Renew Jeppesen or Get iPad Mini/Foreflight or ?

[midlifeflyer]

16 hours ago, Hank said:

This is what I took to mean that free EFB on Android was "good enough for VFR." Your general pro-Apple/pro-ForeFlight led me to believe the rest. Other people do seem to feel that way, glad to see that you don't.

Just to clarify. I fly with no paper charts. I use my iPad and Foreflight as my source for charts, AFD information and other data,  and have done so for about 5 years now. I have another EFB app on my iPad but, just in case, an Android tablet with a different EFB app is my backup. I do not use either in place of panel instruments for primary IFR navigation, although I will happily do so to deal with an emergency that knocks out the cockpit instruments.

My comment simply means, having looked at a number of the free EFBs available for both iOS and Android, I don't feel comfortable enough with their stability and reliability to use as an IFR chart source. If I were entering the market today, I would have less concerns over that for VFR flight.

"Belief" is a  funny thing. Translating a pro-EFB attitude, to which I freely admit, into a disregard of the rules and procedures applicable to IFR flight is quite a leap, although not particularly surprising when based on "belief." I know very, very few people who use an EFB as a primary IFR navigation instrument, although they are definitely out there. Most of us are quite happy following the FAAs rules and guidance on the subject.

[midlifeflyer]

On February 25, 2016 at 11:16 PM, DonMuncy said:

I'm glad to know I'm not the only dinosaur. I still call for a weather briefing. But I do file on Fltplan.com

Getting a reliable weather briefing without talking to a specialist requires a greater understanding of weather products. What I have generally found with pilots who don't call as a matter of course is three things. Just an observation and not a value judgment. By "self-briefing" I mean the use of both an FAA-standard verified briefing and supplemental weather products.

First is a better set of weather products for the most critical information. Whether they are truly easier to understand is questionable but they are certainly prettier, so there's probably a bit more incentive to learn the Skew-T or the new aviationweather.gov icing products or graphical AIRMET than there was the old black and white constant pressure chart. Related us the carry-away value. Even with the original 1990 era DUAT terminal window, I found a printed list of TAFs, METARs and NOTAMs more useful than trying to scribble them down during a briefing.

Second is the loss of local briefers, which I think is actually both a cause and a result of self-briefing. For years after I began to self-brief, I would regularly supplement that with a call, especially if the information was marginal, since the briefer worked in the same geographic area, with both personal and expert knowledge of local conditions. With consolidation, that advantage to telephone briefings just isn't there. That seems to be a continuing process, 

Third is, use begats learning which begats more use. I don't think of my own movement from pure telephone to almost all self-briefing as a decision I sat down and made, and I suspect that's true for a bunch. The more I self-briefed, the more I became curious, and the more I learned. The more I learned, the more curious, and the more reliance on self-briefing. I'm still learning.

and I like dinosaurs

[carqwik]

Update:

The "refurbished" Nexus 7 from Amazon ($140) came yesterday.  It is a brand new device....never used.  For the lower price, I only get a 90 day warranty but so what...  Had to charge it up to full power at first (after a few hours of scare since the screen wouldn't even come on at first...must have been a depleted battery) and now works like a champ.  I did have to spend several hours with it after getting it juiced updating the operating system through several versions before getting to the current "Marshmallow" system.  It also required several updates to the various pre-installed apps like Google Maps, etc.  Happy to report that other than a bunch of time spent, it all went down flawlessly via WIFI connection.

This morning I downloaded Garmin Pilot.  Seems to be pretty cool app...and I can see the appeal over paper charts.  Now I am playing with the app to figure it out...

The next question for the brain trust here is how to mount it to the yoke...ideas?

[Godfather]

I'd go with the ram mount system.  I also built a aluminum support that provides an extra support leg that removed the vibration in the display.

edit:

also I would test the unit for battery life before using it in the plane.  If it came "dead" there might be a power drain in the unit or the battery might not have full capacity.  Most computers use a little power over time so it might be normal.

Edited February 27, 2016 by Godfather

[Marauder]

Find the ram mount threads. This is what I use:

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[DAVIDWH]

If history is a guide:

Let's see, we have a very reliable horse and buggy (Reliable transportation for years)  and now Henry Ford has introduced some new fangled contraption called a V8 engine. (1932)

I guess only time will tell where the future is going.

As for me when it comes to paper, I think Arnold may have said it best,

"Hasta la vista, baby."

[midlifeflyer]

18 minutes ago, Marauder said:

Find the ram mount threads. This is what I use:

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

After trying all sorts of songs and dances, I use the same system as Maruder with one exception. I use the RAM Tab-Tite for the cradle. They are much more adjustable in terms of size (although you do need to get the right size group).  The one I have fits my 8" iPad Mini and my 7" Asus backup, with their covers and backings still on and  folded behind them, and with room to spare if I wanted to use an Otterbox or other heavy duty case.

[mike_elliott]

On ‎2‎/‎24‎/‎2016 at 6:01 AM, midlifeflyer said:

I would not limit myself to testing only two of the top three iPad apps to see which UI I liked better. I can see not bothering with the others but as long as one has decided on an iPad and is testing things out, why not add a mature app like WingX? 

 

and while your at it, FlyQ

[carusoam]

WingX is still free for CFIs...?  Saw this in an email recently.

Best regards,

-a-

[kortopates]

WingX is still free for CFIs...?  Saw this in an email recently.

Best regards,

-a-

Yes, it is.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Pictreed]

I don't know if anyone has mentioned these benefits:

I lost the alternator on a night flight so I lost my GPS and all lighting on my instruments of course.

My iPad was suction mounted to the side window so I was able to use its light to light up the instruments and Foreflight to navigate back to the airport. 

The flashlight was too bright for lighting the cockpit but it was great stuck out the window to see the yellow taxi lines when I landed.  

My point is that I had independent backup navigation and a light source that didn't make my night vision go away. 

Tim

[Hank]

I've taxied by flashlight before. It's hard to illuminate things beyond the prop arc even with your arm out the storm window. With deent ground lights, it's better to taxi without the flashlight, your dark-adapted eyes can see pretty well. BTDT, both of 'em.

[midlifeflyer]

9 hours ago, carusoam said:

WingX is still free for CFIs...?  Saw this in an email recently.

Best regards,

-a-

Yes. And there are a few other paid EFBs free for CFIs for both iOS and Android. And Foreflight, while not free, has a discount for NAFI and SAFE members.

[Amelia]

Here's another enthusiastic vote for EFBs. Wow, what a game changer that was, next best thing after internal combustion engines. I tried all the efbs, and hardware, from earliest little iPaq with clever, but klugey and very poorly supported AnywhereMap, then iPad (too big for short-legged grandma) and iPad mini R, which works fine, yoke-mounted. Went through nearly all the major EFB players, Foreflight, Garmin, WingX, and the free ones, but now perfectly content with the latest efficient and very intuitive FlyQ, so much so, that last time they offered it, I decided that since I plan to stick around for another century or so, to get the lifetime subscription. I back up with Avare on my Samsung cellphone. Oh, yes, and that GNS 530W just for legality.Seems I spend as much time downloading, charging, and baby-sitting all this stuff as I spend on the actual flight. sigh. But it sure beats whatever was in second place. I do NOT miss the stack of unopened Jepp envelopes waiting to be filed in those big, unwieldy binders. I do not miss hunting around for the least-out-of-date L charts the night before an unexpected flight. Love me those nice electrons!