FAA OKs iPad for Pilots’ Charts

[Steve Davies]

Not sure what you are saying that is different than what what said.

My bad - didn't read your post properly.

[OverTQ]

When we started using the BF EDM in Iraq(think Falcon View Kneeboard with blue force tracker), my front seaters wouldn't use them. So I made it mandatory for all flights. By the end of the year, I couldn't yank them out of their hands. As with all things new, there is curve where some are used to what they know and don't want more. I can remember reading a story about repeating rifles being introduced in the Civil War and how some Generals turned them down. Devices like this will find their way in the cockpit on a permanent basis. But, I do think it be highly dependent on the mission you are doing as to what or how much information you want. We are having issues with our Longbow guys already because there is so much to look at inside the aircraft, they lose sight of looking outside sometimes.

[Guest]

There's how many piss cans per how many pax graph in my jet's Vol 3.

Classic.

[bagasticks]

working for an avionics manufacturer, and having marketed several, and used several EFB's/GPS's in all sizes of military airframes, to include ipads, garmins, airgators, iphones, etc. I can attest that most larger than a GPSMAP496/Aera/Iphone are uselesss in a fighter for the reasons mentioned above. It is not practical to have something that big strapped to your leg, jammed in the ejection seat, controls etc.. Heavies can potentially transition continents so a need for electronic pubs is a great. Pointy nose dudes, i supect, carry only 1 or 2 approach vols.. We worked with some canopy rail mounting options on the A-10 (where the maplight above the throttles is) and the bigger efb's were not acceptable due to canopy jettison considerations and they blocked the left 3rd of the instrument panel.

The ipads is feraking awesome on crew airplanes though, I've been using mine since the app came out.. I like the GPSMAP696 better though because it has worldwide jepp plates, gps, and most importantly NEXRAD, metars, tafs, etc.. . . .but it wont surf youporn :(

Edited March 8, 2011 by bagasticks

[Guest]

We are having issues with our Longbow guys already because there is so much to look at inside the aircraft, they lose sight of looking outside sometimes.

What could possibly be the advantage of looking outside? The only thing to see out there are the friendlies, threats and targets and that crap is old school boring.

[osulax05]

What could possibly be the advantage of looking outside? The only thing to see out there are the friendlies, threats and targets and that crap is old school boring.

Don't forget the side of that mountain at 12 o'clock.

[Guest]

Don't forget the side of that mountain at 12 o'clock.

Falls in the threat category along with anything else that can kill you if you don't look outside.

There's a good reason they put huge windows in the cockpits of some airplanes.

[OverTQ]

Windows on aircraft may also be optional. You will also be looking "through" your aircraft.

Doing that for years in Apaches. But uh....the ....picture is was not quite that good.

[Guest]

Why does looking outside and looking at information have to be mutually exclusive?

It doesn't.

However, when it is there's a problem.

You will also be looking "through" your aircraft.

Noted. Flew a JSF capability demo in the sim 9 yrs ago. Bring it.

[ExBoneOSO]

Thread bump..looks like UAL pilots are joining the iPad crowd.

United Pilots to use iPad

United Airlines said Tuesday it was replacing the hefty flight manuals and chart books its pilots have long used with 11,000 iPads carrying the same data.

The 1.5 pound (0.7 kilogram) iPad will take the place of about 38 pounds (17 kilograms) of paper instructions, data and charts pilots have long used to help guide them, parent company United Continental Holdings said.

The popular tablet computer will carry the Mobile FliteDeck software app from Jeppesen, a Boeing subsidiary which provides navigation tools for air, sea and land.

"The paperless flight deck represents the next generation of flying," said Captain Fred Abbott, United's senior vice president of flight operations.

"The introduction of iPads ensures our pilots have essential and real-time information at their fingertips at all times throughout the flight."

It will be supplied to all pilots on United and Continental flights; the two carriers merged in 2010.

United is the second major US carrier to adopt the iPad as a key pilot flight aid.

In May Alaska Airlines also adopted it, after the Federal Aviation Administration okayed the iPad for cockpit use.

United estimates that using the iPad will save 16 million sheets of paper a year, and that the lighter load it represents will save 326,000 gallons (1.2 million liters) in fuel.

"With iPad, pilots are able to quickly and efficiently access reference material without having to thumb through thousands of sheets of paper and reduce clutter on the flight deck," the company said.

[TrainerModel]

Random question on these iPad pubs, can you write or highlight stuff on the screen?

[ThreeHoler]

Random question on these iPad pubs, can you write or highlight stuff on the screen?

Yes, via GoodReader.

[matmacwc]

Random question on these iPad pubs, can you write or highlight stuff on the screen?

Really? Still in UPT?

[Majestik Møøse]

Thread bump..looks like UAL pilots are joining the iPad crowd.

Still waiting here at Travis. What they were spearheading 18 months ago seems to have gotten stuck in committee. Lesson learned for me: if I ever have a budget and an idea, just buy the stuff, THEN tell people about it.

[Guest]

Really? Still in UPT?

[nsplayr]

We apparently have them in the building and are getting them ready to fly with crews. Booya! I hope we can do angry birds over bluetooth, that would be amazing...

[SCRIMP]

100 questions....GO:

1) How can I find out if ACC has approved the iPad?

2) How are you getting around the power issue (for those of us that do not have a power outlet)?

3) How are you updating it without plugging it in to the AF Network?

4) If you use an optional GPS (bad elf, etc) can you download WX updates, new maps, etc?

5) How are you protecting them from damage?

