another iPad question

rchamble

rchamble

Pre-Flight
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rschamblee
new to aviation in that I now have 3 hrs toward my certificate :) which brings me to the question, what exactly are y'all using your iPads for? What exactly are u doing with your iPads during the flight and what apps are used to help pre and post flight? Are y'all actually using a digital log books? What all can the iPad be used for in terms of aviation?
 
I probably don't use my iPad like most people here. I just use it to take pictures and videos when I fly. Lots of people like to use Foreflight, weather apps, flight planning apps, weight and balance apps, etc. I'm sure a person with a lot more experience with this stuff will chime in.
 
Spreadsheet for W&B
Safari for access to weather, notams, DUATs, pilotweb.com,
DUATS app,
Email for customs notifications,
ForeFlight for charts, weather, NOTAMs, W&B, filing flight plans, instrument approach plates,
PDF copies of FAA handbooks, advisory circulars, FAR/AIM (there's an app for that too)
And so much more
 
Digital log book
Fore flight for flight planning,enroute,and approach charts.
Weather
Pictures.
 
I use mine for W&B, Foreflight for charts or AF/D, and within Foreflight I have multiple POH's, weather/chart legends, and some textbooks like the Jeppesen and FAA Pilot Handbook.

You just need to make sure you don't let it become a crutch. I always carry backup checklists, charts, and AF/D in case the iPad blows up mid flight.
 
It varies by the person. In my case...

In flight, my iPad is my main source of aviation charts and AFD information, as well as aircraft checklists. I also have the PIM or POH for the aircraft I fly in searchable PDF. It also does duty as my notepad and enhanced E6B calculator. I have no paper charts in the cockpit and the only other paper I bring on board is a sticky notepad for emergency use.
 
Charts, TFRs, moving map GPS. I have Foreflight and Garmin Pilot and prefer parts of each. In Alaska we don't have XM so I bought a Garmin GDL39 3D to get ADS-B in, weather, and Garmin synthetic vision. The iPad is more functional than my panel GPS and more intuitive to use (w/ Foreflight, Pilot, etc).
 
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I mainly use ForeFlight, internet, and email.

I'll play a game or two if I'm somewhere waiting and have nothing else to do.
 
Here's a screenshot of my 'flying page' on my iPad. Those are all the apps I use for aviation. Couple in there non-aviation, guess I should prune...but that's all of them.
 

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ARFlyer said:
I mainly use ForeFlight, internet, and email.

I'll play a game or two if I'm somewhere waiting and have nothing else to do.
Click to expand...

This is me as well. During flight, I'm using ForeFlight or WingX to monitor progress (moving map), check weather (via ADS-B in), or study the approach plate.

For IFR OP's, it acts as my chart book.
 
Captain said:
Here's a screenshot of my 'flying page' on my iPad. Those are all the apps I use for aviation. Couple in there non-aviation, guess I should prune...but that's all of them.
Click to expand...

How does Flashcards figure in the mix?
 
My ipad is broke after the 8.trash update. I couldn't be happier. Now I fly like the olde guard. All natural for me and I love it. Just a paper chart and and the windshield are all I need.
 
The "Everything Explained" app is useful to finding reg references.

I've seen some guys use the scratch-pad feature in ForeFlight to copy clearances and taxi instructions... I still prefer paper for that.
 
I use it for weather, textbooks and Foreflight, but always have a chart at the ready.

As a student pilot, I would recommend that you learn everything the old fashioned way until after your checkride, THEN go to Foreflight or a similar app. That way you will learn what Foreflight is doing for you.

There was a famous physics professor, Julius Sumner Miller, who often repeated, "It's what you UNDERSTAND that counts." If you go through flight training and don't learn to UNDERSTAND everything that Foreflight is doing for you, you will have cheated yourself.
 
MBDiagMan said:
How did the 8.X update break your IPad?
Click to expand...

It went from being what I consider normal speed to being very slow. Video no longer loads either. It does not function the way it did prior to the update so I no longer use it for anything.
 
AggieMike88 said:
Interesting. Care to share some examples?
Click to expand...

It's not very interesting...

