instruction was not the normal "Runway 21, cleared for takeoff, climb on course," or even the "Runway 21, cleared for takeoff, left downwind departure approved."

Here's what I heard:
"Diamond 571DS, [wind], Runway 21, cleared for takeoff - break - northbound departure approved."
You can even hear me questioning the word choice of 'break' for the transmission in the recording.  'Break' is a non-standard term used to quickly convey messages to multiple aircraft: "Diamond 571DS, Runway 21, cleared for takeoff - break - Cessna 172DR, make straight in, Runway 21."  Given the way in which the message was conveyed, its use would not have made sense at all, but I somehow assumed he used 'break.'

My readback was "Runway 21, cleared for takeoff, north departure approved" (note the lack of direction - left or right - in my readback).  Here's where, as the part I missed turned out to be important, the controller could have ensured I heard the transmission properly by repeating or clarifying the last instruction.  Understand, however, that I am not trying to shirk my own responsibility for listening to and following ATC direction.  I'm simply stating that both pilot and controller are charged with ensuring messages are received and understood (AIM 4-2-1 (b) and 7110.65 2-4-3 (b), respectively).  From what I heard, the assumed use of the term 'break' seemed out of place, but the transmission as a whole seemed adequate and normal.  When I didn't read back exact what was stated, the controller could have helped to avoid the situation by repeating the missed instruction.

Of course, since I didn't ask for clarification, the tower controller didn't confirm the one part of the readback (and Nick was probably wondering where my comments about the use of the term 'break' came from), I ended up turning the wrong direction after departure.

What was actually said was:
"Diamond 571DS, [wind], Runway 21, cleared for takeoff, right northbound departure approved."

While the instruction I had assumed - "Runway 21, cleared for takeoff - break - northbound departure approved" - would have given me the discretion for a turn, the actual instruction required a right turn.  Since the traffic pattern at CHO uses standard left turns, and I have never turned right off of Runway 21, I made a turn to the left.  Nick actually heard the transmission properly and asked "you know it was supposed to be a turn to the right, right?"  By that time, the tower controller noticed I made the turn in the wrong direction, and instead of providing corrective action, advised me of my error and asked me to state my intentions.

Again, I'll take the hit for not clarifying, and for not following what was asked of me, but that last transmission irked me.  My intentions were known (northbound departure), and it was also clear that I turned the wrong direction (even if not known to me at the time).  Advising me of my error and asking me what I'd like to do wasn't going to solve anything.  Without the vantage point from the tower and radar, I didn't know the traffic picture, despite having a general idea that two planes were inbound.  My only response could be "let me know what you need me to do."  Because of that, what could have been precious seconds were lost.  In the end, I was provided a turn eastbound (though he initially stated westbound), and I managed to call the traffic in sight after Nick pointed it out.

To be honest, I'm very surprised that I made it out of that without getting the dreaded phone number (for the non-aviation readers, "the dreaded phone number" refers to ATC giving you a phone number to call to discuss the incident, and possibly corrective action).  I was really glad when I finally heard "frequency change approved" as it meant he had no further instructions for me, to include said dreaded phone number.

After switching frequencies, I went to set up the radios for the flight home, but they had already been set by Nick.  At that point, I didn't have anything left to do and just passed the controls to him so he could get more time.  Closer to JYO, I took the controls back and landed on Runway 17.  So far, that was one of the best landings I've had in the DA40.

[Video got lost when Contour closed down for a while.]
Despite the unfortunate departure out of CHO, it was nice to be able to go up for a quick flight.

Hours:
Pilot in Command Cross Country (PIC XC): 1.1 - 85.2 (of 50)
Actual/Simulated Instrument (Act/Sim): 0.0 - 13.7 (of 40)

Review: CloudAhoy

Any time I have the thought "back in my day," I like to laugh at myself as I'm neither old in age nor in pilot experience.  After having used CloudAhoy on a few flights, however, I can't help the thought.  Reviewing my training flights, or flight performance in general was all manual, based off of what my instructor and I both remembered during the flight.  In some cases, one of us would scratch something down on a piece of paper as a reminder, but the post flight analysis was based off of our recollections of the flight, regardless of how our memories were jogged.

