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Thread: kneeboards: worth it or not?

  1. #11

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    Quote Originally Posted by Payton009 View Post
    what are everybody's opinions on using them in the cockpit? Does anyone have any other substitutes that work just as good or better?
    i think they're handy.

    thank y'all for buying me my first kneeboard. and the second. and the third. they were all the same, USN-issued. had a big c-cell battery compartment and a light with red/clear selectable lens. first one, light broke off after just a couple of months. second one, switch broke after about three months, light stayed on, drained batteries (i didn't notice it had stayed on) and they leaked all through my helmet bag. third one, light broke off after a month. so i pulled off the battery compartment/light mount, riveted on a thumb tab, reinstalled the pen keeper spring, and i've used it that way since '72. oh, one other change, when the foam wore off the back i put on a couple wide strips of loop-side stickybacked velcro to give some airspace to keep my leg from sweating under it. i've replaced the strap twice. don't use one like this as issued with the latch, it won't break loose if you get caught up during emergency egress. just velcro the strap together. it's handy for helos and some other stick-controlled aircraft because it raises my wrist off my knee just the right amount to reduce fatigue.

    for my mustang II, i needed a thinner, shorter, narrower one. i cut a scrap piece of aluminum to size i wanted, folded the long edges down and back into triangles to hold it on my knee, riveted on a paper clamp from the office store, mounted a pen keeper spring above the clamp, put loop velcro on the back, mounted a strap. made the whole thing out of junk-drawer stuff, basically, and it does exactly what store-bought ones do plus it's exactly the right size, shape, and thickness.

    oh, almost forgot. do you need lights on one? most of the time no. but if you think you do, go to harbor freight or walmart, buy a nice little led light, and mount it on the board with velcro or something. that way it will be where YOU want it, not where the designer wanted it, and you can replace it when it breaks without major redesign.

    your mileage may vary.

  2. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by steveinindy View Post
    six-inch wide strip of white cloth bandage tape on my right pant leg
    flight med crews often do that, works great. don't drop their notes or have them blow away.

  3. #13

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    Just a quick note for "WLIU", I went to the knee board after using a yoke mount in the C-150 for the very reasons you described. After gaining experience with sorting through stuff on the seat and floor I took some advice given by a Dick Collins video and got the 3-ring trip binder which works very well. Later I bought a clear plastic chart holder which works pretty well once you learn how to fold the chart properly. I've been flying a TriPacer for the past few years and it has a Garmin "Pilot III" mounted on top of the panel, very hard to read there and almost impossible to actually use. I bought an antenna with a long lead that allows me to move the GPS unit around the cockpit, so I just dug the old knee board out of the flight bag. I have had great success using the Pilot III while sitting in my Dodge Van parked next to the airport ramp but no luck in tracking when it's in the airplane. I'm going to try moving the antenna about the cabin tomorrow if the weather forecast holds. If this doesn't work I will simply return to ignoring the device and continue flying it the same way I've done for the last few years. The technology is nice, but not really needed for the kind of flying done in a TriPacer.

    Joe

  4. #14
    steveinindy's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by cdrmuetzel@juno.com View Post
    flight med crews often do that, works great. don't drop their notes or have them blow away.
    That's what I do when I'm in the back as glorified cargo too. It's the only thing I do clinically these days.
    Unfortunately in science what you believe is irrelevant.

    "I'm an old-fashioned Southern Gentleman. Which means I can be a cast-iron son-of-a-***** when I want to be."- Robert A. Heinlein.



  5. #15
    Dudley Henriques's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Payton009 View Post
    I talked to my instructor about kneeboards the other day and his opinion is that they are to bulky to be very handy. On the other hand, he knows of others who swear by them. So I guess my question here is what are everybody's opinions on using them in the cockpit? Does anyone have any other substitutes that work just as good or better?
    I have never used kneeboards and have been vocally opposed to them for many years. It is highly suspected that a kneeboard caused the death of Hoof Proudfoot during a P38 demonstration in the UK.
    I've done tests with several kneeboards. In aircraft equipped with a yoke we discovered that during flare in several aircraft, it was possible to have a kneeboard interfere with both elevator and aileron control input.
    In my opinion, NOT a safe accessory.
    Naturally opinion varies on the issue.

