Comparison

Aviation Dictionary vs PilotCalc

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Aviation Dictionary

This app provides a comprehensive offline dictionary and reference for aviation terminology, including over 6000 words and abbreviations. It's designed for pilots, technicians, and aviation specialists to quickly access definitions, phonetic alphabets, Q-codes, and more. Features include search, bookmarking, and text-to-speech pronunciation.

Highlights
  • Offline access
  • 6000+ aviation words & abbreviations
  • Search functionality
  • Bookmarking
  • Text-to-speech pronunciation
  • Phonetic alphabet & Q-codes
  • Airline & airport information
Features
Read full description

Aviation Dictionary is an educational and reference application created to collect and store all the most commonly used words and abbreviations in the aviation industry. It is designed to give pilots (both students and graduates), technicians, ATC , engineers and other related aviation specialist a quick reference to learn and remember all the vocabulary used in their day-to-day aviation life. FEATURES: -Works offline -Over 6000 words and abbreviations -Word/Abbreviation searching -Bookmarking -Font adjustment -Speak - Press the speak button to hear how the words sound (uses phones text-to-speech engine) -Share - You can share your favourite words & abbreviations with your friends -Find meanings of Abbreviations -Get more information on words via web search -Contribute - Send contributions straight to the developer. -Edit - Edit any incorrect information and send the edits to the developer EXTRA FEATURES: -Phonetic Alphabet - A list of all the NATO phonic characters and their respective Morse codes -Q-Codes - All the aeronautical service Q-codes and what they mean -Standard Phraseology - The standard words used in radio communications and what they mean -Aircraft Registration Prefixes - The registration prefixes painted on all aircraft for their respective country -Airlines - Information on over 100 international airlines -Airports - Information on over 2000 airports around the world -International Dialling Codes - List of countries with their cellphone country codes -Measures/Conversion Factors - The most commonly used measures in aviation with conversions to other units -V Speeds - Compilation of all V Speeds and their descriptions -Links - Links to aviation organisations, news, weather and discussion forums

About

PilotCalc

This utility app helps pilots log flight details and calculate various time durations. It offers a free version with core features and optional in-app purchases for enhanced customization and additional calculators.

Highlights
  • Flight log for basic flight information
  • Automatic calculation of block, airborne, duty, and tech log times
  • Departure countdown with customizable alerts
  • Time calculator for hours and minutes
  • Decimal time calculator
  • Basic arithmetic calculator
  • Customizable keyboard colors
Features
Read full description

PilotCalc is a utility comprising a mini Flight Log and Time Calculator.  The basic functionality of the Time Calculator and the Flight Log is free with no ads, but there are two one-off in-app purchases available to extend the usefulness of the app and to customise its appearance. The Flight Log is designed to enable pilots to log basic flight information and a few notes for a series of flights. It automatically calculates the associated block, airborne, duty and tech log times. If scheduled times are entered before flight, it also provides a countdown to departure. The Flight Log can be used in UTC or system time. Buying the Flight Log Preferences in-app purchase allows for customisation of the Flight Log. This customisation includes: - Tailoring the departure countdown, including adding and removing alert times, changing associated colours and the option to enable audio and/or background notifications for each countdown alert. - Displaying elapsed times in hours and minutes or in decimals. - Changing the default periods used for calculating the Duty Start and Duty End times. - Changing the tech log calculation to use block times instead of airborne times. The Time Calculator is designed to add up logbook entries with minimal keystrokes, but can be used for any hours and minutes calculations, including those involving elapsed time within a 24 hour period (useful for those duty time sums at the end of a long night). There are no practical limits to the number of hours that can be added, but time calculations resulting in negative time values are not supported. All calculations are held in a rolling tape for reference. The free version of PilotCalc offers three different calculator keyboard colour options and includes the hours and minutes time calculator. Opting to pay for the Calculator Preferences in-app purchase unlocks eight additional keyboard colours and two additional calculators - a decimal time calculator and a basic arithmetic calculator. With the Calculator Preferences enabled, hours and minutes calculations and decimal calculations are automatically converted when switching between the two time calculators. The app was developed to work well on the relatively small screen of an iPhone but scales effectively to the larger iPad screens. This version does not allow synchronisation between devices. Please visit www.coldaridcode.com for more information or follow us @coldaridcode for the latest news. If you find PilotCalc useful we would really appreciate a review on the App Store!

Screenshots

Aviation Dictionary4 screens
PilotCalc4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is review sentiment: PilotCalc at 100% against Aviation Dictionary's 40%. PilotCalc also leads on rating (4.9 vs 4.3) and ads (none vs shown). On price, ratings volume, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Aviation Dictionary sells 3 in-app purchases, starting at $0.99 per 7 days and PilotCalc sells 5 one-off in-app purchases. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

PilotCalc holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.3. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 18 and 8 respectively. Written reviews point the same way: 40% of Aviation Dictionary's written reviews are positive against 100% of PilotCalc's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Aviation Dictionary ships an update every 4 months, PilotCalc every 2 weeks. Both last shipped on June 1, 2026.

Scorecard5 real differences · 5 level
Aviation Dictionary versus PilotCalc: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterAviation DictionaryPilotCalc
PriceFreeFree
Rating4.3 (18 ratings)4.9 (8 ratings) — better
Positive reviews40.0% of reviews100.0% of reviews — better
Number of ratings18 — better8
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 2 weeks — better
AdsYesNo — better
In-app purchasesYesYes
MonetizationFree with in-app purchasesFree with in-app purchases
DevicesiPhone, iPadiPhone, iPad, iPod — better
Requires iOS16.013.0 — better
Further details — not scored
Size32 MB30 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperEvans MautaIan Longshaw

Customer experience

Aviation Dictionary

All ratings18 ratings
Positive77.8%
Neutral5.6%
Negative16.7%
Written reviews10 reviews
Positive40.0%
Neutral10.0%
Negative50.0%

PilotCalc

All ratings8 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews2 reviews
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%

In-app purchases

3 purchases

Aviation Dictionary

Subscriptions3
  • AvDic Pro - 1 Week$0.997 Days
  • AvDic Pro - 1 Month$2.991 Month
  • AvDic Pro - 1 Year$19.991 Year
5 purchases

PilotCalc

One-time5
  • Calculator Colour Pack One$0.49
  • Calculator Colour Pack Two$0.49
  • Countdown Preferences$0.99
Show 2 more
  • Calculator Preferences$1.99
  • Flight Log Preferences$1.99

Questions

Is Aviation Dictionary free?
Aviation Dictionary is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Is PilotCalc free?
PilotCalc is free to download, with in-app purchases available.
Which has better reviews, Aviation Dictionary or PilotCalc?
PilotCalc is rated higher. Aviation Dictionary averages 4.3 out of 5 from 18 ratings, while PilotCalc averages 4.9 from 8 ratings.
Do Aviation Dictionary or PilotCalc have ads?
Aviation Dictionary shows ads; PilotCalc does not.
Which is updated more often, Aviation Dictionary or PilotCalc?
Aviation Dictionary ships an update every 4 months, and PilotCalc every 2 weeks. Most recently, Aviation Dictionary was updated on June 1, 2026 and PilotCalc on June 1, 2026.

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