Rick7576 Posted March 17, 2020 Report Posted March 17, 2020 Hello to all you Mooney Guru’s . I am new here and in the process of purchased a 252. I have been out of general aviation for 30+ years. Requesting help and opinions on the Best EFB (for I-PAD) I will probably be doing 30 to 40% of my flying on an IFR flight plan. Planning on staying in the lower 48 States 90% of the time. Requesting opinions on best subscriptions and most bang for the buck and ease-of-use. I have about a thousand more questions on upgrading the cockpit but this is a good start. I appreciate any and all responses. Also looking for a PDF file for 1988 M20K 252 POH, and what ever else you all think will be helpful. This is a GRATE place for the best information on everything Mooney!! Cheers 1 Quote
Hank Posted March 17, 2020 Report Posted March 17, 2020 Check the Downloads section for documents. I can't help with apple advice, I much prefer android. Avare is a great, free, 'droid EFB that won't run on your i-device . . . 3 Quote
Bob - S50 Posted March 17, 2020 Report Posted March 17, 2020 Welcome back to GA. The best EFB will depend on your personal preferences. Do you like Apple or Android? Most of the EFB apps will give you a free trial period. Some are free for ever and some cost as much as $150 - $200/year. Here are some you might look at: Garmin Pilot (both Apple and Android) - the one I use. ForeFlight - probably one of the most popular Apple EFB's iFlyGPS Avare Naviator Several others, the names of which escape me at the time. Quote
BaldEagle Posted March 17, 2020 Report Posted March 17, 2020 Happy ForeFlight user here with Pro Plus subscription and Jeppesen plates. I assembled a Stratux and mounted that semi-permanently in between the visors (I have ADSB Out but not In right now). I also came back to flying after a long hiatus and have to say that geo-referenced approach plates and synthetic vision on the iPad was a revelation. With a single subscription you can run ForeFlight on a second (backup) iPad and an iPhone at no extra charge. Garmin Pilot users also seem to very much like that product too. There are cheaper EFBs though. Quote
EricJ Posted March 17, 2020 Report Posted March 17, 2020 FltPln Go is free and requires no subscriptions for maps or approach plates or anything else. It's a very good, full-featured EFB. I used it for a long time on android and still keep it as a backup on an android tablet. I'd suggest trying something like this that's free just to get in the groove with an EFB and learn what your likes/dislikes might be. 1 Quote
J0nathan225 Posted March 17, 2020 Report Posted March 17, 2020 9 minutes ago, Bob - S50 said: Welcome back to GA. The best EFB will depend on your personal preferences. Do you like Apple or Android? Most of the EFB apps will give you a free trial period. Some are free for ever and some cost as much as $150 - $200/year. Here are some you might look at: Garmin Pilot (both Apple and Android) - the one I use. ForeFlight - probably one of the most popular Apple EFB's iFlyGPS Avare Naviator Several others, the names of which escape me at the time. You missed a good one FLYQ efb! I got a lifetime subscription for 1-2years worth of the competition's annual price. 2 Quote
McMooney Posted March 17, 2020 Report Posted March 17, 2020 Garmin pilot. Latest update on Apple is awesome. Quote
RLCarter Posted March 17, 2020 Report Posted March 17, 2020 WingX for me, try them all and see what works best for you 1 Quote
Amelia Posted March 17, 2020 Report Posted March 17, 2020 I second the advice to try them. All the major players will give you a month free.. very much a personal choice, and keep in mind that the latest update of any of them might be a game-changer. If you cut your teeth on paper charts and E6B whiz wheel, any, even the free ones, will blow your mind. While the big gorilla, ForeFlight, is very capable, with more bells and whistles and detailed pictorial briefings than you can process in one sitting, it has lengthy drill-down menus and multiple ways to skin any given cat, which I, in my dotage, found convoluted. Amendment to my routing? Gah. Ummm...Stand by. And third, didja want fries with that? All the extras add up in a hurry. If you want the whole thing, you’re looking at an outlay of $200+ per year. Number two in the popularity hit parade is probably Garmin Pilot. I use this one for preflight planning and updating