    Fly safe,
    Dudley Henriques

  6. #16

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    I was given my first kneeboard in flight school and obediently used it. Fast fwd a few years and over in SE Asia, every one carried china markers and made notes on the windshield. In case of capture, you could kick out the windshield and destroy all those classified freqs and coords. Crew chiefs hated this practice.

    Later, on stateside missions and in GA aircraft, I got a supply of those SS bankers clips from the office supply store and clipped charts,etc to the log book and tossed it up on the glare shield. It was a handy writing desk. I continued this in commercial aviation and in my GA planes. I clipped to the POH. When paper work got heavier with Customs stuff and manifests, my fellow pilots showed up with clipboards that they got at truck stops. The kind that open up and you can store all your paper, etc that you pick up during the day.

    When moving maps showed up, I realized that I had been flying a long time as lost as last year's Easter egg. I then kept my charts in the flight bag (with Jepp plates clipped with it and rarely took them out.

    I eventually got one of those Sporty's Tri-folds and even used it some. Mostly on check rides. I still have one of those old time kneeboards with built in lamp. Battery holder all chewed up. The BEST solution is one of those fold away chart holders that bolt on the side of the cockpit The light is powered by the A/C 28V. I have an unlighted one out in my shop as we speak waiting for an airframe to put it in.

  7. #17
    Dudley Henriques's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bob Dingley View Post
    I was given my first kneeboard in flight school and obediently used it. Fast fwd a few years and over in SE Asia, every one carried china markers and made notes on the windshield. In case of capture, you could kick out the windshield and destroy all those classified freqs and coords. Crew chiefs hated this practice.

    Later, on stateside missions and in GA aircraft, I got a supply of those SS bankers clips from the office supply store and clipped charts,etc to the log book and tossed it up on the glare shield. It was a handy writing desk. I continued this in commercial aviation and in my GA planes. I clipped to the POH. When paper work got heavier with Customs stuff and manifests, my fellow pilots showed up with clipboards that they got at truck stops. The kind that open up and you can store all your paper, etc that you pick up during the day.

    When moving maps showed up, I realized that I had been flying a long time as lost as last year's Easter egg. I then kept my charts in the flight bag (with Jepp plates clipped with it and rarely took them out.

    I eventually got one of those Sporty's Tri-folds and even used it some. Mostly on check rides. I still have one of those old time kneeboards with built in lamp. Battery holder all chewed up. The BEST solution is one of those fold away chart holders that bolt on the side of the cockpit The light is powered by the A/C 28V. I have an unlighted one out in my shop as we speak waiting for an airframe to put it in.
    I was a back of the hand guy :-) I wrote headings, altitudes, frequencies, etc on the back of my throttle hand with marker or in ink.
    Prop fighters are the absolute worst for room to stuff things. Jets the same as I'm sure you remember. :-))

  8. #18

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    That is a noble, practical practice, Dudley. However, I would avoid doing it in sight of TV crews. Sarah Pallin did and was severely beat up by the media. Ah, they are SUCH simple people. LOL

  9. #19
    Dudley Henriques's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by bob dingley View Post
    that is a noble, practical practice, dudley. However, i would avoid doing it in sight of tv crews. Sarah pallin did and was severely beat up by the media. Ah, they are such simple people. Lol
    :-))
    dh

  10. #20

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    I was getting ready to post this and it is very coincidental that bob mentioned Sarah Palin. Flying the UH-60 I would use the kneeboard all the time, but I also kept a grease pencil handy and would sometimes write notes on the side window. I did this on a training flight back in early 08 when we were diverted to carry governor Palin and the local commanding general to view a new range. She actually asked after getting in what the numbers in the window were.

    I always have a notepad and several fat-leaded pencils in the airplane, but only use the kneeboard in the helicopter. Flying the OH-58 now with the doors off requires that I put the notepad on the kneeboard with the binding toward my lap and the loose ends of the paper toward the clip to keep the paper from blowing around. As to lights, I have a "lip light" zip tied to the kneeboard clip shining down across the paper. Works great to illuminate the paper without the effect of light reflecting off the paper all over the cockpit. Just my $.02 and your results may vary.

    Brett

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