Tell me about your ipad mount.

[Corvus]

Hey guys, just curious how those who fly with an ipad have them mounted in our "cozy cockpits"

-Location

-Brand and model of mount if applicable

-Reason for that location.

[drewjensen]

I took an old kneeboard and put velcro on the top of the kneedboard and back of my ipad.  I then simply velcro it to my kneedboard.  I had seen a few other ipad kneeboards and was really unimpressed so I made my own cost effective one.  

[usafhaynes1]

I mounted an iPad Mini to my yoke on an M20C.

I used the following:

1. iPad Mini Cradle.

http://www.sportys.com/PilotShop/product/17842

2. Ram Yoke Mount.

http://www.amazon.com/Mount-Clamp-Double-Socket-Round/dp/B005F29036/ref=sr_1_12?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1367425824&sr=1-12&keywords=ram+yoke+mount

 

To give proper clearance, the yoke mount is on the actual yoke (not metal shaft) and goes over the top.  The cradle is inverted so I can plug in the charging cable on top.  When I tried the charging cable under, I had clearance issues during freedom of movement checks. 

 

I've had no glare issues, screen is bright during day and have to turn it all the way down at night.  It gets excellent gps signal (though I will be buying a stratus 2) and foreflight is my favorite app for VFR navigation, charts and approach plates (for when I get plane IFR certified).

 

Hope that helps.

[ELT]

I mounted it right of the tach on the panel. Check my gallery pictures.

[PapaPapa]

i tested an Xgrip + suction RAM mount for my Ipad mini in the PA 28 on the avatar picture.

 

- suction is not convenient, i'll certainly buy a yoke mount and use the suction in the car :-)

- Xgrip is ok and versatile although a dedicated one for the mini certainly holds it better

[tomn]

I mount mine to the right yoke - have a 696 on the left yoke. I used a ram mount that clamps to the yoke shaft just behind the yoke. The ram mount is the larger type that clamps around the entire ipad. I can take it out quickly and you can position it easily to be viewed from the left seat.

[Scott Aviation]

Ram mount, tried the left yoke for 4 months- sucks cause it blocks your switches and lower 6 pack a bit, mounted it on the right yoke angled left and so far so good.  Highly recommend it.  Also watch you don't have direct sunlight beating on the ipad for too long, check the back cover and make sure its not hot enought to cook an egg on or it may go into over temp mode and shutdown on you.  Other than that, I've been using AIRNAV pro and foreflight and both are great in different ways

[Bennett]

I've previously commented several times about the Mini mounted on the pilot side yoke, but perhaps a photo is more useful.  First, I don't like the Mini's slower processor and non-retina display.  I also have an iPad3, and the screen is much better.  I bought the Mini because I like the size of it, and whenever Apple does an updated version with a faster processor and retina screen, I will replace it. Hopefully it will be the same size so that I can continue to use the same mount. Also, I find a lot of glare on sunny days, and I tried a glare filter, but this just made the screen look even worse, and so after a couple of flights, I removed it.  I use a Ram mount on the shaft, and the "slip in" Ram mount for the Mini. I originally had the Ram spring loaded Mini mount, but I found it necessarily bulky, and each time I removed the Mini, I felt I might drop it.  Removed to update ForeFlight, and to charge the battery. The photo shows the spring loaded mount. The slip in mount is much better, in my opinion.  By the way ForeFlight released a new update yesterday that includes one of my favorite features from the Garmin portables (696/796) - a "rail" that selectively predicts where the aircraft will be in a settleable amount of time or distance. The back of the slip in mount is offset, which may be (or not) a good feature. I don't like that, but I made it work.  In the photos the Mini seems to block the instruments, but this is not the case in flight. I sit high (love articulated seats), and with the yoke back in its normal trimmed position, I can see the crucial instruments. 

