I-Pad and commercial flying...

[David Pavlich]

Do any of you pilots carry an I-pad that is loaded with something like Foreflight onto a commercial flight and follow the progress of the flight? It might be more enjoyable than playing Solitaire. :D

David

[S3flyer]

It's somewhat hit-or-miss whether the iPad GPS will pickup satellites depending on your seat (I have a high hit-rate when sitting in window seat, not so much from aisle seats YMMV).

[Mike M]

It's somewhat hit-or-miss whether the iPad GPS will pickup satellites depending on your seat (I have a high hit-rate when sitting in window seat, not so much from aisle seats YMMV).

Ditto for android tablet. Won't reliably receive gps in the airliner shipping tube. Works fine in my mustang II.

[Chris In Marshfield]

I've tried, but the portable GPSes that I have won't lock onto the orbiting birds while inside the big tube. Not for lack of trying! :rollseyes:

The one thing I worry about is some passenger seeing this little box in my lap with a flashing light and panicking because they think I have some sort of harmful device.

~Chris

[FloridaJohn]

I've used Foreflight several times in commercial airliners. Window seats only will work. This is using the built in GPS in the iPad.

I also download the IFR high altitude enroute charts, and go to Flight Aware before the flight to see the filed flight plan. I enter the flight plan into ForeFlight so I can see the route we are planning to take, and also to see what the amendments to the plan are once enroute.

It's very fun in a pilot-specific way. :)

[David Pavlich]

I've used Foreflight several times in commercial airliners. Window seats only will work. This is using the built in GPS in the iPad.

I also download the IFR high altitude enroute charts, and go to Flight Aware before the flight to see the filed flight plan. I enter the flight plan into ForeFlight so I can see the route we are planning to take, and also to see what the amendments to the plan are once enroute.

It's very fun in a pilot-specific way. :)

This is what I was thinking. It would be pretty cool to be on a flight that has headsets so that you can listen in on the flight deck and have the I-pad in your lap at the same time.

David

[MEdwards]

Do any of you pilots carry an I-pad that is loaded with something like Foreflight onto a commercial flight and follow the progress of the flight? It might be more enjoyable than playing Solitaire. DavidGetting back to the OP's question, I too would be interested in what the supposedly thousands of airline pilots being issued iPads are actually doing with them.

I can't believe it's flight tracking, although it probably would work pretty well since every seat on the flight deck is a window seat. I'll bet it's more likely chart storage, email, company required documentation, user manuals, union rules and contacts, and a NASA form, just-fill-in-the-blanks-and-tap-SEND.

[Hal Bryan]

This is what I was thinking. It would be pretty cool to be on a flight that has headsets so that you can listen in on the flight deck and have the I-pad in your lap at the same time.

David

A friend & coworker of mine and I used to take our Windows PDAs running "Anywhere Map" with us on business trips. In those days, before built-in and/or Bluetooth GPS, the GPS was a separate unit that we would suction cup to the window and then connect by wires to our little Compaq Ipaqs. For pilot-geeks like us, it was great - we had our own little glass cockpits.

I don't need to point out that this was before September 11th, 2001...

As an aside, interesting that this was posted today:

http://gizmodo.com/the-skyview-turns-your-tray-table-lock-into-a-hands-fre-645225106

[Joe LaMantia]

I tried using my old "Skystar" GPS on airline trips back in the 90's, put the suction cup on the widow managed to get a signal on the ramp but no luck after take-off. Both the older GPS units and the IPad are great for those of us that fly. I am currently avoiding flying via airline for the US it isn't a pleasant experience anymore and I have the time to drive. The neat thing about the IPad is that it has a Maps App that works in any car if you have the cell-phone subscription, so it's good on the ground and in the air!

Joe
:cool:

[Eric Page]

Getting back to the OP's question, I too would be interested in what the supposedly thousands of airline pilots being issued iPads are actually doing with them.

