Comparison

Helivac vs Pilot

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

Head to head
About

Helivac

This app provides pilots with offline access to the latest French aeronautical charts. It automatically checks for updates when online and displays the most recent downloaded version when offline, ensuring you always have current navigation data for French airfields.

Highlights
  • Offline VAC chart storage
  • Automatic internet update verification
  • Display latest downloaded chart offline
  • Search fields by name or ICAO code
  • Favorites and recent charts tabs
  • Portrait and landscape display
  • Print and share charts
Features
Read full description

Helivac : une application de pilotes pour les pilotes. Helivac est une application gratuite qui stocke au premier lancement toutes les cartes VAC françaises et qui privilégie avant l’affichage la vérification par Internet que la carte stockée est la dernière version disponible. Si l’accès à Internet est disponible, l’application propose d’enregistrer et d’afficher la dernière mise à jour de la carte. Si l’accès à Internet n’est pas disponible (en altitude par exemple), l’application affiche automatiquement la dernière version téléchargée de la carte. Donc, quelles que soient les conditions réseau, vous disposez toujours d’une carte VAC plus ou moins récente pour tous les aérodromes français. Une mise à jour mensuelle est mise en ligne par le SIA et Helivac vous en informe pour vous en proposer le téléchargement complet. La date de la prochaine mise à jour du SIA est visible sur la page Info de Helivac. Les données téléchargées proviennent du site public du SIA: http://www.sia.aviation-civile.gouv.fr L’application nécessite une version iOS 9.0 ou supérieure. La suspension de la mise en veille pendant le téléchargement initial complet est automatique. Fonctionnalités : - Stockage des cartes sur votre appareil pour une consultation sans connexion à internet - Affichage des terrains par nom ou code OACI - Recherche de terrains par nom ou code OACI - Onglet favoris regroupant vos cartes préférées - Onglet récent regroupant les dernières cartes consultées - Affichage des cartes en portrait et paysage - Affichage des cartes en plein écran par un simplement tapotement de doigt sur l’écran - Impression et partage des cartes - Prise en charge du multitâche sur les iPad compatibles

About

Pilot

This navigation app provides advanced AI weather interpretation and global airfield coverage for pre-flight planning. It features a hands-free mode to deliver METAR and TAF reports audibly, allowing pilots to focus on other tasks.

Highlights
  • AI weather interpretation
  • Global airfield coverage
  • Hands-free METAR/TAF delivery
  • Audible flight briefings
  • Pre-flight routine enhancement
Features
Read full description

Your weather briefing, read aloud. Decoding aviation weather bulletins is slow and error-prone — whether you're planning a local flight or a long cross-country. Pilot Briefer turns cryptic METAR and TAF codes into plain language and reads them aloud with proper ICAO and DGAC aviation terminology. HOW IT WORKS 1. Choose Local Flight or Navigation 2. Pick your airfield (or departure + destination), or tap My Position to find the nearest one 3. Tap Get Briefing 4. Listen while you walk to the aircraft — the map animates the conditions as the briefing plays THREE VIEWS, ONE BRIEFING • Interactive map — color-coded by flight category (VFR, MVFR, IFR, LIFR) with animated wind, ceiling and visibility overlays synced to the audio • Weather cards — structured, scannable summaries of each element at every airfield • Spoken narration — natural-language briefing in your chosen language, played automatically TWO OPERATING MODES • Local flight — pattern work, training sorties, single-airfield briefings • Navigation — route-based briefing with stations ordered along your flight path, drawn on the map NO COMPROMISE ON ACCURACY Every AI interpretation is backed by the raw METAR and TAF it was generated from. Tap the Raw tab to see the source text. Stale METARs and expired TAFs are automatically flagged or filtered, so you always know how fresh the data is. WHY PILOTS USE IT • Spoken briefings — METAR and TAF translated into natural language and read aloud track by track • Bilingual — fully localized English and French, with proper phraseology (QNH in hPa, feet, Zulu time) • AI-powered — Amazon Nova on AWS Bedrock, with adaptive prompts tuned per report • TAF forecast clock — a circular timeline shows how conditions evolve across the forecast period • Flight path route line — your route drawn on the map from departure to destination • Find your nearest airfield — GPS-based lookup with instant ICAO resolution • Overview or per-field — regional summary across your route, or drill into each station individually • Background playback — keeps playing when the screen locks, with lock-screen media controls • Global airfield database — thousands of airports, heliports and microlight fields, including hard-to-find French ULM strips • Privacy-friendly — no account, no sign-up, no tracking AVAILABLE EVERYWHERE Pilot Briefer runs on iPhone and iPad. Your settings follow you across devices. PERFECT FOR • VFR pilots planning a local flight or cross-country • Flight instructors walking students through a weather decision • Student pilots learning to decode METAR and TAF • Anyone who prefers listening over reading in the cockpit IMPORTANT Pilot Briefer is a decision-support tool. It does NOT replace official pre-flight briefings from your national aeronautical information service (AIS). Always cross-check critical data with the official source before flight. Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/

Screenshots

Helivac4 screens
Pilot4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is monetization model: Helivac at free against Pilot's paid. Helivac also leads on ads (none vs shown). Pilot's advantage is review sentiment (67% vs 50%) and update cadence (every 2 months vs every 4 months). On price, in-app purchases, device support and iOS requirement 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. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Helivac ships an update every 4 months, Pilot every 2 months. The most recent releases landed on October 23, 2026 and October 19, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard4 real differences · 6 level
Helivac versus Pilot: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterHelivacPilot
PriceFreeFree
Rating—5.0 (2 ratings) — better
Positive reviews50.0% of reviews66.7% of reviews — better
Number of ratings—2 — better
Update frequencyEvery 4 monthsEvery 2 months — better
AdsNo — betterYes
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFree — betterPaid
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPod — betteriPhone, iPad
Requires iOS15.0 — better16.0
Further details — not scored
Size6 MB1 MB
Age rating4+4+
DeveloperJulien Rozéamenai technologies

Customer experience

Helivac

Written reviews2 reviews
Positive50.0%
Neutral50.0%
Negative0.0%

Pilot

All ratings2 ratings
Positive100.0%
Neutral0.0%
Negative0.0%
Written reviews3 reviews
Positive66.7%
Neutral0.0%
Negative33.3%

In-app purchases

None

Helivac

No in-app purchases

None

Pilot

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Helivac free?
Helivac is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Pilot free?
Pilot is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Do Helivac or Pilot have ads?
Pilot shows ads; Helivac does not.
Which is updated more often, Helivac or Pilot?
Helivac ships an update every 4 months, and Pilot every 2 months. Most recently, Helivac was updated on October 23, 2026 and Pilot on October 19, 2026.

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