Hey, is there an alternative to the iPad out there that does not overheat and crap out just when you need it most?

This happened to me today and does not inspire confidence in the ‘electronic flight bag’!



Angier Ames

N4ZQ

question as posed:  What works better, Hamid?



On Jun 26, 2014, at 7:16 PM, Hamid Wasti wrote:



On 6/26/2014 6:46 PM, Greenbacks, UnLtd. wrote:

> This happened to me today and does not inspire confidence in the ‘electronic flight bag’!

This is why an iPad is not an "Electronic Flight Bag" and never will be, despite the claims to the contrary by those who do not know any better.



Regards,



Hamid







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<<This happened to me today and does not inspire confidence in the ‘electronic flight bag’!>>

I think with a bit of work, it wouldn't be too hard to

engineer in an ipad mount with integrated cooling.  The

simplest may be to just use a blast tube connected to the

CPU area, mounted to one of the ram mount holders, with

the back side cut like swiss cheese to allow the cooling

air to hit it.  There are also other active electrical cooling

options from what I have seen.  So perhaps rather than

waiting for someone to innovate with an environmental

case for the ipad, a homebuilder could do that themselves.



Also, one thing to keep in mind is...  You don't need

to use the ipad in every phase of flight.  If you keep

it out of the sun, and only pull it out for the times

when you really need it, it won't have that constant

CPU heating.  And, charging it while you fly is also

just going to raise the temperature of the battery.

So, start the flight with it charged, and don't charge

it while you use it.  If you do have to charge it,

try not to use it and charge it at the same time, especially

if it's going to be kept in the sunlight.



There's no reason why your EFIS can't show you all of the

waypoints and flight planning info you need while in cruise,

so I just hand-hold the ipad and refer to it occasionally

along the route.  Then, once I get where I'll be flying

an approach, it's kept out and running the whole time, but

not attached to the charger.  Doing this, the thing just

never gets that warm.



Of course, it also depends on the plane.  I fly an RV-10,

so I have less sunlight to deal with (at times). I'll

be using one in an RV-14 in a year, hopefully, which will

change things a bit too.



I'm just saying...we're homebuilders.  We can build our

own cooling solutions if we think about it, and by changing

our expectations a bit, and our style of ops, I think that

the iPad can be plenty good in the cockpit.  No, it's not

rugged, but if it were, it would be as big and heavy as

the old Motion LE1600 tablet I used to fly with.  That thing

was far worse for heat, but nobody would prefer to fly with

something that large over an ipad...so complaining about the

ipad not being rugged enough isn't going to produce a product

that itself is going to make you happy.  You need to find a

way to adapt the product that works well, and has a good

form factor and user interface, to your needs.



Hell, if you were flying with Charts, you'd have to deal

with paper flapping all over, and keeping them up to date.

I certainly think that an ipad adds more than it removes

to the safety equation. I fly with usually 2 ipads, and my

iphone as backup, loaded with all the plates and charts,

so I'm not particularly worried about one single ipad failing...

but I don't leave the thing hard mounted and try flying it

while charging all day either.



Tim



On 6/27/2014 8:50 AM, rwolf99 [at] aol.com wrote:

    /<<This happened to me today and does not inspire confidence in the

    ‘electronic flight bag’!>>/



<<This is why an iPad is not an "Electronic Flight Bag" and never will

be, despite the claims to the contrary by those who do not know any

better.>>

I'm on the same page as these guys, but I admit I'm a dinosaur.  My job

gave me the opportunity to go to Jeppesen Galactic HQ (which is right

down the street here in Denver) a few months ago.  They showed me some

eye-watering technology.  Like, having the GPS show you a little

airplane on an approach plate so you don't have to do mental gymnastics

to figure out where you are.  Charts that you can magnify so I don't

need these dang reading glasses.  Truly awesome stuff!  Screens ten

times the size of a Garmin 430, which used to be the coolest thing ever.

But then I realized it's on an iPad or iPad mini (my sister-in-law says

"Don't be calling it a Mini Pad!") and I choked at the thought of people

using consumer-grade stuff in an aviation environment.  Yikes!  There's

a reason why DO178 and TSOs exist.  When was the last time your KX-155

crapped out due to environmental factors?  Probably never.  The iPad?

Probably yesterday or last weekend.

But this stuff is really cool and I hope there's a way we can get a

ruggedized platform to run them, like they did when IBM PCs first came

out.  Ruggedized laptops, ruggedized chassis.  Heck, I think there were

TSOd radar displays 15 years ago that were just IBM PCs mounted to the

panel.  (Gives a whole new meaning to "blue screen of death", doesn't it?)

This is what Angier is asking for, what Hamid is warning us that we

need, and that I'd be willing to buy.

So, what's out there, guys?  Anything rugged enough for the aviation

environment yet, at prices that 320 builders can afford?  Not the Legacy

and 4P guys -- they can afford anything!  (That last item is just a

joke.  I salute and envy you Legacy and 4P guys!)

- Rob Wolf

I couldn't resist and had to type in on this subject.  



I have been using the iPad since 2010 and also with the first version of foreflight when it came to us.  The first generation of ipad did not have cell capability so I was limited to preflight planning whenever I was in wifi reception.  However, last year I bought the latest version with cell capability and now I can receive last minute updates including wx up until I loose cell reception during climbout.  



Once I am enroute I pretty much turn it off until its time for me to pull up airport diagrams, approach plates, etc.  unlesssss, ATC hands sends me to a point I am not familiar with.  



I was wearing the iPad on my leg with the clip leg strap, but now it gets crammed in between the seats.



We also upgraded the airplane to ADS-B out (GTX330-ES) and the Freeflight ADS-B receiver into our Advanced Flight Systems 4500S receiver.  It works great!!!  The weather, at least on the east coast, seems to refresh every minute to two minutes.  I love being able to look at METARS and TAFs.  Traffic could be better displayed as the only way to see most of it is in the map mode overhead view.  In the attitude display, +/- 30 ˚ of centerline, +/- 2500' and six miles are where the traffic must be to be displayed.



Back to the iPad.  With the EFIS displaying the route, I can see most of the points along the route although I don't have any IFR charts or plates displayed in the EFIS.



What I have come to is having the iPad for flight planning, limited enroute use, and terminal area use of approach plates and taxi diagrams.  I would love to have the disposable income to have all of my enroute and terminal area charts displayed in a more 'heads-up' within my avionics.  Those subscriptions are just too expensive in the avionics package we have.  I understand that the new Garmin G3X have made all the terrain and navdata more affordable.  



If it were designing the next generation of avionics panels, I would look to have the ability for users to upload connect and display content off the iPad.  In my mind its frustrating paying for the same content on two different devices, maintaining IFR certification, and being safe in the use of all our devices in the cockpit.



George - out





Sent from my iPad



> On Jun 27, 2014, at 23:18, "Greenbacks, UnLtd." <n4zq [at] verizon.net> wrote:

>

> Spend all day in the sun and you’ll get 2nd degree sunburn…..

>

> I think the best solution to my problem is:

>

> Do all of my flight planning and fully charge the iPad on the ground.

> Keep the iPad out of direct sunlight.

> And shut it down until you really need the approach plates.

> I’ve got traffic on my MFD but no weather.

> The iPad talks bluetooth to Stratus and this is useful weather capability.

>

> But, there is no compelling reason to have the iPad plugged in and charging all the time, just power it up when you need it then shut it down.

> It brings amazing capability into the cockpit.

> I also bring amazing capabilities into the cockpit, but without a relief tube/bottle, I’d be up the creek!

>

> :-)

>

> Angier Ames

> N4ZQ

>

>

> --

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