AOPA Pilot Magazine - October 2011 - 24

WAYPOINTS

BY THOMAS B. HAINES
EDITOR IN CHIEF

Under the Apple tree

y “aha” moment occurred while flying northeast between Baltimore and Philadelphia. With the low-altitude en route chart stretched

the iPad itself in less than a year for most pilots. Purchasing an annual subscription for all the charts for the entire country—high- and low-altitude en route, sectional, and terminal—generally costs less than $150 from ForeFlight, WingX, Garmin. A subscription for an equivalent number of paper charts from the government would cost nearly $2,000 a year (not including shipping). Jeppesen doesn’t yet offer VFR charts in FliteDeck, but will soon. For now, you can get a basic across the cockpit I hunted furiously for the interJeppesen subscription for electronic IFR charts for Editor in Chief section ATC insisted I cross. Tracing the Victor less than $100. Tom Haines enjoys airway, which dodged this way and that, I mumJeppesen will also soon be adding weather the extra legroom bled to myself that “there has to be a better way.” planning features that are commonplace in the in his Bonanza A36 Eventually I found the intersection and confirmed other popular aviation apps. With the weather created by not on the GPS that I was headed where ATC thought I products, an iPad makes for a convenient in-cockcarrying paper was headed. Meanwhile, I wrote on my kneeboard: pit tool for managing both charts and assessing charts. “iPad!” weather. Some companies now offer the ability to With the debut of the Apple iPad 2 a couple of display datalink weather via satellite on an iPad, weeks away, I waited until then to order an iPad, but since then further increasing the utility. have not looked back regarding cockpit organization and the For me, with a panel-mount Garmin GNS 530 that includes use of charts in the cockpit. XM Weather and the data necessary for basic navigation and The pace at which pilots have adopted iPads for cockpit use flying instrument approaches, I mostly use the iPad for backhas surpassed any technology I can recall, including handheld up and for finding airways and intersections along airways, GPSs and noise-canceling headsets. When each of those tech- since the 530 doesn’t depict airways. In case you’re wondernologies was introduced, the pace of adoption was impressive, ing, for most FAR Part 91 operations involving light airplanes, but not on par with the iPad revolution. A recent survey in there is no specific requirement to carry charts of any kind AOPA’s daily email newsletter Aviation eBrief showed that 53 and the FAA is fine with you using “equivalent” electronic percent of readers used an iPad in the cockpit to call up charts charts when they are needed (see “Pilot Counsel: Calling for or for en route planning. Remember that the iPad has been on Backup,” March 2011 AOPA Pilot). When expecting instrument the market less than 18 months. And while the eBrief surveys conditions in the terminal area, I do frequently print approach are not highly statistically valid, the trend is impressive (see charts for my destination from AOPA Airports, but other than “Avionics: The iPad-centric Cockpit,” page 99). that I am usually paper-free in the cockpit on most flights. One At recent aviation events, iPad apps, kneeboards, Blue- bit of advice, carry paper charts with you as a backup on your tooth GPSs for iPads, and other accessories have dominated first few flights with an iPad as you learn how to best use it in announcements. At EAA AirVenture I was noshing a bratwurst the cockpit. And consider getting an anti-glare screen cover (required eating at that Wisconsin show) under an umbrella to reduce reflections. when a young man sat down to share a table with me. Turns Still skeptical about the use of iPads in the cockpit? The out he has created an entire business out of selling nothing but newly combined United and Continental airline is in the midst iPad accessories to pilots. His brand-new booth was one of the of giving all of its pilots iPads with Jeppesen Mobile FliteDeck. larger ones in one of the exhibit halls and packed with custom- Used as electronic flight bags, the iPads replace paper flight ers every time I walked by. Sporty’s Pilot Shop has launched manuals and charts. In those applications, the 1.5-pound an email newsletter dedicated to the use of iPads in the cock- iPad replaces some 38 pounds of paper per flight bag—about pit. Page after page of its latest catalog features nothing but 12,000 sheets. The airline predicts it will save some 16 million iPad apps and accessories. Scrappy little companies such as sheets of paper a year and some 326,000 gallons of jet fuel from ForeFlight and WingX have blossomed on the back of iPad. the reduced weight. GPS giant Garmin has weighed in with an iPad version of its I doubt my savings will be quite so dramatic, but I’m happy Pilot MyCast product. Meanwhile, Jeppesen, which pioneered easily finding those rascal intersections ATC enjoys throwing paper charts and electronic navigation data, has joined the my way. fray with its Mobile FliteDeck app. The benefits of the iPad in the cockpit are many. The cost Email the author at thomas.haines@aopa.org; follow on twitter. and weight savings by carrying electronic charts will pay for com/tomhaines29. 24 • OCTOBER
2011

AOPA PILOT •

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AOPA Pilot Magazine - October 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - October 2011