my G650 nav system data.. The latest update is a nice improvement. Garmin has never played nicely with anything but Garmin, though. If you have any portable ADSB in that starts with anything other than the letter G, you’re SOL. There is an android version, unlike most others. My personal favorite overall is FlyQ. I got a lifetime subscription some years ago, so I’m good until I’m 147 years old or so. FlyQ plays fine with any ADSB that doesn’t begin with G. I find its user interface to be fast, reliable, intuitive, uncluttered, full-featured and frequently updated, which I find fun. Like early Christmas.. Amendment to my clearance? Sure. (No problem) Ready to copy. The latest update, now in beta, has some really nice adsb weather products. And the app comes in just two sizes, vfr and IFR.. Fries included. For about half the annual price of FF. I haven’t tried the others in years, shouldn’t comment.. But play your cards right, you can put off the decision for a long time! Try them all, free, a month at a time. You’ll find some may fit your needs and budget better than others. And they’re all fun to learn, especially coming from the Stone Age as I did. 3 1 Quote
gsxrpilot Posted March 17, 2020 Report Posted March 17, 2020 I tried them all and settled on ForeFlight. I can also send you a pdf copy of a 1987 252. As that is what I fly. Send me a PM with contact details and I'll send it to you. I'm also happy to talk on the phone about all things M20K 252 TSE. Arguably the best model Mooney ever made Quote
MooneyMitch Posted March 17, 2020 Report Posted March 17, 2020 I enjoy Avare. And I enjoy their no charge service. 3 Quote
Jeph357 Posted March 18, 2020 Report Posted March 18, 2020 9 hours ago, J0nathan225 said: You missed a good one FLYQ efb! I got a lifetime subscription for 1-2years worth of the competition's annual price. I agree, if you can get by until around christmas they usually have a lifetime subscription VFR Only for $199 or lifetime subscription VFR & IFR for $299 sale Quote
jonhop Posted March 18, 2020 Report Posted March 18, 2020 (edited) 9 hours ago, Amelia said: I second the advice to try them. All the major players will give you a month free.. What avionics does your 252 have? Garmin? Avidyne? That may help steer the conversation. As others have mentioned Garmin Pilot works great with Garmin but not so much with other products other than ForeFlight. +1 on the quote above from Amelia. I also got back into flying after a long hiatus and used Avare for FREE using a cheap Android tablet that I bought for $128 at Costco. I subsequently purchased my J that had a GTN-650. I tried both ForeFlight and Garmin Pilot via free trials on an iPad and they were both good but were not as intuitive in my opinion as Avare, so I went back to Avare. I am now flying behind Garmin Pilot--I personally find it more intuitive than FF--on an iPad Pro because I now have a FlightStream 510 and GTX-345 for flight plan transfer, database concierge, traffic and weather; all slick features and account for a tremendous amount of SA and capability on the yoke. I can push flight plan updates from either the 650 or iPad. In turbulence, I can pull the iPad off the yoke, modify the flight plan and push it back to the 650. From what I understand, both GP and FF can do this with Garmin avionics. I've heard that Avidyne works with both apps as well but I have no experience with an IFD navigator or Aspen PFD/MFD. BTW, I still fly with Avare as a backup on my Android phone and tablet. Avare is free except for the cost of a device and also has geo-referenced taxi diagrams and approach plates, which FF and GP will up charge for. My four year old 9" Android tablet running Avare is a great backup and it's more than paid for itself in FF and GP upgrades for geo-referenced plates and diagrams. Just my 2¢ Edited March 18, 2020 by jonhop 1 Quote
jlunseth Posted March 18, 2020 Report Posted March 18, 2020 Foreflight here. It is the complete package. I keep my checklist in the documents section, use it every flight every time. Not a checkbox type checklist, I hate those, just works like a paper checklist. Can do all flight planning, get a briefing, file a flight plan, find out what your clearance is. Get a Stratus and you have traffic and wx. Use the scratch pad section for ATIS, to copy clearance, and anything else you want to write down, just with your finger tip or if you insist on being neat, and Apple pen. The best part of the deal? Its not Garmin. Now, I like Garmin, I have a lot of Garmin on my panel, they make great stuff. But they use all their competitive weight to move everything to Garmin and the prices just keep going up. Foreflight’s customer service is the best in the business, and they keep Garmin honest. If we all go to Garmin Pilot the subscription will be $700 per year and the charts will be extra. Quote
