RAF detachable kneeboards - Fast Jet Aircrew

[NDW]

Afternoon all,

I have been watching : Fighter Pilot : Afghanistan on www.youtube.com and saw that when the RAF Harrier pilot was briefing he had a what seemed to be a detachable kneeboard - olive green colour

http://media.monstersandcritics.com/...1108050085.jpg

The link above shows HRH holding one in his left hand.

Just wondering, why they are used?

Thanks

[PPRuNeUser0211]

Handy for keeping gizets and widgets in, handy for writing on in the FJ environment where you aren't walking round with writing pads strapped to your legs. As to why HRH is using one, anyone's guess!

[Runaway Gun]

It keeps your most important notes/docs in a handy place to refer to inflight. Especially handy if in a windy cockpit, or one that tends to go inverted.

[NDW]

Cheers for the reply's.

Do you know if they are available to buy? I appreciate that they are Military, but as a Air Cadet - I'm doing my ACPNS hopefully soon - It would be useful to have one

Thanks

[Peter Carter]

I use one of these:
Hendricks 9-G Plus High Performance Kneeboard.

'Works Good' as some say in the USAF

[PAPI-74]

Ask in the stores - I was given one but tried everywhere to get a second for a mate, but no luck. To be honest they are too small anyway for a nav flight as they are too small for a plog and useless if you are in the circuit as they get in the way.

KneeBoard with Eyelets & Clipboard

These USAF ones are ok

Pilots Flightboards

A non folding kneeboard is best for nav as they can be placed alongside your leg out of the way. This is big enough for a detailed plog and charts, with slots behind for rules and a douglas ptr.

[scottyhs]

For an ACPNS you wont need one, What they will give you will suffice and they will probably teach you to use the kit they will issue you/lend you for the week!

Save your money - If your old enough buy beer, if not buy chocolate!

[Dunhovrin]

Padded out a bit they made a very handy rest for the wrist whilst busy strangling the cyclic.

Good Luck, NDW. And keep up the fine standard of literacy. A pleasure to read compared to some of the output of the illiterate knuckle-draggers you find here.

[FlightTester]

Knee Board Dont's...

If you have a refueling probe on your IDS Tornado, don't leave your knee board on it and then forget about it all the way up to the point when you see it disappear rapidly rearwards at about 80kts

If you're pushing minus X g in a Typhoon and you have the entire test card wedged into your knee board, don't forget to make sure that you closed the clasps properly, a cockpit full of floaty paper is pretty but it makes putting the test card back into some sort of order a tad difficult

Good luck NDW

[Rigger1]

NO NO NO

Unless things have changed very recently, these things have not been cleared for fast jet use and I am sick to death of jets being grounded, taking up valuable time and resources, because some jockey has taken his nice shiny 'un-cleared' knee board into the cockpit only to find that bits come of it / it disintegrates and becomes FOD a little too easily.

Please check it has been cleared for use before you buy one, because us engineers have enough to do without any old kit being taken into the cockpit.

[NDW]

cheers guys and thanks 'Dunhovrin' for the kind remark...appreciated

Does anyone know if they are specifically called anything...I'm trying to find one on google, however I'm limited to what I can search for, unless anyone has any websites that have any details.

Also is it worth contacting my local RAF station(flying of course) to see whether they have any old ones

thanks again

[Bob Viking]

Rigger

Unless he's talking about the olive green issue version that has been in use for many years.
And yes, it has been cleared for fast jet use!
BV

[Could be the last?]

The olive green one is the only knee board cleared for use in FJ, and there is a mod to fix the issue with the rivets; however, is it really fit for the job?

Working with an OEU recently, they alluded to the fact that most use a privately purchased alternative knee board - if that is the case, then highlight the fact that the current one is C$%^ through your FSO or SEREO and get the kit changed.

[PPRuNeUser0211]

Let's just say that not very many of the fast jet aircrew I know use the green brain. Also, a significant proportion may own one of the above links. I'm not saying they use them in a fast jet cockpit. Just that they own one. Obviously with the little annoying rings that fall off replaced with zip ties...

[FCWhippingBoy]

Certainly in the ACO world (I know, hardly fast and certainly not jet!) the only kneeboard cleared for use is the MOD issue one as in the pic of HRH PW.

[Bob Viking]

PBA

Let's just say that I know lots of FJ aircrew that do use them. It's not the best but it does the job.
Maybe we're all just too tight to go out and buy one!
Or maybe we are all blindly obedient and possessed of the utmost personal integrity!
BV

[PPRuNeUser0211]

BV - true! Although if you are in north america they are substantially cheaper as the international postage is a bugger. I always found the "forwards flip" design of the green brain entirely irritating, vs the sideways flip of the commercially available product....

[Professor Plum]

They often crop up on ebay every now and then, although I doubt you'd need one for your course.

[Rigger1]

BV - I hope you are talking about the authorised one because if your not please pass on the ground crews thanks for the countless seats we've had to remove looking for unauthorised kneeboard bits, and I must say (If they are not the issue ones) that I am impressed by their total disregard for the rules and flight safety... how would they feel if I endangered their lives by leaving my own, and therefore unauthorised, tools in the jet .........

[Ivor Fynn]

Rigger,

Take a pill

Ivor