[smccray]

No photos, but I just mounted my iPad mini on the yoke with the the Ram ez roller mount: http://www.rammount.com/CatalogResults/PartDetails/tabid/63/partid/082065077045072079076045065080049052085/Default.aspx

 

It's mounted up side down with the home button at the top.  I also had to swap the arm piece out for a shorter one so the iPad would sit closer to the yoke and the yoke mount wouldn't interfere with the movement of the controls.

 

I tried to put velcro on a yoke desk but the screen was too flat for me to look at it comfortably.  It was so uncomfortable it wasn't a usable option for me.  The yoke mount makes the screen more verticle and much more usable.

[Bennett]

The EZ Roller Mount is newer than my slip-in mount (not Ram's name for it), and they have centered the ball attachment point which is a great improvement. I agree that the short arm is the way to keep the Mini close to the yoke.

[smccray]

The EZ Roller Mount is newer than my slip-in mount (not Ram's name for it), and they have centered the ball attachment point which is a great improvement. I agree that the short arm is the way to keep the Mini close to the yoke.

 

The ball mount on the EZ Roller wasn't exactly centered.  There were also two options of where to mount the ball centered on the X axis and Y axis, and off center on the other axis.  I mounted the ball centered on the X axis but it off center on the Y axis.  When viewed right side up (with the home button on the bottom), the mount connects to the back of the mount on the bottom half.  Because I'm using it up side down the ball connector is very close to the yoke mount.

 

Not sure if that makes any sense.  It's a little difficult to describe.

 

Scott

[ELT]

Attached should be a picture using a modified RAM mount.  Needed to relocate the engine analyzer.  The mount  is stable and angled for a good view.  Best I could come up with.

 

http://mooneyspace.com/gallery/image/33893-/

[Bennett]

Scott, What you describe is what I have on my slip-in mount, but the Ram URL in your post seems to show a single centered ball mount, which I think is an improvement. 

[OR75]

I made my own mount using aluminum sheet, a hand seamer, some cherry rivets, nuts and bolts a few RAM items to attach to the shaft.

The inside is covered with  some felt, the outside is leather covered.

The set fits nicely between the yoke ears and I can still have a my hand grab the yoke left ear. 

 

I charge the iPad with a USB / cigarette lighter.

 

The battery of the ipad lasts a long time, but when the GPS is on at all time, a fully charge ipad lasts about 2:30 to 3 hours  (from what I have seen)

[brianwsparks]

I currently use he ipad mini RAM roller mount on the yoke of a M20R...works perfect. This is def a step up from the previous universal mount that preceded the roller mount. I recently order the new "iPro Navigator" from pilot mall. This attaches to the RAM ball system or you can buy it as an entire assembly from scratch. It's currently back ordered. It has a clipboard that overlays the ipad mini. I'll review it when I get it in but it looks great. Additionally, I wouldn't trade the mini for a full-size ipad ever!

http://www.pilotmall.com/product/iPro-Navigator/new-products?r=PilotMallNews_05-24-2013

Brian Sparks

1009M / M20R

KDTN

Shreveport, LA

[AmigOne]

It looks that in the setup shown in Bennett's picture, the Ipad hides a good portion of the panel, the HSI in his case, the turn coordinator for me (in my older C panel) when I mount my 696 on the yoke and I don't like it. I thought about mounting it on the panel with major surgery by moving the radio stack from the center to the right and locating the 696 there but my radio shop refuses to do do it, says it is not legal. For my copilot I made a very basic but functional mount of aluminum using the pictures posted recently in this forum, for the iPad for now and the mini when and if they came out with a retina screen.

[201er]

Ram mount on copilot yoke for full size IPAD 4 has been working great for me. It also keeps the wires away from me since I keep my Ipad plugged in for power as well as my new Clarity SV. Very happy with the setup. Keeps it out of the way but accessible. You can see the setup in my http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2a073PNz39k.

[PapaPapa]

well of course mounting on on the right side is easier.. 

The suction mount is ok on the passenger door (PA28)

 

But i find it does not allow to take advantage of the applications capabilities (i use SkyDemon (VFR) although i don't know what the coverage for the US is) as it is able to warn me of airspaces ahead with frequency to contact, also P,D,R zones, notam areas, etc...

