Can one display realtime XM weather (specifically NEXRAD summary) on
the iPad in flight? I currently do this on AnyWhere Map.

Jeff

For no additional cost ForeFlight allows you to load the program on
your iPhone too. With those two plus the 696, I'm finally paperless.

Ron

On Jul 5, 2010, at 8:04 PM, John Hafen
<<mailto:j.hafen@comcast.net>j.hafen@comcast.net> wrote:

I second the iPad report below.

I got the iPad in hopes of having a great electronic approach plate
reader.  In that alone, it is worth the investment, rather than
having to do paper updates to 4+ binders of Jeppesen plates every
couple of weeks.

So I'm happy with the iPad and ForeFlight, just as a plate reader.

The moving map capability is an added bonus.  One can track present
position on a VFR Sectional or IFR enroute chart.  If you take a
second to key in a route, a little blue plane flies down that
purple route and tracks progress with only GPS input (Wi-Fi and
Cellular data in the iPad "Settings" turned off before takeoff).
In addition to a present position and moving map (that you can
pinch zoom and finger around), you get Groundspeed, GPS altitude,
and Track.

AND, I still (at least for the time being) carry current PAPER
approach plates for key airports along the route of flight.  Just
in case.

On the ground with Wi-Fi or Cell Data access, the weather charts
(Satellite, Radar, Flight Rules, Wind, Visibility, Ceiling, Sky
Coverage, Temperature, Dew point spread, and Lightening) provide a
pretty darn good real time supplement to the info you get from 1800
WX BRIEF.

John Hafen
IVP 413AJ


On Jul 5, 2010, at 5:51 AM, Jeffrey Liegner, MD wrote:

This is a report from a Malibu pilot friend...

I got an iPAD about a week and a half ago. Yesterday was my first
experience to use it in the cockpit. I flew from MMU to Kendall
Tamiami. I downloaded the the latest Foreflight app V3.5.1 and
all the sectionals, approach plates, low altitude charts and high
altitude charts for the eastern seaboard.



I have to admit it was surprising how well the touch screen
interface works to make using the charts easy.  The speed of
changing screens also helps as well as the pinch-touch zoom to
allow scaling and moving around the charts. The first electronic
chart reader that actually makes them easier to use than paper. I
have all the same charts on my panel mount Garmin GMX200. But
they are much harder to use because of the smaller screen(6.5"
diag) and the lack of a easy user interface.

The approach plates are almost the same size as paper so they are
easy to use.



I haven't used it to file flight plans yet but the couple of
times I tried to fill out the mandatory fields I flubbed it up
because one of my fingers touched the screen outside of the
virtual keyboard area and the pop up window causing the window to
close without saving the data already entered. Sometimes the
touch screen is too sensitive.



The screen brightness is adequate even in direct sunlight. The
auto brightness stinks. I don't know how Apple would release a
product with auto brightness that works so poorly.



Some of the other short comings: I have used Jeppesen approach
plates for the last 20 years. They aren't available yet. I like
them much more than the government approach plates. That is why
the pros use them. Jepps says their iPad plates will be out soon
but they will probably cost an arm and a leg compared to the
Foreflight subscription.



The biggest drawback is that the iPad is on the AT&T network. I
subscribed to their data service. The 3G is available at my house
in NJ. But so far only EDGE in Lake Placid and in Key Largo. I
will probably have the same problem in the Outerbanks and many
other places I will go to. So when traveling I connect it via
WiFi to my Verizon 3G to WiFi router which has my Verizon aircard
as the back haul. Like the VISA commercial, Verizon's 3G service
is available everywhere you want to be.



AT&T's EDGE service I found is slower than dial up. Its painfully slow.



The moving map works surprisingly well considering the single
channel GPS receiver in it. But in my airplane you have to hold
the iPAD close to the windshield or the side window to see enough
satellites for it to work. If you do place it to have good views
of the

satellites it position and altitude it agrees very well with my Garmin 430W



Like any cellular device don't expect its 3G/Edge service to work
once you are more than a few thousand feet up. So you better have
everything you need downloaded into it and don't expect any
weather updates in flight.



An important little trick I found is not to turn airplane mode
on. Turning airplane mode on seems to turn off not only the WiFi
and cellular radios but also the GPS receiver. So I leave
airplane mode off and turn off the WiFi and Cellular receivers
from the settings menu to conserve battery life.



I'm not wetting my pants over it but the iPAD is a damn good EFB.
Beside that it does a number of things very well such as a book
reader. The electronic version of the WSJ is also surprisingly
easy to read on it, as well as many other apps.



The problem is what happens if it goes tits up on you. What are
you gonna have as a backup? All the same old paper stuff?

It has already froze up twice on me twice while installing an
app. The equivalent 3 finger windows salute is to turn it off and
reboot it again. Fortunately it does that fairly quickly.



Feel free to share this report.



Greg