Little Equipment Help

If you fly higher than @4 kft or faster than 100 kts regularly, the 3g fake GPS gets flukey. I recommend the $100 Bad Elf GPS/WAAS receiver that plugs into the dock connector. Holds sats rock solid, AND you just gave yourself precision GPS approach capability.

In the 1982 Citabria I fly, anyway. I'm sure NAVAIR would shit a brick if I did it in the Papa Chuck.

(Also, +1 on ForeFlight. The amount of time I've saved using it on preflight has more than paid for the annual membership cost.)

Glad you see the light. And I don't wait in line for two reasons. One, PCola is the suckhole of America, including ot having an Apple store. Two, I like when they overnight things to my door.

For some reason I read that in a Sean Connery voice:

Here is the lowdown on iPad flying:

You don't need the one with the large memory, but more memory allows you to put more of other things on there, like music and movies so you can use it for other things too. The ones with 3G do have built in GPS chips versus the ones that do not. However, it costs $129 more for the 3G model of the same drive capacity. An external GPS has on average been more better at retaining a signal and costs $99, less than the $129 to get it internal. The external GPSs come in two flavors, a plug in one and a Bluetooth one. If you go with an external you need to decide whether or not you want to remember to unplug it before you bump it into something or remember to take the Bluetooth one with you when you leave your aircraft. I solve this problem by lanyarding the GPS to my 9G kneeboard clip. When I go to leave the aircraft I make sure to reattach the GPS to my kneeboard so I don't forget it. This works for either model. Also, the Bluetooth one has it's own internal battery you need to keep charged. I use the plug in one by Bad Elf. I say get the wifi only model and the Bad Elf. It is a better GPS and a cheaper setup. Besides, you can virtually never get a data connection above 3-4K anyway so the 3G is useless airborne

There are several companies that make single leg options as iPad kneeboard solutions. Hands down the best one is made by MyGoFlight. Disclaimer: they are a Night Vision Pen reseller. But I have seen and tried many types and theirs is the best.

Apps: the two top apps out there right now are WingX Pro and ForeFlight Mobile HD. They each have their pusses and minuses. You can get 30 days free from each to see how you like them. Some people are willing to pay for both services to get the features they like from each app and switch back and forth as needed. I just stick with one and I prefer ForeFlight because I prefer their interface a bit better. As far as costs go they run about $75 per year for the standard service. They both allow you to see yourself on the actual approach plates, SIDs, and airfield diagrams, but that service costs more. If you want that it runs about $150 per year total: $75 for the basic service and $75 for the georeferenced plates.

Remember that the FAA does not allow any handheld devices to be certified for IFR. Therefore you are not legal to use this type of GPS, internal or external for the iPad, to actually fly approaches. But it sure is a sweet chart reader, specially when you can see yourself on it. And as previously noted above, some of the more advanced jets you may fly will have difficulty getting GPS signals in the cockpit.

I drove a truck in flight school; I drive a short bus in the fleet. Myeh.

Since I am unable to edit my previous post I want to clarify that handhelds like the iPad are NOT legal for actual IFR approaches as your sole source. You must have IFR approved gear in the plane and the iPad is just an awesome chart reader.

From what I've seen- GPS embedded in the 3G version works fine in flight. Options for the wifi include the GPS that plugs into the port (falls out and is lost easily from what I hear from friends who have used it in theirs) and Blue tooth GPS recievers which work well (tried that as well).

Edit: NVP gave a really good low down on options/configurations.

Small resurrection...wife got me a Kindle Fire for my birthday. Where can I download compatible approach plates to study at home/work instead of lugging everything around all the time?

If you're looking for approach plates:

http://aeronav.faa.gov/index.asp?xml=aeronav/applications/d_tpp

awesome...a similar link was elsewhere on here, but it didn't work. Cheers!

We had them available at Twentynine Palms, but nobody used them. Partly because of functionality and partly because most people prefer to put lots of work into re-inventing the wheel making products for each flight. How else can you signal to the command that you are second cockpit tour material?

EDIT: and by functionality, I mean that nobody really got to play around with them before hand and get used to them.

You better take that back immediately. There are infinately worse locations you can be sent as a navy or Marine aviation stud in the pipeline.

Never been to the shit.

Since when? I've seen much worse. Ever been to New Jersey?

During IGS this year, they talked about ipad rules for use, and I completely thought it was just a really bad joke until someone explained that it was real and they are used in country.

Right now I think the issue might be that they aren't very many and they are owned by the Wing/ MAG (don't quote me on that). They showed up at the s-2 a week before we left to get loaded up. For the most part they sat in a big pelican box while there, and I haven't seen one since we left the land of K-spans.

You are correct that they would do this if they are smart. In fact I know the guy responsible for trying to do this very thing. It took forever, but they got approval to buy a bunch of iPads ... and then they weren't allowed to bring them into any of the buildings for IA reasons. So they sit in a storage locker somewhere ...

Bureaucracy, she's a bitch.

You have never been to NSAWC have you?