Nextlife

I haven't done any GA flying in several years and am going to start again in a week or so. I have an iPad Air with internal GPS and Foreflight that I've been playing with and learning how to use. The plane I'm going to rent has a Garmin 430 as well. My question is this - has anyone had any issues with GPS reception in the cockpit of a GA aircraft? I have a kneeboard mount vs. a yoke mount (more what I'm used to). It'd be nice to not have to buy an external antenna but I'd rather know to expect issues now than when I'm navigating around the unfamiliar Tampa area airspace.

ugleeual

I flew on a cirrus with one and worked great.

dimondan

Don't forget internal GPS burns the iPad battery at about 1.5 - 2 hours. Not worth flying around and having the GPS on the iPad the whole time. Otherwise, the reception works great. Make sure at a minimum to have a way to charge your iPad in the aircraft like via a cigaret lighter plug in. Otherwise, you can be up that creek they talk about when your iPad dies in the air.

Aviator89

Depending on altitude the internal gps antenna that the cell phone data enabled ipads come with is accurate and reliable since it also uses cell towers to locate you. I am not sure if that requires a data plan or not but most GA planes i have been in provide line of sight to satellites anyway when using a kneeboard. Except the King Air 350. The ceiling is in the way in that plane. At higher altitudes or areas with no cell reception the ipad will need line of sight with the sky or an external gps antenna up on the dash which may also save battery life but then again uses bluetooth. (Dual gps antenna is my favorite) You do not need a data plan, but its nice to have it. Its the cellular antenna that also is a gps antenna, but a wifi only model with a external ipad gps antenna or stratus adsb weather will work just fine.
In my experience (g1000 avionics in the AC, so foreflight is light-moderate use) with my ipad 2, using the ipad on the ground, a few minutes enroute, and for an approach and taxi i dont use much battery at all. Maybe 20mins/5-10% total or so. The first gen ipad 3 i have also uses more due the the retina display but still not bad for my kind of use. Maybe 10-15% with full screen brightness and moderate use. But best thing to do is put it in airplane mode the activate just the bluetooth with the external gps antenna, assuming you dont have a data plan or are okay with not getting weather via the cell network. Should yield best battery life. And plug it in if you leave the screen on the whole time, but with your G430 there really is no need for using it the whole time. Leaving the cellular antenna to roam, and constantly be changing cell towers will eat up ur battery. And adjust the screen to the lowest dim you can stand to use. Especially with the retina display.

km1619

I have Foreflight on a 3g Ipad mini (no active data plan) and I do not use an external gps. The blue dot works just fine while I fly around in a C172, SR20, 7KCAB, etc. Battery life is never a problem, but I also haven't used it on a flight greater than 3 hours.

chrisreedrules

I never have any reception issues except over remote portions of the desert and some parts of the midwest. I have flown all over the country with mine using both the iPad with internal GPS and also using the Stratus II Wx and ADSB receiver.

Nextlife

Thanks for all the feedback! I'm renting an Archer this weekend and I'll see how it works out. I'm also getting a charging cord just in case I run into battery problems. Should come in handy with an airshow TFR that comes within a mile or two of the airport I'm flying out of!

KCaviator

I cannot speak for the iPad Air, but I do own a 3rd generation iPad with ForeFlight installed and have been using it for over 2 years now. I do not use any type of accessories, just the internal GPS, and I have rarely seen the accuracy less than 5m (which is the most precise level that ForeFlight depicts), even in sparsely populated areas such as the Rockies, west Texas, and the deserts of the Southwest. I'm unsure how well the accuracy is above 12,000 feet MSL though.

Jato

I have used both the iPad 2 and the mini, with no problem back east without a booster. Flying up in AK I used the dual GPS booster and always had 10m or less. Great for S.A. And fuel prices!!

RazzorAPC

I use IPAD2 Mini w/GPS and FF pro when flying GA, works great, i have had no problems with reception. GPS accuracy always with 5 meters of waypoint, during taxi, approach, and en route up to 6000 ft. Never lost reception. Never needed an external antenna.