iPads in the cockpit

[fholbert]

have you tried night mode?

There is a night mode?

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Go to accessibility mode and invert black and white. I don't personally find it better, but some do.

 

[jskibo]

You can also set up the triple press of the home button to turn on the inverse (night) mode. Makes it easier to do on the fly

 

[MidlifeFlyer]

No.

The problem I have is at night it's too bright and yes I had the brightness turned all the way down.

In addition to night mode, which has already been mentioned, the apps themselves (at least FF and Garmin Pilot) have the ability to dim lower than the iPad's own dimming. I use that at night much more than the inverse night mode.

 

[Inverted]

I for the life of me cannot find a cool iPad kneeboard, it is driving me nuts!

 

[scooter2525]

I for the life of me cannot find a cool iPad kneeboard, it is driving me nuts!

 

[rframe]

My tablet's case has a slightly rubberized coating and it sticks to my leg fine without being strapped down. If I were ever inclined to wear it while doing aerobatics I'd probably just find some strong velcro and use that to attach it to a standard aluminum knee board.

 

[woodreau]

The only problem I've had is the internal GPS on the Tab doesn't report altitude correctly, however I'm about to switch to a $50 external bluetooth GPS receiver anyway as the internal GPS is the main battery sucker.

It's the same reason why pilots use the barometric altimeter and not gps altitude for determining altitude.

Gps does not report MSL altitude or pressure altitude. It reports altitude in reference to a mathematical model of the earth (specifically the model of the earth is the EGM96 geoid) which is a close approximation of the surface of the earth but no where close to real world terrain that you see outside your window.

That's why the altitude reported on your gps is off from your altimeter.

 

[rframe]

...That's why the altitude reported on your gps is off from your altimeter.

No, I mean GPS altitude really doesn't work on the Galaxy Tab. It always reports about 200-300' while airport elevation is 2,300'.

 

[Ralgha]

Except for the fact that the airlines don't want a tablet that does amazing things. They want something that is stable and does what it's supposed to. I wish I had the link for it handy, but if you take a look at the report from the IT folks at American Airlines after their iPad testing, it's pretty interesting, American did take a look at the Android devices, but specifically didn't care for the open nature of them and preferred the stability of the Apple products. Evidently, the FAA has also indicated they were unlikely to certify an Android device because of the security and stability concerns. I seem to recall that Quantas came to similar conclusions when they went Apple.

I can't speak to the airlines, though I suspect it's more that they don't want to spend the money on making their own better unit and just use an off the shelf that's good enough.

Security and stability concerns of Android? You are sadly misinformed.

http://www.webpronews.com/nsa-android-phone-2012-03

http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/03/tech/mobile/government-android-phones/index.html

http://www.ubergizmo.com/2012/02/u-s-government-military-android-phones/

http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/smart-takes/us-military-phones-android-is-system-of-choice/22501

http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/3/2769455/us-government-military-android-adoption

Neither system is secure enough out of the box. The difference is that you can modify Android yourself to make it as secure or insecure as you want. You can't do diddly with iOS.

 

[chrisreedrules]

Has anyone tried the yoke mount with an otterbox cover on the iPad? Thanks for the replies all!

 

[jskibo]

Ram Yoke here, its a tight fit. Maybe a thin rubber would still work, but not much more.

The RAM grabs the two corners on one side and the middle on the other.

 

[chrisreedrules]

Thanks for all of the replies everyone!

My iPhone took a crap on me last week so I decided to get the new iPhone5 and I also got an iPad3. I'll buy the full version of foreflight sometime in the near future. Overall first impressions are good for the iPad3. Just like a giant iPhone with a better picture quality. I also plan on buying the BadElf GPS system.

Has anyone tried to use the iPhone5 with foreflight yet? Any issues? Is the iPhone too small to use practically in the airplane for navigation in your opinions?

 

[jskibo]

Thanks for all of the replies everyone!

My iPhone took a crap on me last week so I decided to get the new iPhone5 and I also got an iPad3. I'll buy the full version of foreflight sometime in the near future. Overall first impressions are good for the iPad3. Just like a giant iPhone with a better picture quality. I also plan on buying the BadElf GPS system.

Has anyone tried to use the iPhone5 with foreflight yet? Any issues? Is the iPhone too small to use practically in the airplane for navigation in your opinions?

I have Foreflight on both my 4S and the iPad2. 4S seems too small for Nav work. I use it for TAF / METAR and looking up other FBO info. I couldn't imagine trying to read a plate on it. I have it with me on flight, but sort of treat it like my iCom backup radio.

5 give you a little more room, but not that much over the 4

 

[swisspilot]

Thanks for all of the replies everyone!

My iPhone took a crap on me last week so I decided to get the new iPhone5 and I also got an iPad3. I'll buy the full version of foreflight sometime in the near future. Overall first impressions are good for the iPad3. Just like a giant iPhone with a better picture quality. I also plan on buying the BadElf GPS system.

Has anyone tried to use the iPhone5 with foreflight yet? Any issues? Is the iPhone too small to use practically in the airplane for navigation in your opinions?

I use an Ipod Touch with Air Navigation Pro as backup, works well. Have also used the ipad with foreflight and stratus: