PadPilot

[NorthernCounties]

I will be booking to do my ATPL with NFC in Dublin in the New Year, and will obviously need an Ipad as they use PadPilot. I am trying to determine the best Ipad to buy, does anyone have any experience. I'd assume the Ipad Mini 4 would be best for the cockpit, but not sure about studying from it for extended periods of times. Also there are various rumours the Ipad Mini 4 is to be discontinued, but equally plenty of rumours a new one is due out in the new year.

Any thoughts will be much appreciated.

[dook]

If you only need it for theoretical knowledge then buy any used iPad. Why would you ever need it in a cockpit ?

Before I retired my last school used PadPilot and we all found the content and text wanting. I never used any of the stuff in my lectures, but I had been teaching ATPL subjects a long time before the PadPilot authors/illustrators designed their software.

Schools that buy the software do so because it's easier than constructing their own course notes and illustrations.

Good luck

[NorthernCounties]

Thanks Dook, my reasoning around the smaller one was just due to seeing a couple of instructors using them in the cockpit for the likes of SkyDemon etc.

[TheBat]

If you need to take proper notes using an Apple pencil (PadPilot has this function, which is extremely useful), your best bet is either ipad gen6 (2018) or the ridiculously expensive ipad pro. If you go for the cheaper option (Gen6, which I use and confirm the function) you can only use the original first version of Apple pencil, not the latest one which only works with Pro . Of course there are cheaper styluses out there which can be used on slightly older models.
In any case, I wouldn't reccomend an ipad mini for studying - and there's a hell of a lot of it :)

[paco]

The mini is too small for reading notes, and padpilot use a sans serif font for body text which doesn't help. You would use a mini in a cockpit because the big one bounces around too much, especially in a helicopter.

[NorthernCounties]

Thanks TheBat and paco, I think I´m a convert to the Ipad generation 6 then! For the saving versus the pro I could have a good couple more hours in the air! Thanks again!

[MR172]

I used padpilot on a crappy old Ipad 2 and its fine.

I normally just use it as a book and do the padpilot tests and question bank on the laptop.

I wouldnt rule out keeping a few quid to by "paper" books as well, I ended up using the CAE POF book for reference.

Good luck with your studies!

[TheBat]

Excellent decison with good reasoning :) Wishing you all the best!

[Geonauta]

If you want to fly using ForeFlight or any other you need 4G-WiFi models not just WiFi, and this is a KEY fact.

Good luck!