I can't believe it's flight tracking, although it probably would work pretty well since every seat on the flight deck is a window seat. I'll bet it's more likely chart storage, email, company required documentation, user manuals, union rules and contacts, and a NASA form, just-fill-in-the-blanks-and-tap-SEND.

I fly for one of those airlines. I believe we are to this date the only carrier with full approval for iPad use both enroute and terminal (all the rest are in a test phase of one sort or another). We use Jeppesen's "JeppFD-Pro" app, which provides full IFR enroute charts (high and low), as well as all of the Jepp terminal charts (SIDs, STARs, approaches, diagrams, etc.) and enroute manuals.

JeppFD-Pro can display own-ship position superimposed on enroute charts, but we're not authorized to do it (we're not allowed to use the iPad's internal GPS or any external GPS receiver). The FAA is understandably hesitant to have airline crews relying on uncertified GPS receivers to establish aircraft position, even if only for taxiing. [Amusing story. A few weeks ago an email went out from the Chief Pilot with a photo of a Dual GPS receiver, an explanation that it had been found on the flight deck of one of our planes, and a request that its owner come and get it. I still wonder if the offending pilot had the guts to show up and claim his contraband GPS!]

Except on the rare occasion when the Flight Management System (nav computer) is inoperative, we seldom need to look at enroute charts. 99.9% of our iPad use is for terminal charts.

The app can also manage company manuals, but for some reason our manuals haven't been integrated yet, though we can still put the PDF versions on our iPad and read them with iBooks, FileApp, GoodReader, etc. Same with the union contract.

There's no app for the NASA form, but we can just use the ASRS website like anyone else. Many airlines (mine included) have a Safety Management System that works internally in a similar way to ASRS, and any report we file through SMS is automatically forwarded to NASA as well.

BTW, don't waste your time downloading the JeppFD-Pro app. It won't do anything without an activation code.

[MEdwards]

Thanks for the info, Eric. Your map of landings is neat.

Mike E

[Bill Greenwood]

We have a big convention here called Idea Fest, that brings many business, political, and academic people here as well as some just folks if they pay the fee, It is sort of to discuss the ideas of the major issues of the present and future. It ranges from some smart people, to just the famous like Opra to some real pigs like Karl Rove, They pretty much all like to play here to get away from the heat and hassle of some big city.
The CEO of United Airlines was here, and said two main things: that air fares into and out of here were going to stay high, and that obviously using personal electronic devices on an airline, did not affect anything, despite the b s that the FAA has put out about it for years, otherwise "airplanes would be falling out of the sky". He said some change of policy may be coming from the FAA, but what I think is that it is really hard for a govt buearacracy to ever admit that they have been wrong about anything; their natural way is to try to save face.
United has almost a monopoly on air service here, and what I think is that fares would go down the day that Southwest started to compete with United.
It is about 200 air miles to Denver, about 25 min on a United CRJ, and last time I checked the round trip fare in peak ski season was $1260 with no advance purchase.

[Mayhemxpc]

The real issue is transmission, not reception. That said, there are a lot of things in an airplane that will interfere with that reception. That includes the fine metallic mesh imbedded in the windshields to protect them from icing over. Even with regard to receive-only, experience with my three adolescent sons has given me new insight into why electronic devices should be restricted below 10,000 feet. Someone locked into his video game to the exclusion of all else will become oblivious to any potential emergency. (Oh, surely that will never happen to me! Probably not. But it could apply to the jerk who managed to get the exit row seat ahead of you.) Post accident reports say that if you are relying on the flight attendants to facilitate emergency egress and other services, you will be out of luck. Besides, if you can't live without your electronic devices in the first and last ten minutes of flight, you have other problems.

All of the above notwithstanding, on my next domestic commercial flight, I think I will try to slip my Stratus into the seat pocket in front of me and see see how well Foreflight with ADS-B In works (above 10k feet, that is.)