6) How can I find out how much it would save our squad/group/AF to stop getting paper products from NGA?

7) What other things are you using it for (flight planning, PUB Reader, joining the mile high club by yourself while your CO is asleep, etc)?

Any other info is much appreciated!

[ClearedHot]

We apparently have them in the building and are getting them ready to fly with crews. Booya! I hope we can do angry birds over bluetooth, that would be amazing...

Something tells me the fun police will find a way to lock them down so they only display charts.

[Majestik Møøse]

2) How are you getting around the power issue (for those of us that do not have a power outlet)?

Battery is supposed to last 10+ hrs under heavy use. Up to a month on standby.

3) How are you updating it without plugging it in to the AF Network?

Same way we update ePubs. An approved, spinning hard drive for a go-between.

6) How can I find out how much it would save our squad/group/AF to stop getting paper products from NGA?

Supposedly will save Travis something like $1.4 mil per year.

7) What other things are you using it for (flight planning, PUB Reader, joining the mile high club by yourself while your CO is asleep, etc)?

Probably light flight planning and absolutely for a pub reader. The best thing is that people can learn to write their own programs.

[tac airlifter]

Something tells me the fun police will find a way to lock them down so they only display charts.

Valid, but in a squadron full of CSO's some bright dude will find a way & share it with the rest of us non-brainiacs. Thats why we have R&D.

[OBOBs_11]

2) How are you getting around the power issue (for those of us that do not have a power outlet)?

5) How are you protecting them from damage?

2) google found this linky

5) As for protection, my sister has been rocking an Otter Box Defender on it for a while. She's dropped that thing, tossed it around etc etc and it still works like a champ. Case

I'm considering making an app, something on the lines of ForeFlight. Any suggestions on what you would want to see differently or something that ForeFlight can't do? (Besides porn).

[ThreeHoler]

100 questions....GO:

1) How can I find out if ACC has approved the iPad?

My guess: your Stan/Evil is a great place to start.

2) How are you getting around the power issue (for those of us that do not have a power outlet)?

The battery does last a long damn time. I've used my iPad on 9+ hour flights with GPS tracking enabled and finished the flight with ~15% battery remaining. However, the screen is a major power draw, so if you're screen-on the whole time, I would only expect ~6 hours of battery life.

3) How are you updating it without plugging it in to the AF Network?

We have a stand-alone ePubs computer that we plug our AF-issued sticks into, and I transfer them from the stick to my Dropbox, where they can be wirelessly sent to the iPad. Another way is to plug in the iPad to your computer and drag/drop into iTunes for the direct transfer into GoodReader.

4) If you use an optional GPS (bad elf, etc) can you download WX updates, new maps, etc?

GPS doesn't let you download updates...perhaps you mean 3G/Wifi? If you have the 3G version and a 3G data plan, you can download shit in the jet. It's awesome. The internal GPS works pretty well on the 3G model as well.

5) How are you protecting them from damage?

I have the Apple brand iPad cover (for the first gen, as I don't have an iPad 2). It protects the thing just fine. 7 months of worldwide use so far and it's still going strong without a scratch or dent. These things are not as fragile as the naysayers will tell you.

6) How can I find out how much it would save our squad/group/AF to stop getting paper products from NGA?

A lot. But talk to someone at Travis, where they are finally (maybe soon?) going to start testing them...they have 100, loaded with Jeppesen Mobile TC (Mobile FD is newer and has enroute charts, but is slower right now, both require a Jeppesen license...~$11k for worldwide) and ForeFlight HD (US and Canada charts only so far, charts are $150/yr for US and $150/yr for Canada).

7) What other things are you using it for (flight planning, PUB Reader, joining the mile high club by yourself while your CO is asleep, etc)?

I have used it to create and file JetPlans with Jeppesen. It is a web based service, so the iPad does pretty well with it. I love the Jeppesen TC (still trying to like FD). Having world-wide plates in 1.5lbs is ######ing awesome. I use GoodReader to view all ePubs. AeroWeather is nice for WX. I have the FAR/AIM on it in a separate app (I wish it had highlighting, but I don't want to keep downloading the .pdf from the FAA). ForeFlight HD is great for NACO/DoD plates (requires several GB) and also has DOD enroute charts, but it costs you up to $300/yr if you want the geo-referenced charts. I use a NOTAMS app and also the VAAC is nice for volcanic advisories. I use Logbook Pro to log all my flights, as it interfaces to the 12+ years of flight data I have on my home computer. I also like Air Nav Pro for worldwide maps and general airfield info...it has free geopolitical maps, and I have it set up to only show airfields >7000 feet (configurable)...so if I have to divert to an unplanned field, I can just click on the field on the map and it gives an instant bearing/distance and all the appropriate frequencies. Hopefully I never have to use it for that, but it's a nice backup. Plus, downloading the .kml of the flight is pretty awesome.

Any other info is much appreciated!

As I said, I have 7 months of operational use with this thing on the ground and in the air; I'm happy to help others enjoy the awesomeness of the iPad EFB.

[Guest]

...my sister has been rocking an Otter Box Defender on it for a while. She's dropped that thing, tossed it around etc etc and it still works like a champ.

I think those are the lyrics to a fighter pilot song.

If not, they should be.

[SCRIMP]

Great info! I appreciate all of the help.

[TrainerModel]

Really? Still in UPT?

No. Its how I "study"/check out an approach for example, flying in no shit weather days to places I've never been. It aids me. Was just curious.

Edited August 26, 2011 by TrainerModel