MusDg

I'm using fore flight for planning and an efb only. It is nice not having to lug 50lbs worth of paper any more. I didn't bother spending the additional $100 to get the tracking on the plates and diagrams. Just like when GPS first came out. People were hitting the dirt left and right. I'm sure we will have our share of the same with this if pilots don't properly train themselves on the equipment before using it in real conditions. This is nothing new though. Tablets in the cockpit as efb's have been around since the '90's.

Cubdriver

Using an iPad 2 or iPad 3 as an EFB seems like a great thing, and I hear they work well for the purpose. In particular, I could see their value for making more approaches available than paper would allow and more reliable chart currency. I would be interested in hearing from those who are using them in FAA approved applications for their IFR flying, particularly the commercial operators.
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Is the iPad a legal replacement for paper charts?

(S Brown, AOPA Online, 10/19/12) “The answer is yes! … Asterisk,” said Sporty’s Vice President John Zimmerman in the seminar “iPad 101,” at AOPA Aviation Summit Oct. 11. For normal Part 91 operations, pilots can use the popular tablet in lieu of paper but should use it during an evaluation period first; for those flying Part 121 or Part 135 operations, the answer is probably still “yes,” Zimmerman said, but you may have to fill out some paperwork. Zimmerman offered practical tips for novice iPad users, advising on topics from whether to spend the extra cash for 3G to how to configure it for in-flight use. Thinking of buying an iPad, or turning yours into a flying tool? Check out these five tips from Zimmerman’s presentation...

FlyerJosh

The ipad is awesome! With the Flight gauges app, I can fly my sparsely equipped taiLdragger even when the weather drops. A WAAS GPS makes it even more useful... Shooting approaches will be sweet! For $400 I might even pick up another iPad as an MFD.

DirectTo

I was waiting to leave a field in the Midwest several months ago, hard IFR, with only GPS approaches to both ends and an NDB. The NDB was out of service indefinitely.

A bit before I left I see this Navajo break out of the deck at probably 300 feet and come straight in, touch down and taxi over. Guy had used his iPad with Foreflight to georeference his way down the GPS approach. He was proud of it too.

Idiot.

chrisreedrules

All the weekend warriors with iPads are going to get scary here in FL soon. I've noticed a huge shift just this past year. Way more students are using iPads for Instrument training. I think it is a useful tool. But until flight training programs start to incorporate it into training somehow I think it can be dangerous. There was a guy around here just recently that busted the shelf of Bravo because he was fiddling around with his iPad.

Plus, I kind of think GPS and iPads can degrade a pilot's core instrument skills to a degree. A lot of pilots would be lost without that dual stack 430 or G1000 in the cockpit. I'm sure eventually it will become that way with iPads when they show the airplanes position on the approach plate etc... Take it away, and people will be lost. We had a DPE that un-satted an instrument student a while back. He was shooting an approach with GPS and an iPad. The DPE said bam, you just got struck by lightning and your battery for your iThingy just died. What do you do. Kid was in over his head at that point. Kind of a dick move on part of the DPE but it certainly drove a point home to this kid.

chrisreedrules

I do however think it is a great resource for single-pilot IFR when a pilot has existing instrument skills/experience. Can be great for single-pilot resource management and situational awareness. I have an iPad3 w/Foreflight but I haven't really had the opportunity to use it for real yet. I need to get the BadElf for it. Does anyone have any kind of "real-timeish" Wx on their iPad?

Cubdriver

I was more curious how it works as an EFB, charts and plates and airport diagrams. I do not have one and thus far have not had access to one. However, a company I flew for a couple years ago was nuts about everyone using these infernal FlightPrep devices based on cheap flimsy underpowered netbooks, which were glitchy, unreliable, not self- contained, expensive, hard to update, hard to use, prone to freezing, susceptible to liquids, hard to secure... I could go on. I thought they were a serious step backwards in the name of technology and were a total waste of money. So having struggled with those things for a year and knowing poor they were, I was surprised people are saying iPads are so much better. To make me deliriously happy all an EFB needs to do is show plates and charts and not get in the way.

chrisreedrules

I think they are actually pretty great as an EFB..

Ewfflyer

100% agree. I do contract flying, and its invaluable to me. From having the whole US sectionals, low/high enroute, and of course the IAP's at my fingertips you can't beat it.

I do not use the georeferenced IAP'S , never felt I needed that, but the basic version does put you on the other charts. I did use this once in a luscombe I borrow as my primary source of nav(no electrical in the plane), worked great and I only use the built in GPS receiver also.(accuracy was fine)

DirectTo

You must have a data-planned iPad...I can tell you from experience the GPS in the non-data capable ones is worthless...won't keep up at even a moderate taxi speed.

I use a "Dual" external Bluetooth GPS when flying small GA and it works great for flight following on a sectional.