FAA approves iPad as EFB
 

FAA approves iPads for pilots' electronic charts - CNN.com

Interesting precedent....

They must be turned off for Take off until the Captain has turned off the Seat Belt sign as with all electrical devices.:ugh::=

CASA's semi official position is to allow whatever the FAA allow in terms of equipment.

Obviously the airline needs to develop its own procedures and trial. There are at least two airlines presently trialling iPads inthe cockpit.

iPad 2 looks pretty damn good.

The Apple website even shows an iPad with an approach plate here and below:

http://images.apple.com/au/ipad/busi...n_20100901.jpg

What are the requirements for backup? Must have two iPads onboard? Preflight must include checking battery status? Does the iPad have to belong to the company and is it subject to a maintenance regime?

Looking forward to reading the FAA (and subsequently CASA) docs on this.:ok:

FRQ CB

Hopefully CASA get their act into gear and approve these for Australian operation. I'd expect that as a precaution you'd have to either a) have them connected to a power source (hardwired?) while in use or b) ensure there is a power connector available in the event of the battery running low / dying

Backup would be paper plates. No need to check batteries if you hard-wire it (which is pretty straightforward). No need for it to be subject to a maintenance regime, as long as it has an up-to-date database, there is nothing to maintain! Oh, and the latest ones have serial ports, so you can interface directly with your GPS for moving-map functionality...

Yeah... paper backups would be the obvious first fail-safe but if the whole point is to get away from relying on paper (including manually amending paper versions:yuk::yuk::yuk:) then what backup?

Amendments are the bane of all pilots' existence and even backup paper copies need to be amended. Is this the answer?

Would I send my family on a flight some dark and stormy night knowing that Captain Chuckle's whole flight bag fits into one pocket in his cargo pants? Do I let my family fly with a pilot who wears cargo pants?:=

Hmm, for those of us still in GA-Land imagine rocking up to a Renewal with a 'seasoned' ATO and shooting an NDB referencing the iPlate (cheesy name that just rolled out of my head as I sit here eating my similarly cheesy yet salty Kraft iSnack 2.0:8) with a little moving aeroplane over the outbound and inbound reversal lines. If he chose to 'fail' your iPad it'd be like 'failing' your up-to-date DAPs or Jepps.

I don't even own an iPad but I'm already salivating over getting my hands on the new Reg / Order and playing "What If"... kind of like Dungeons and Dragons for pilots really.:bored:

Damn; I still don't know why don't I have any friends? (Other pilots do not count as friends.) :(:(:(

FRQ CB

Damn - didn't think of that one !

Well,
Maybe that's it Doc. Carry one EFB (iPod size) and a backup, either a phone sized backup or simply printing the few charts you know you'll need (destination and alternate).

If you're headed into Adelaide for example you can probably trust the EFB far enough to only print out the 23 ILS and 05 VOR. 99% of the time the EFB will get you all the rest of the plates like STARs etc but if you're having a bad day you can always ask to be vectored to the approach and specify that you require one of the two plates you are now limited to.

iFRQ CB

EJM in the states did the trial and the FAA were happy. I haven't seen how the trial was conducted but they did do decompression events at high flight levels to see how it would cope. It obviously coped well.

On the Hawker we run Electronic charts on the MFDs. 2 independent file servers with their own batteries. In the event of a double generator failure, the #1 file server can be accessed independently of the main batteries.
We do not carry paper approach charts.
The weight and space saving alone made the exercise worth while.

A couple of our colleagues run the Jeps app on their own iPad. It does a very good job and would be a much cheaper option than whatever stand alone system you can buy now. In a small cockpit, the biggest hassle is where to put the iPad while you use it.

You don't put it away. You close the Jepp App and you open up one of the many games you should have installed on it, or you open Safari and surf PPRuNe, :E:E.

morno

Except when the 'Captain has switched on the fasten seatbelt sign in preparation for landing' at which time 'all portable electronic devices must be switched off and stowed'

With apologies to CharlieCharlie78

FRQ CB

FRQ CB, thread drift, love your note under your name. :ok:

Oi!!

I resemble that remark!

Ozrunways on Ipad and Iphone...job done, for private ops anyway. The trick would be to pull out the Iphone first so said ATO fails THAT and then revert to Ipad:E

We need a iStrap to strap the thing to our knee, and a screen lock to prevent any inadvertent touching changing the view.

Saw the iStrap thingy on a US web site this week, and for the screen lock, double press the Home key, this'll bring up a mini-list of icons at the bottom of the screen. Scroll to extreme left, there you'll find the screen lock button. Tap. :8

CASA is apparently preparing a new part 91 - Flight operations, and on its website it says that there will be "strict control of portable electronic devices".

I think that means that there will be unique Australian requirements regarding how any of this stuff, from a hand held GPS upwards, can be used.

I would be very surprised if these requirements were not highly onerous.

I think I'll just stick to the paper versions. Less things to go wrong!:ok:

Pinky, i reckon many moons ago, the old salts said a similar thing about GPS.....