TomTom iPhone Holder (GPS Booster) and Light Aircraft
 

Hi,

I have a couple of questions with regards to using the TomTom iPhone holder and iPhone in a light aircraft, solely for the purpose of plotting the route flown, not for anything navigational. For those who don't know, the TomTom iPhone holder has a GPS chip in it - this therefore allows you to use your iPhone in "Flight" or Airplane mode and still receive GPS information. However, the holder does have a Bluetooth chip in it for the purpose of hands-free calls, and as far as I'm aware this cannot be disabled (even if the iPhone is in airplane mode and has its bluetooth turned off). I'd be looking to use MotionX GPS to plot the flight tracks and then export these to Google Earth or similar when back on the ground.

Is it legal to use this on board an aircraft (particularly with the Bluetooth in the holder)? As I said earlier, I won't be using the iPhone for any kind of navigation, and will probably even have the screen turned off. I'll be flying in the UK.

Do most light aircraft (C152s, etc) have a car-style cigarette lighter/12V socket that can be used to power this? (I'm soon to be starting my PPL and haven't been in a light aircraft for a little while, so can't remember if there were any such sockets)


Thanks for the help.

Why are you so worried about using it for the gps if it helps you not get lost or wandering into controlled airspace can only be a good thing.
You say you are shortly starting ppl learn navigation the good ole ways and then when you have passed use what ever tool you have to hand.
I use a garmin 695 mounted on a yoke and also have a 5" screen running memory map suctioned to the screen

Good luck

There's quite a few ANR headsets available that advertise Bluetooth connectivity so I doubt legality is an issue- I think the law regards transmission/reception from a base station. Bluetooth only has a range of about 10m on those types of devices so that isn't a problem. I doubt it would cause any audio interference either.
I think every 152 I've been in has at some point had a 12v car-style socket but I don't know if they all do.

They're about £100 aren't they? For an extra 50 quid, you could get the AWARE gps with flight logging a moving CAA map with airspace warnings. Much more useful than a souped up dock.

Thanks for the replies. I'll have to check the 12V sockets next time I'm near a plane!

That's a valid point, but I've already got the TomTom holder and am using it as a car satnav. I haven't bought it specifically for use on aircraft. I just randomly thought one day "Hmmm, I wonder if this will work on a plane and allow me to track my flights?"

Has anybody got 1 of these yet?
I was too scared to be the first to purchase! it seemed like a to good to be true deal?
The aware gps im on about

Chris H,

Thread drift, check here: http://www.pprune.org/private-flying...check-out.html

Enjoy!

I called in to see Airbox and had a quick play with the Aware. Very good piece of kit, seemed well built and excellent value for money. They seemed to be selling well.

Just stick to basics for the time being. Getting lost rarely kills you, keep looking inside the cockpit often will, especially down south.

However, once you've got a PPL and perfected your lookout - go get a GPS, you'll not regret it.

(But always keep a very very very good look out!! Especially if you're down the South East - that is busy busy with all sorts going on)