Jepp plates now on ipad

[Fuji Abound]

Some pilots have wanted a computer in their cockpit that can do everything for as long as, well, computers have been around.

For me that would mean a device that was:

• Sunlight readable,
• About the size and weight of an iPad,
• with a battery life of at least 6 hours, like the iPad,
• built in GPS, like the iPAD
• instant boot with a stable operating system, like the iPad,
• robust, like the iPad,
• and in the perfect world integrated WiFi via satellite.

Well I have to say the iPad scores 5 out of 7. Integrated WiFi via satellite ‘phone is not something many will justify although I think we may see the cost of these services fall considerably over the next ten years. The iPad is not sunlight readable but it is not bad.

In terms of the software I want:

• Moving map,
• Integrated with NOTAMS and weather,
• Plates,
• Access to the usual aviation based web services,
• Internet, SMS and movies to alleviate general boredom.

The iPad does not do as well. No one has come up with European moving map software, but I am confident they will. I can get plates but it is a pain. I can get all the usual aviation based services which work well enough just like on any other pc.

Now I have thought for some years all of this should be possible. On and off I have used various portable devices including iPaqs with Anywhere, and subsequently PocketFms, various notepads and the usual suspects from Garmin, including my trusty 195 etc.

However after all these years I have reached a conclusion.

I could cobble together most of what I want. I think the iPad is already a good example of a company that has nearly produced the ideal hardware. PocketFms is the perfect example of the moving map software I want. However to bring it all together in a form that I would want to use for primary navigation still remains a costly exercise that results in a package that is a best a compromise. I don’t think that is likely to change for at least the next few years.

So I find myself thinking that we are looking for a panacea that doesn’t exist and then I started using glass screens. They really do everything I want. All I need is some form of reliable backup just in case. My 195 has still never let me down.

Now I realise not everyone fly’s glass.

For those I really think you will be wasting money and effort re-inventing this particular wheel. Garmin’s really excellent moving map display does the perfect job of an MFD. It may cost getting on for £1.8K, but it works and works really well. If you cobble together something close you will have spent at least half the cost, if not more, but at best what you have will be a compromise.

So after all these years I have concluded that we are all wasting our time and money cobbling together Heath Robinson gizmos when in fact in the long term if you need in cockpit glass you would be better off buying something like the Garmin 695 supported by one of the myriad devices for ground based access to weather etc. be it an iPhone or some sort of PC.

On a positive note, since this thread is about the iPad and running Jepp Plates on the iPad, then I think if someone is prepared to produce good European moving map software for the iPad, then I think the iPad will prove to be the best blend of non dedicated glass for the cockpit that is around now or for the next few years if only because there are already positive signs that its development will be fueled by all those black turtle necked pilots in the States.