Rick7576 Posted March 18, 2020 Author Report Posted March 18, 2020 Well thank you all for all the advice and information. Had no idea there were so many apps. out there. I'm using an Apple I-Pad so some of the Android apps wont work. Any thoughts on getting an I-Pad mini ? Might fit in a bit easier. and I think for about $600. might be a good investment. O I forgot All the Apple stores are closed!! Cheers Quote
Oldguy Posted March 18, 2020 Report Posted March 18, 2020 iPad mini fits nicely between the horns of the yoke and a RAM or similar mount can put it where it does not block anything but is still easily seen. Some mount their EFB on the co-pilot panel (see @gsxrpilot or @Bob_Belville) and angle it to themselves. Or some have two iPads and an iPhone (all legal under ForeFlight's license) for redundant redundancy. So many options to choose, but most recommend a cell-capable iPad so as to be able to use the on-iPad GPS should things completely hit the fan. 1 Quote
gsxrpilot Posted March 18, 2020 Report Posted March 18, 2020 I've mounted iPads a few different ways in the cockpit. I find that as my eyes have gotten older, I prefer the larger size. I started with a Mini on the yoke but now use a 9.5" Pro. Here are a few pictures of my setup. And here's a Mini mounted on the yoke in my previous Mooney. Quote
Amelia Posted March 18, 2020 Report Posted March 18, 2020 Gets pretty hot all summer n this swamp, so I found a Ram mount with a spring-clip x-back for my yoke-mounted iPad mini, and haven’t had a heat-related shutdown since. Easy to aim a vent at the thing. My Screaming Eagle came with upgraded avionics.. I like my GNS650 and associated gimcrackery, and I very much like the Aspen Pro, but confess that the iPad Mini with FlyQ is my real go-to when things get bumpy, along with the old-style round gauges. 1 Quote
Hank Posted March 18, 2020 Report Posted March 18, 2020 2 hours ago, Oldguy said: iPad mini fits nicely between the horns of the yoke and a RAM or similar mount can put it where it does not block anything but is still easily seen. Some mount their EFB on the co-pilot panel (see @gsxrpilot or @Bob_Belville) and angle it to themselves. Or some have two iPads and an iPhone (all legal under ForeFlight's license) for redundant redundancy. So many options to choose, but most recommend a cell-capable iPad so as to be able to use the on-iPad GPS should things completely hit the fan. A good idea if you need Apple, but even the el cheapo Samsung wifi-only tablets have GPS. That's what mine is . . . Galaxy Tab A, wifi only, at least three years old. Avare works great, leaves the pretty blue line on the sectional, and automatically changes to airport diagram on the rollout. The tablet was $179 back when it was new, but prices continue to fall. 2 Quote
kris_adams Posted March 18, 2020 Report Posted March 18, 2020 6 hours ago, Rick7576 said: Well thank you all for all the advice and information. Had no idea there were so many apps. out there. I'm using an Apple I-Pad so some of the Android apps wont work. Any thoughts on getting an I-Pad mini ? Might fit in a bit easier. and I think for about $600. might be a good investment. O I forgot All the Apple stores are closed!! Cheers I have the latest iPad mini in front of the copilot mounted in a Guardian panel mount (https://www.guardianavionics.com/ifdr-aircraft-instrument-panel-flush-mount-ipad-mini-package-with-power-supply) running Garmin pilot. I'm very happy with the solution. Quote
carusoam Posted March 18, 2020 Report Posted March 18, 2020 The 252 is quite a Rocketship... Will you be acquiring some transition training (TT) or some get to know you better training with that? Please consider it if you haven’t already... It is good for both the pilot and the plane... Then join the LOP discussions on engine ops for the M20K... to know you are leaning the engine properly... Best regards, -a- Quote
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