IPad in the flight levels?

[FloridaMan]

Anyone have experience with iPads up in the flight levels in unpressurized mooneys? Do they work?

[carusoam]

iPad probably lists their operating conditions that are proven....

Most often covering temps, rh, and possibly altitude...

The only things that I have seen shut-down an iPad have been direct sunlight and lack of electricity.

i looked up their operating specs... up to 10k’, typical of working inside a pressurized plane...

https://www.apple.com/ipad-pro/specs/

iphones can shut down in cold weather when exposed.  Jogging in winter experience... iphone5 experience...

When it comes to using an iPad as a navigation tool, it can fail when you have to keep it out of sunlight.  Putting it in the shade, often shades it from satellites....  ipad1 experience...

PP thoughts only...

Best regards,

-a-

[Danb]

I’ve had no issues using either of my iPads in our Mooney’s. 

[Yooper Rocketman]

Mine works fine at FL240

 

[carqwik]

My Nexus 7 works fine at FL190.

[jlunseth]

I have had four iPads starting with the original, and used them all in the aircraft.  Never had one stop or quit for any reason, certainly not altitude.  There were some reports of iPads overheating and stopping in the early years.  My read on them was that most of the reports I read were “what ifs,” others would see them and say, “look, over there, that guys iPad stopped.”

I have a now ancient knee case that is aluminum and has the knee strap running through it, so the iPad sits in the case on the strap. This give a little clearance between the iPad and my thigh, so the iPad has a little air behind it rather than sitting on a warm thigh.  Maybe that helps, I don’t know, in any case altitude is not a problem.

Edited April 19, 2018 by jlunseth

[carusoam]

Jim,

i heard (back in the 80s) that air was a lubricant between the hard drive’s read head and the media itself... I had no proof to go with that...

Apparently, if you remove the air, the head crashes on the media... could cause scarring..?

A good reason to have a good air filter, on your mechanical drives...  smoking nearby, not allowed...

Interesting...

Best regards,

-a-

[Wayne Cease]

An iPad won't suffer from that as it doesn't have a hard drive.  The storage is all solid state.

 

[MIm20c]

I remember looking hard for an solid state drive to run anywhere map back in the day.  Oh the money that I could have saved if FF and iPads were around back then. 

[Warren]

I have the ipad air and it works well up in the flight levels.  My only problem is overheating with direct sunlight.  I found that directing the overhead vent straight down is enough cooling to keep it from shutting down.  I have mine mounted to a soft kneeboard (Flight Outfitters).  I like the above post using an Aluminum knee board — maybe helps act as a heat sink/spreader for cooling.

[Deb]

From https://support.foreflight.com/hc/en-us/articles/204455425-Have-there-been-any-decompression-tests-on-the-iPad-?mobile_site=true:

Have there been any decompression tests on the iPad?

The iPad, iPad 2, 3, 4, iPad Air, iPad mini and iPad Mini Retina have passed rapid decompression tests conducted by Garwood Laboratories, Inc. Please see these articles below for further details:  

New iPad mini with Retina Display Passes Rapid Decompression Testing

and

Successful Rapid Decompression Tests on New iPad Air

There is also a Decompression Test video available that walks through the EFB hardware qualifications.  It shows the Rapid Decompression test process on a 3rd generation iPad. 

Edited April 19, 2018 by Deb

[StevenL757]

I’ve had three different models of iPads going back about 3 years in both an Ovation up to FL180 and FL190, and in an Acclaim up to FL230, with all flights at least a couple of hours in duration minimum, and experienced no issues.

[EricJ]

There's a small likelihood that there'll be an increased likelihood of an electronic fault due to an alpha particle upset as altitude increases, but that doesn't seem to be a big issue at GA altitudes in the middle- to low-FLs.

[gsxrpilot]

My iPad has spent as long as 4 hours at FL260 without any issues. The movie played fine the entire time :-) ForeFlight worked fine as well.