EFB

[PTK]

What do folks use as a straight no frills EFB? Looking fo store and easily access the POH for example and current charts. Not really looking for nav apps like Foreflight and such if possible. Any ideas?

[N601RX]

I use my Ipad and iBooks. I have all my manual stored that way.

[Jamie]

I'm not recommending this (I'm also not not recommending this) but I scanned all my manuals, converted to pdf and then they're just a single click away using the built in file browser (android). The pdf application used to display them remembers the last page viewed for each document and returns to that page when it's opened again, so this make it convenient to position on check lists, performance tables, etc. I also made a document having just the important stuff so it's quicker to page through.

 

It's not as fancy as an app, I guess, but it's free, works, and is about as no-frills as you can get.

 

ETA: I also have a lot of the FAA pubs on there, same organization. AIM, instrument flying handbook, etc. Not that I expect to need these in the air, but gives me something to read when I'm not and hey... you never know...

[PTK]

Is there a source somewhere that sells perhaps an electronic tabulated POH? Something nicer than scanned pages?

[bd32322]

Is there a source somewhere that sells perhaps an electronic tabulated POH? Something nicer than scanned pages?

You can make your own with OCR (optical character recognition) software. Not sure which one to recommend. There should be a bunch out there. In fact new android phones should be able to take pictures and convert that to text.

[Jamie]

Scanned pages usually suck because the author seems to feel the need to overly-compress them. My tablet has 32Gb (and that's avg these days), so I upped the res.

 

The attached samples are actually lower res than the version on my tablet (sized to be nice to the forum) and still look better than any scanned pdf I've downloaded.

 

 

[PTK]

They look perfect Jamie. Which reader do you access them with?

[Jamie]

This is on a Nexus 7, and I'm just using Adobe's PDF app. The file browser knows to use it whenever I click on a .pdf file. Comes right up. I'd imagine Apple has something similar.

 

If you find the electronic (searchable!) POH, please let me know. That would be very cool.

[BorealOne]

As others have mentioned - It's easy enough to scan the POH and OCR it. I did mine in Acrobat, and have it on both my ipad and iPhone as a searchable document in iBooks. 

[carusoam]

Ibooks as well...

This way I can refer to them in my office or kitchen table where the hard copies just don't go.

Best regards,

-a-

[Jamie]

For those that OCR'd theirs.... how much of the formatting / indentation is preserved? How about the bold / underlines, figures, figure captions, etc? I'd definitely like a searchable document, but would rather not do a lot of editing / fixup.

[PTK]

For those that OCR'd theirs.... how much of the formatting / indentation is preserved? How about the bold / underlines, figures, figure captions, etc? I'd definitely like a searchable document, but would rather not do a lot of editing / fixup.

This is my feeling as well. During OCR the original formatting is lost, at least this has been my experience. I'd much prefer to preserve the formatting of the original POH in a searchable pdf.

[midlifeflyer]

If all you're looking for is a pdf-compatible document reader, my best choice is GoodReader.

[midlifeflyer]

For those that OCR'd theirs.... how much of the formatting / indentation is preserved? How about the bold / underlines, figures, figure captions, etc? I'd definitely like a searchable document, but would rather not do a lot of editing / fixup.

100% of the formatting and indentation is preserved if you use Adobe Acrobat (full product, not the Reader) for the OCR. It leaves everything intact, just creates an invisible but searchable text overlay. You probably don't want to spend the money on the full Acrobat unless you have other uses for it but you might have a friend with it willing to do the OCR job on yours.

[midlifeflyer]

Is there a source somewhere that sells perhaps an electronic tabulated POH? Something nicer than scanned pages?

Doesn't Mooney make one available these days? Most of the others do at this point.

[OR75]

POH are aircraft specific.  They do include an aircraft equipment list and the W&B data.

[jlunseth]

I realize you started with the premise that you do not want a "nav app" like Foreflight.  However, it is very easy in Foreflight to download any .pdf into "Documents."  So you scan a checklist or POH and make it a .pdf, download to Foreflight, and there you have it.  I have many such documents in mine.  I put my checklist there some time ago. 

[AndrewR]

You can use the free service http://www.fltplan.com/

 

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.fltplan&hl=en

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fltplan.com-mobile-app/id442736594?mt=8

 

I don't think you can import your own PDFs but it has mapping features and current charts (Sectionals, IFR High/Low, Approach Plates).  Functionally, it's like a cheap-o version of ForeFlight.

[PTK]

Del

[PTK]

Success! I have imported the POH into iBooks in my iPhone. I also separated it into its sections for ease of use.

I wonder is it considered legal or do folks carry the actual book in the plane as well?

[carusoam]

I carry the POH in the plane because I know where it is and it's easy to find. I keep a copy of everything else on my iPad where I can read it wherever I am.

I like the idea of searching on the iPad. I have no idea if it works. Long manuals can take a long time to leaf through on the old iPad...

Best regards,

-a-

[Jamie]

This is a question I had too. I have a shopping bag (that's how it arrived) full of manuals all marked something like "must remain in aircraft at all times" or "must be available to pilot during flight". Garmin 430 manuals, autopilot, etc.

 

I've either scanned these, or downloaded the manufacturer's pdf. If I get ramp checked and don't have the dead tree version, is that a violation?

[midlifeflyer]

This is a question I had too. I have a shopping bag (that's how it arrived) full of manuals all marked something like "must remain in aircraft at all times" or "must be available to pilot during flight". Garmin 430 manuals, autopilot, etc.

 

I've either scanned these, or downloaded the manufacturer's pdf. If I get ramp checked and don't have the dead tree version, is that a violation?

I don't think there's a good solid answer to this one. Since the FAA specifically allows the use of EFBs to include the POH (see - AC 91-78 - Part 91 EFB) it should make no difference so long as it is an complete copy of the official manual. But unless and until there is some formal interpretation that says the original hardcopy version does not need to be carried, I guess the more conservative course of action would be to include that extra couple of pounds in the weight and balance calculation, even if you never actually use it.