When last we surveyed computer flight planners three years ago—an eon in the software business— Destination Direct was the clear winner. But none of the major programs could be relied upon to provide hands off, reliable full route planning for IFR.

Things have since changed radically. Today, there is no overall winner in our view, which means selecting a planner boils down to slogging through the details, which we’ve tried to do for you in this report, space limitations notwithstanding. …