Do you use an iPad in the cockpit? Would you?

[wlawr005]

They do?

Yep.

 

[HuggyU2]

If anyone gives two shits...
U-2 have been using iPads with ForeFlight for a few years.
We also carry a Stratus puck and get real-time traffic on the iPad.
The flight manual and every other possible written reference is on the iPad.
We use iPads in the chase cars... mounted to the windscreen with a RAM mount... to video all student landings.
We also carry them in the T-38.
If flying solo in either aircraft, we carry two iPads.

 

[Jim123]

AT&T and T-Mobile have about 1 bar on a really good day on base. Works great everywhere else in the panhandle but not so much on the shithole that is NASWF.

Not sure about Verizon. I hotspotted to download notams on a cross country and came back ten minutes later and they were still downloading.

Verizon wasn't much better in the old lineshacks (dunno about the new superbuilding, that went up after I left). Sometimes you'd get a couple bars, sometimes you had to do phone yoga by the window to get even one.

 

[insanebikerboy]

The AF has definitely cracked this nut. All pubs on an EFB, we have an EFB administrator, and Wi-Fi in the squadron. The admin let’s us all know via email if any app updates need to happen and it’s standard to sync your iPad every morning to ensure you have the latest pubs.

The only required paperwork we have to take into the aircraft is an oceanic chart.

 

[zippy]

So much this. The ignorance can be excused, but the lack of effort to engage industry isn't that hard. I mean, sheesh, just engage a Reserve fixed-wing squadron and you have the potential for a nearly 100% input that's actually educated.


Updating FF for pubs can get costly on the data, especially for places like FL and TX. But even beyond that, if you're rolling out a product, then provide all the means to support it!

That said, it seems the TRACOM is way ahead of the helo fleet. Hopefully that FF issue-to-studs will slowly transmit to reducing the plan to rely on Samsung tablets and a NAVAIR program that isn't as robust as FF.

Also, and this is me just dreaming... Can you imagine a world without a DD-175? How could we exist!!!!!?!!!! Imagine filing like every other human in the US?

There are lots of places with WiFi in a pinch. Chick fil a, starbucks etc, FBOs etc. but that shouldn’t be a limiting factor in EFB distribution. FF updates on a regular schedule, and it’s the user’s responsibility to update when directed to. If a stud hasn’t updated it on schedule just RRU them and pickup a standby student and be done with it, the same as you would if they didn’t have the proper paper pubs for their flight.

Also, I haven’t filed a flight plan since 2013, so yes I can. It’s marvelous.

 

[Gatordev]

We don't use DD-175 anymore either. The DOD has shifted to -1801s

Fair enough, but I guess my overall point was to not have a flight plan system walled off from the rest of the world so that you could just file on the EKB and not have to fax (???) or email a flight plan that never seems to make it to the right person anyway.

 

[magnetfreezer]

If anyone gives two shits...
U-2 have been using iPads with ForeFlight for a few years.
We also carry a Stratus puck and get real-time traffic on the iPad.
The flight manual and every other possible written reference is on the iPad.
We use iPads in the chase cars... mounted to the windscreen with a RAM mount... to video all student landings.
We also carry them in the T-38.
If flying solo in either aircraft, we carry two iPads.

How do the touchscreens work out with the pressure suit gloves? A few AFEs have ordered special Nomex gloves with touchscreen-sensitive fingertips

 

[insanebikerboy]

Fair enough, but I guess my overall point was to not have a flight plan system walled off from the rest of the world so that you could just file on the EKB and not have to fax (???) or email a flight plan that never seems to make it to the right person anyway.

If you use Foreflight, you can file everything via the app. I can use it to file a valid Eurocontrol flight plan, and flight planning through Europe is a pain in the ass.

 

[Gatordev]

If you use Foreflight, you can file everything via the app. I can use it to file a valid Eurocontrol flight plan, and flight planning through Europe is a pain in the ass.

But can you do that out of a Navy field? If so, that's a new thing and pretty fantastic. That was always the issue with DUATS (and 3710 even mentioned it as they slowly tried to kill that capability). You could plan, get preferred routing, and even print a jet log, all in DUATS, but you had to still deal with Base Ops to file.

Between ADSB and industry embracing programs like FF, I could see it being possible that a Navy tower may have been updated to interface with the civilian filing system, but I'm skeptical.

 

[RandomGoat1248]

But can you do that out of a Navy field? If so, that's a new thing and pretty fantastic. That was always the issue with DUATS (and 3710 even mentioned it as they slowly tried to kill that capability). You could plan, get preferred routing, and even print a jet log, all in DUATS, but you had to still deal with Base Ops to file.

Between ADSB and industry embracing programs like FF, I could see it being possible that a Navy tower may have been updated to interface with the civilian filing system, but I'm skeptical.

Yes. Pretty much everytime I have flown a non-canned route we filed on Foreflight.

 

[RandomGoat1248]

If anyone gives two shits...
U-2 have been using iPads with ForeFlight for a few years.
We also carry a Stratus puck and get real-time traffic on the iPad.
The flight manual and every other possible written reference is on the iPad.
We use iPads in the chase cars... mounted to the windscreen with a RAM mount... to video all student landings.
We also carry them in the T-38.
If flying solo in either aircraft, we carry two iPads.

At least in the T-45, we have a combined IFG/PCL that everyone loads into Foreflight to use in the jet. Most people also have the NATOPS loaded in there as well.

So we are getting there, but it is going slow.

 

[wlawr005]

Yes. Pretty much everytime I have flown a non-canned route we filed on Foreflight.

Agreed. No one uses base ops anymore. We file electronically and it goes in the system. Everyone moves on.

 

[Gatordev]

Yes. Pretty much everytime I have flown a non-canned route we filed on Foreflight.

Agreed. No one uses base ops anymore. We file electronically and it goes in the system. Everyone moves on.

That's exciting. I wonder if it's universal.

 

[Brett327]

That's exciting. I wonder if it's universal.

It isn't, unfortunately. Many still bizarrely require a wet signature scanned and emailed.

 

[Birdbrain]

But can you do that out of a Navy field? If so, that's a new thing and pretty fantastic. That was always the issue with DUATS (and 3710 even mentioned it as they slowly tried to kill that capability). You could plan, get preferred routing, and even print a jet log, all in DUATS, but you had to still deal with Base Ops to file.

Between ADSB and industry embracing programs like FF, I could see it being possible that a Navy tower may have been updated to interface with the civilian filing system, but I'm skeptical.

Yep you definitely can. File it as a DD-1801 just so you can check your stuff but whenever I called clearance for my clearance they were ready with it.