Front / Back

Vyse / 140kts
Max Alt Flaps / 20,000'
Starter Limits / 50 sec on 3 min off, 40 sec on 30 min off
Min Temp Start / -34 C
Max ITT norm / 830c
Max ITT Start / 1000c 5 sec
Max ITT Transit / 870 20 sec
Landing Light Wattage / 450W
Max tire speed / 154 kts
Vmc/Mmo / 260/.70


...that sort of thing. I review it prior to ground school and hasn't failed me yet.
 
Captain said:
It's not very interesting...
Click to expand...

Also an option for beginners: reciprocal runways.

Front / Back

36/18
1/19
2/20
3/21

And so on.



...that sort of thing. I review it prior to ground school and hasn't failed me yet.
Click to expand...

Same here, most recently on my Cirrus Standardized training a while back - though I used physical index cards. For me something active like flash cards works a lot better than passive memorization.
 
My mini w/ Retina Display has been perfect through the iOS 8 updates. So has my phone. Love the way I can answer my iPhone from my iPad or MacBook. No negatives from my perspective.

Alaska has lots of charts and a big AD Supplement book. Keeping those current with paper was a pain. Keeping them current in Foreflight is simple. I prefer Garmin Pilot for flying but like Foreflight for charts and documents. The Garmin folks tell me they're going to add a better documents function. Foreflight depends on cell service too heavily even for basic functions. Cell service is patchy in Alaska. Garmin does a better job without a cell connection. I could get along fine without an iPad so I don't think it's necessary but with an ADS-B receiver having access to current weather is really helpful.
 
Captain said:
Here's a screenshot of my 'flying page' on my iPad. Those are all the apps I use for aviation. Couple in there non-aviation, guess I should prune...but that's all of them.
Click to expand...
I do the same - a dedicated In Flight Aviation page. I have other aviation-related apps also but the ones I use in flight are alone on the main page of my iPad.
 
I use foreflight for charts, approach plates, weather briefing, filing a flight plan, w&b. like another poster I can't seem to use the scratch pad legibly so I still use paper for notes and clearances.
 
Since you are a student pilot I'm sure your instructor will control how much or how little he will allow you to use it. FWIW, WingX has a really neat feature called 'Rewind' that allows you to record your flights and play them back afterwards. While the instructor may not want you using the iPad during your lesson, you could still let it record your flight and go back later and evaluate your flight when you play it back. You will be able to see what your patterns are looking like and any other maneuvers like circles around a point and etc. I think it would be a good after flight training tool since you can evaluate every minute of your flight in the comfort of your home and replay it as often as you like. I am driving WingX with an iLevil so I also have AHRS data being recorded to drive my synthetic vision. It is a little costly for the iLevil but the internal GPS in a cellular ready iPad would provide ground speed, direction and altitude information for your flight. I am attaching a screen shot configured to show a VFR chart, synth vision and the 'Rewind' window. The rewind window shows a graph of your altitude and ground speed over the terrain elevation and time. Everything shown is in the base subscription of WingX except the synth vision which is $50 extra per year. WingX also comes with a terrain database in the base subscription which comes in handy when flight planning and flying into mountain areas.

I also use 'Checklist Lite' for my preflight, in flight and landing checklists. It is a freebe version. You can pay to get a more robust version of the program but the lite version works fine for me.

The 'Rewind' feature I described above is almost like an electronic logbook within WingX since it records your departure and arrival airports and flight duration. I have a spreadsheet in Excel that I input my tach and Hobbs times in and it compares to the previous flight to determine my logbook times. Even though my Excel spreadsheet has all of the same fields as a paper logbook, I still keep a paper logbook too. My paper logbook has room for seven flights per page and I wait until I have seven flights complete then fill out the paper page. My Excel spreadsheet is set up to calculate my page totals along with the overall totals.
 

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In response to post number 25, a few revisions ago foreflight added flight track rcording, so this is now NOT something exclusive with wingx. Foreflight also has terrain mapping.

When it comes to software feature wars, they will always be very close to similar. One will be ahead of the other with one software Feature and the other will lead on the next one. What your choice should be based on is your data presentation preference and quality of technical support.
 
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