Enter CloudAhoy.

Where I once tried to re-fly the flight in my head and pull out the noteworthy parts through memory, I now have the flight recorded and tracked in its entirety.

When I first downloaded the application and looked at the user interface, I laughed.  There are four boxes to enter your data - tail number, your name, a co-pilot or CFI, and optional remarks - two areas showing your connectivity to data (3G or wireless) and GPS (internal or external), and two large start and stop buttons.  It's as simple as that.  Press start before you start the engine, and press stop when you're done.  It also has an auto-stop feature (enabled/disabled on the settings page), which helped the one time I forgot to press stop, but I couldn't tell you what triggers it.  I'm guessing it was either the GPS getting turned off, or just that it noticed I hadn't moved in so many minutes.  In any case, the initial user interface is extremely simple, which is what drew my laugh initially.  It was only later that I picked my jaw up off of the floor because of the amount of data that hit me post flight.

After the flight is where the magic is shown.  If you think the app looks too simplistic on the flight screen, wait until the flight data is shown on the debrief screen.  Switching from the iPad to a computer yields even better results, like the ability to utilize the Google Earth browser plugin for more features.  Either way, in the app or on a computer, the left panel allows you to view the flight, broken up into segments automatically by default.  If the app detects you are taxiing, or taking off, or flying a turn around a point, or a chandelle, or landing, it will automatically section that data off so that you can analyze that part of the flight on its own.  Automation is never perfect, so it sometimes grabs items that it shouldn't, but that hasn't caused any huge issues for me so far.  As an example, on my last flight it snagged one of my laps around the pattern as a left 360 (the yellow line in the picture).  Various colors help you to see the various maneuvers.  The blue lines are normal flight, with the white and amber being approach and touch-and-go segments, respectively.  All of these segments, again, are recognized automatically.

What about the non-standard, or very specific segments, you ask?

You may remember from the flight up to Harford County that I flew the GPS approach to the airport.  The entire GPS approach was shown as blue (normal flight - pictured above), as the app saw the approach as nothing out of the ordinary.  Trying to keep up with, and set the program up for every single approach out there would be nearly impossible.  Instead, the developer created a CFI tab so that you could add your own maneuvers.  This way, you can add the maneuvers you plan on flying before the flight, and your CFI or co-pilot can simply click on the begin and end buttons for each maneuver.  This allows you to track, color and name each maneuver so that you may analyze them separately.  Additionally, you can also track your hood time by adding that as a custom segment type.

The flight marker option allows you to simply mark a specific point in the flight to remind yourself later on.  While the option isn't as specific as defining a segment, it's a lot faster for situations that happen on the fly.  The note in the program states: "in flight, when you want to mark an event, tap the event marker and optionally write a corresponding comment on a piece of paper.  The tap will result in a number marker shown on the flight path at the current location.  Each tap, increments the number.  You can later discuss these comments with your student during the debrief."  Having this tab back when I was training for my private pilot license would have really helped me out.

The last tab is a settings tab that allows you to select an auto stop feature, disable broadcasting in flight, lock the screen, and set up your CloudAhoy account.

For those of you currently in any level of training, if your instructor does not currently use CloudAhoy, I would recommend talking to him or her about adding it as a tool for your flight training analysis.  It could really have a significant impact on the way that you learn and progress through training.  After all, one of the fundamentals of instructing, and therefore learning, is critique and evaluation, which this tool would only further enhance.

The only potential negative I found with the application was that it doesn't come with a manual.  Granted, we often joke that people rarely ever actually read said manuals, but one would still be helpful for reference.  To the developer's credit, however, there are several locations with information buttons explaining what the feature is meant to do.  The above quote about flight markers came directly from one of those in-app buttons.

Overall, it's a great app and you really can't go wrong with it.  Beyond that, it's free, so you have nothing to lose.  Try it out on your next flight and see how it can help you debrief after a flight.

cloudahoy.com