 

(similar to the rail feature described in one of the posts above)

[midlifeflyer]

I used to just keep my full-size iPad on my lap or a kneeboard. Didn't seem to work that well in the Mooney's "cozy" (as you put it) cockpit.  I have a friend who uses the RAM yoke mount and I gave it a try and liked it's positioning. Looking through the aviation junk I collected through the years, I found my old Autel yoke mount (http://www.autelcorp.com/). I replaced their board with my iPad kneeboard (an iPro from http://forpilotsonly.com/). And it works great. 

 

If I didn't have something to cobble together, I would have gone with the RAM yoke mount. I don't think the cozy Mooney is particularly conducive to good locations other than the yoke.

. 

[midlifeflyer]

Figured I'd update this thread rather than start a new one. 

 

I ended up going with the RAM rather than my cobbled-together yoke mount. I have a full-size iPad and fly a number of aircraft including the M20J. Problem was that the position selections available for the cradle left something to be desired. Tended t be too high in some aircraft, covering instruments, or too low in others, interfering with control movement.

 

I came across this http://www.gforcemount.com/GF260.htm It's a new suction iPad mount that also uses suction instead of a cradle (btw, I'm a fan of G-Force - used one of their suction mounts for years with a Garmin 296 and 396 handheld). It go me to thinking - why wouldn't a RAM twist suction cup (RAM -B-224-1U) work as well? As it happens, I have the Stratus I suction mount so I took the suction piece off and tried it on a flight yesterday. The RAM mount set-up remains the same; the only difference is replacing the cradle with the suction mount.

 

The mount held firm on the iPad (my iPad is in a smart-cover-compatible hardshell backing but the "naked" iPad should just as well). Between the location of the cup on the iPad and the RAM arms, I was able to get the iPad in a position that was ideal for me.  Airflow around the iPad is unimpeded.  My SmartCover easily went on when we stopped for a short time and I decided to leave the iPad in the cockpit, but removing the iPad from the cockpit would have only taken a twist of the locking device.

 

Very happy with it - I just ordered a suction cup unit since I want to keep the existing one available for my Stratus.

[Piloto]

Like some on this thread I found that an iPad mounting to be inconvenient at times and in conflict with my belly when tried on the yoke. Even though not an iPad I found the Aera 560 to be a practical solution to my options. Mounted as shown I have it in view of my panel scan. I can do entries while resting my wrist on the yoke, very handy on turbulent conditions. I can shoot an approach  with confidence using the Aera HSI while scanning the primary instruments without moving my head. I made a simple bracket clamp to the yoke shaft and routed all the wires inside the shaft. I added a hood to it for sun shade and looks. 

 

José

[carusoam]

How well do the vaccuum mounts work?

Mine double as an altimeter. They all lose there grip at 10k' and release whatever antennae they were holding...

Best regards,

-a-

[midlifeflyer]

How well do the vaccuum mounts work?

Mine double as an altimeter. They all lose there grip at 10k' and release whatever antennae they were holding...

Best regards,

-a-

 

I used one in Colorado for a number of years. Well above 10,000' and in hot weather and pretty strong turbulence. Haven't had one let go in flight. I guess it's which vacuum mount.

[wishboneash]

Mine is suction mounted on the windshield in front of passenger angled towards pilot. Can be rotated 90 deg if desired.

http://mooneyspace.com/gallery/image/34464-xavion-with-gdl-39/

[kmyfm20s]

I used one in Colorado for a number of years. Well above 10,000' and in hot weather and pretty strong turbulence. Haven't had one let go in flight. I guess it's which vacuum mount.

Being based in CO your starting at a much higher altitude, us sea level guys have them fall off in the higher altitudes. The nice thing is if you get a good suction up high it will stay on much better down low. I got in the habit of resetting the suction cup up high after several times of them coming loose and smashing into instrument, turning off switching and hitting my autopilot disengage button.