Hey there! Navigraph CEO Magnus here! Summer is slowly turning into fall here in the northern hemisphere and the Navigraph team is returning back to office well energized after a much needed vacation. Today cycle 2109 goes into effect and we have prepared a fresh batch of updated navdata and charts for you. I also want to take this moment to give you a little update about what’s going on.
AIRAC Cycle Checklist
Every 28 days Navigraph releases new charts and updated navdata to the flight simulation community. Just like the rest of the aviation industry we follow the AIRAC cycle. In fact we have not missed a single cycle in the past 15 years.
Checklist:
1. Open Navigraph Charts
If you open your Navigraph Charts software, our popular chart viewing software, you will see that the global coverage of airport charts and enroute maps have been automatically updated. Read more about charts on our charts product page.2. Update Addon Aircraft and Simulators
You can also fire up your Navigraph FMS Data Manager to scan your computer for any navigational database that needs to be updated. We support more than 175 different addon formats, as well as the X-Plane flight simulator. If you want to bring your Microsoft Flight Simulator up to date, you need to use Navigraph NavData Center. Read more about our navdata services on our navdata product page.3. Unlock SimBrief
We also recommend using your Navigraph subscription to unlock access to the latest AIRAC cycle in SimBrief, one of the community’s most popular flight planning software.If you follow these steps you maximize the likelihood that charts, navigational systems, flight management systems, and flight plans will match the scenery in your flight simulator. We call that Unified Data!
Open Positions at Navigraph
Here at Navigraph we have a few interesting, fun and very ambitious projects which we want to realize during the next 12 months. Currently we are 20 developers, pilots, designers and team members, but need more talented people. Although Navigraph has its headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, many of us work from other places around the world: Canada, Australia, Austria and India for example. This is why we think it would be a good idea to see if we can’t find future team members from our own flight simulation community. In short, if you want to fly flight simulators, and get paid doing it, you should apply here: https://careers.navigraph.com/jobs
We are currently looking to expand the team with the following positions:
- Content Producer - Stockholm
- Fullstack Developer - Worldwide
- Frontend Developer - Worldwide
- Digital Designer - Worldwide
- Growth Manager - Stockholm
Preparing Navigraph Offices for Post-Corona
Maybe you noticed the moving boxes and dismantled computer screens in the background of the photo in the head of this blog post? We are not moving - we are just restructuring ourselves a bit. Life after Corona will be unpredictable and Navigraph needs to stay flexible.
Already before we were hit by Corona the Navigraph team was good at working remotely. We meet over Zoom and use digital boards to track our projects. While working from home might have seemed like a perk at first, lounging around in pyjamas all day, we actually have started to miss our colleagues and the office environment. Therefore, feeling vaguely optimistic about the future, and while awaiting the authorities’ green light to return back to the workplace, we have started preparing our office for life after Corona. But how many will we be? And how many prefer to keep working from home? We need a flexible solution.
We began by removing all the desks. Some desks were given to team members’ home offices and others were sold second hand. The fixed desks will be replaced by larger communal tables, long and round ones, where team members can sit for temporary meetings. We will also have sofas and armchairs. On all walls we will have screens for remote colleagues to join in on Zoom. Our address in Stockholm will no longer be a typical office, but more of a space for meeting and collaboration.
By removing the desks we will be able to use the space more flexibly and more efficiently. However, there will of course be a limit. That’s why we will start using an app where team members can book a spot at the communal tables for one or a few days of the week, and also mark if they will be bringing a dog or not. Using the app we can make sure the office doesn’t get overcrowded.
That’s our strategy to cope with the uncertainty for the next year and in the process we are getting a nice and comfy office. If all goes well we hope to be able to show it to you in the end of October, maybe record a new and updated office tour to match the old one on YouTube.
FlightSimExpo 2021
We attended FlightSimExpo in both Las Vegas 2018 and Orlando 2019 and certainly had a blast meeting you guys in person! However, even though the conference is being arranged as a hybrid in-person/online event, travel restrictions prevent the Navigraph team from attending. However, we are still showing our full support for this important community event by contributing as diamond sponsors. If you can, check it out 24-26 September 2021.
Update on VFR Charts Project
It’s not possible to give any sort of status update without quickly getting questions about the VFR project - and rightfully so! I think the first time I mentioned the VFR chart project in public was in a vlog from September 2019. That’s two years ago! Why the long wait? Well, with the release of Microsoft Flight Simulator in August 2020 we had to prioritize the ability to update the simulator navdata. We also built an in-game panel so that Navigraph Charts is available from within the simulator. We also built a good API so that the charts could be viewed from within various addon aircraft. This took a lot of developer efforts.
However, this doesn’t mean that the VFR project has been completely at a standstill. While we were busy with FS2020 we have also been collecting VFR data sources, doing proof of concepts for some UI components, and also conducted a mini survey on what features that should be a part of the next version of Navigraph Charts. I have been following the developer team closely and it seems to me that we are going to experience a ketchup effect. First nothing. Then nothing. And then (almost) all at once! I wish I could share the things I have seen - but that would spoil the fun. Let me just say that you are in for a treat!