Is a digital (PDF) version of POH good enough?

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MountainDude

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MountainDude
Can I remove my POH from the plane, since I have a digital version on my iDevices?
My POH is large and heavy, and I never use the printed version.
 
Digital devices can die, paper copy is a good option.
 
MountainDude said:
Can I remove my POH from the plane, since I have a digital version on my iDevices?
My POH is large and heavy, and I never use the printed version.
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This is the thing from the Beech Talk thread @Sierra_Hotel mentioned.

Yes.

https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/med ... _91_78.pdf

Electronic Flight Bag (EFB). An electronic display system intended primarily for cockpit or cabin use. EFB devices can display a variety of aviation data (e.g., checklists, navigation charts, pilot’s operating handbook (POH)) or perform basic calculations (e.g., performance data, fuel calculations).

...

EFBs/ECDs can be used during all phases of flight operations in lieu of paper reference material when the information displayed meets the following criteria:

(1) The components or systems onboard the aircraft which display precomposed or interactive information are the functional equivalent of the paper reference material.

(2) The interactive or precomposed information being used for navigation or performance planning is current, up-to-date, and valid.

In simple terms, scans of official paper documents are treated as if they were paper. They are precomposed (printed on paper) and they are current.
 
Is your digital copy specific to your airplane? Or is it a generic POH?
 
mandm said:
Digital devices can die, paper copy is a good option.
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Sometimes it is dark and you don't have a flashlight. Paper isn't so good then. The ithingie works fine in the dark (until it doesn't). Point is, there is no perfect solution.

I'd say you need a copy of the POH that works. So if your idevice is working, you're good. If it stops working, you're probably on the ground until you get it working.
 
luvflyin said:
This is the thing from the Beech Talk thread @Sierra_Hotel mentioned.

Yes.

https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/med ... _91_78.pdf

Electronic Flight Bag (EFB). An electronic display system intended primarily for cockpit or cabin use. EFB devices can display a variety of aviation data (e.g., checklists, navigation charts, pilot’s operating handbook (POH)) or perform basic calculations (e.g., performance data, fuel calculations).

...

EFBs/ECDs can be used during all phases of flight operations in lieu of paper reference material when the information displayed meets the following criteria:

(1) The components or systems onboard the aircraft which display precomposed or interactive information are the functional equivalent of the paper reference material.

(2) The interactive or precomposed information being used for navigation or performance planning is current, up-to-date, and valid.

In simple terms, scans of official paper documents are treated as if they were paper. They are precomposed (printed on paper) and they are current.
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Wow! Going to the FAA docs to see what the FAA says is ok. What a concept!

Yeah, it's discussed in AC 91-78 and even more extensively in AC 120-76D, Authorization for Use of Electronic Flight Bags. This one deals primarily with operators which require some level of FAA approval (121, 135, 91K, etc), but ultimately says the same thing, and specifically mentions aircraft manuals as a permitted use.
 
midlifeflyer said:
Betcha I can get to the appropriate emergency/troubleshooting checklist in my digital manual before you can get the paper copy out of where you keep it and into your hands.
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Good point.

My aircraft POH is normally on the back seat. But all the other ones (avionics and such) are on the hat shelf at the back of the baggage compartment.
 
Pinecone said:
Good point.

My aircraft POH is normally on the back seat. But all the other ones (avionics and such) are on the hat shelf at the back of the baggage compartment.
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I try to have the paper manuals within reach. Passenger seat back pocket if solo. But even then, a PDF you can search in, better yet, bookmarked for important stuff you may need to reach, is going to beat event that.

Side note: One of the things I just started to do is remove the emergency /abnormal checklists from the POH and put them in a separate internally bookmarked document. I am using shortcuts so it's no more than one or two taps on the home screen to access it.
 
There's so much paper I'd have to carry, the operating limitations (pamphlet), a half a dozen supplements to the non-existent flight manual, my w&b, info, and the pilot guides to the MFD, GPS, Autopilot, Engine Monitor, etc...

That's before we get into the information that I actually need to use like the checklists, etc..
 
Pinecone said:
Good point.

My aircraft POH is normally on the back seat. But all the other ones (avionics and such) are on the hat shelf at the back of the baggage compartment.
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Check the Supplements for the avionics and such, and you may find a Limitation like this:
The GARMIN GNS 530 Pilot's Guide, P/N 190-00181-00, Rev. D, dated February 2007 or later appropriate revision must be immediately available to the flight crew whenever navigation is predicated on the use of the system.
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I doubt that the hat shelf at the back of the baggage compartment complies. ;)
 
I you have access to a PDF editor and can add the supplements to the POH as things change over the years I don't see an issue.
My last job the crew on the CL300 hd digital everything. It was through a Bombardier app on their iPads. Cost was over $10K per year.
 
MauleSkinner said:
I doubt that the hat shelf at the back of the baggage compartment complies. ;)
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I read immediately available as in the airplane, as in not in the hangar. I will even say it means not in a baggage compartment not accessibly from the cabin, like nose or wing locker storage.

It gets to the point where we will be carrying more weight in manuals that fuel. The GTN-6550Xi Pilot's Guide is almost 600 pages.
'
 
Pinecone said:
I read immediately available as in the airplane, as in not in the hangar. I will even say it means not in a baggage compartment not accessibly from the cabin, like nose or wing locker storage.
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I read “in the aircraft” (the language used for an AFM) as in the aircraft, and “immediately available to the flight crew” as something different, since it uses different words. Also different from “readily accessible in the aircraft”, as used with respect to pilot certificates.
It gets to the point where we will be carrying more weight in manuals that fuel. The GTN-6550Xi Pilot's Guide is almost 600 pages.
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Sounds like a good reason to go electronic.
 
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Bell206 said:
After March 1979 approved AFM became required and in most cases was S/N specific. Most OEMs combined the POH and AFM into same manual or simply renamed everything AFM.
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Thanks for the correction. I wasn't quite sure of the date, and was honestly too lazy to Google.
 
I have a generic POH in PDF.

I need to find a double sided, auto feed, scanner to scan my actual one.
 
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