Offline Maps

Owned by Matt Skelton
Last updated: May 31, 2024
4 min read

The terrain download is currently under maintenance for Fly PHX. Please see the work around article for terrain following offline map downloads.

About

Downloading offline maps make map tiles (or background maps) available when there is no access to the internet.

An internet connection is require to download offline maps.

How to Download

Add a New Set

Select the Add New Set Option.

 

Set Location

Adjust the map to the location you will be downloading offline maps for.

There are several ways to accomplish this:

Drag and zoom

Drag and zoom on the map until the desired location is found.

 

Center On

The Center On feature found in the upper left-hand corner of the map. This will allow you to choose from:

Launch

Centers the map on the launch location that is currently planned in the mission planning screen.

Current location

Centers the map on the current location of the tablet/laptop.

This is only available with an internet connection and location services enabled. This may not work when the host device is connected to the CommsBox.

Specified Location

Centers the map on user input coordinates in decimal degrees notation.

 

Vehicle

Centers the map on the current location of the PHX (must have GPS fix).

This may display as a white screen when connected to the CommsBox or when mobile broadband connection is poor.

 

Name Tile Set

Name the tile set for future reference purposes.

 

Select Map Type

Select the map type you wish to use. The recommended map types are:

  • Bing Hybrid

  • Bing Satellite

  • Google Hybrid (Windows only)

  • Google Satellite (Windows only)       

 

Set Zoom Levels

Select the Minimum and Maximum zoom levels for the tile set.

The zoom levels determine how much resolution is available in the map tile set.

 

Minimum Zoom Level

The furthest the tile set can be zoomed out.

The recommended setting is 1. This should produce a map scale of 1000 miles.

These tiles are large in area coverage but small in data volume.

 

Maximum Zoom Level

The closest the tile set can be zoomed in.

The recommended setting is 17 to 19.  This should produce a map scale of 250ft to 50ft.

These tiles are small in area coverage but many more of them are needed to cover the selected area and leads to larger data volume.

 

Adjust Map Area

Adjust the background map scale to include the area needed for operation.

This is the general view you wish to use during flight.

 

Verify Download Size

Verify the estimated download size.

The recommended download size is between 20mb and 50mb.

The maximum download size is about 500mb or 10,000 tiles.

Tile sets larger than 20mb to 50mb may be more prone to download errors, missing tiles, etc.

 

Download

Press the download button to begin downloading.

 

 

Verify

Once the button is pressed the offline map set list will reappear and the download progress will be displayed.

Verify that the download completes, and the green circle(s) are displayed on the right-hand side of the tile set.

 

How to Use

No extra steps are required to use the maps once they are downloaded. The maps will automatically appear when you are in the area the maps have been downloaded for.

The background map for the Fly/Plan screens generally automatically adjusts to the vehicle location upon connection to an aircraft with a GPS or if location of the host device is available.