Cost Index: Bombardier Q400 app for iPhone and iPad

Cost Index: Bombardier Q400 is an app designed for Q400 operators to produce significant operational savings. The app enables a Q400 pilot to calculate a cruise speed which will result in the minimum possible cost for a flight.

Pilots can vary wind, temperature, weight, flight level and sector distance to find the optimum indicated airspeed / torque / fuel flow. Calculate (2) and Calculate (3) buttons enable the flight crew to carry out "what if" calculations to see, for example, if changing flight level will result in further savings or increased costs.

The app will also calculate a speed for minimum sector burn. This speed is better than long range cruise as it takes into account the wind component.

In evaluation mode, no Aircraft Data Model is supplied and therefore the app will only output sample data. To switch between metric and imperial evaluation modes, use accounts "q400imperial" and "q400metric".

Operators are able to create an account by contacting Flight Efficiency Limited. Once an account is created, the app can be customised in the following ways:

1. Change background image / left demo image.
2. Remove "Not for Operational Use".
3. Add average fuel price.
4. Add average airborne time related maintenance costs.
5. Add airborne time related crew duty costs.
6. Add number of fleet daily sectors (to calculate yearly savings).
7. Set default values for: Wind / Temperature / Weight / Flight Level / Distance.
8. Set min and max distances.

(Note: Customisation is currently achieved by specifying options to Flight Efficiency Limited. The operator can request custom values to be changed as frequently as required. The app will check for new data every launch unless a successful update occurred in the last 24 hours.)