iPad Stylus/Pencil in the Cockpit?

SoCal 182 Driver

SoCal 182 Driver

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SoCal 182 Driver
Friends -

Is anyone using an iPad stylus/pencil in the cockpit? Worthwhile, or just something else to drop?

Comments appreciated!
 
I have one with my iPad. Useless for writing (I just use pen and paper) but it’s better than my finger for tapping buttons. I often fat-finger selections, especially if bouncing around a bit, and the stylus is more accurate. I don’t always use it but it’s handy sometimes.
 
I use an IPAD pro 10.5 with an apple pen and foreflight. I started without the apple pencil using my finger, which worked, but the pencil is much better. I bought a stick on pen holder from Amazon and I love the way the whole thing works. Great for clearances, especially in the air. Not completely paper free, but pretty close.
 
PaulS said:
I use an IPAD pro 10.5 with an apple pen and foreflight. I started without the apple pencil using my finger, which worked, but the pencil is much better. I bought a stick on pen holder from Amazon and I love the way the whole thing works. Great for clearances, especially in the air. Not completely paper free, but pretty close.
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How do you store it in the plane?
 
I use a Mini 5 and the original Apple Pencil. I use it for all of my flying including practical tests (I use it to take notes among other things.) I write down clearances, weather, annotate the taxiway diagram for my route, and annotate the VFR sectional or IFR low-level enroute charts/approach procedures whenever appropriate. Haven't written on paper in a GA airplane for the better part of a year now. It's great!
 
Ryan F. said:
I use a Mini 5 and the original Apple Pencil. I use it for all of my flying including practical tests (I use it to take notes among other things.) I write down clearances, weather, annotate the taxiway diagram for my route, and annotate the VFR sectional or IFR low-level enroute charts/approach procedures whenever appropriate. Haven't written on paper in a GA airplane for the better part of a year now. It's great!
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Where do you store it in the plane?
 
SoCal 182 Driver said:
Where do you store it in the plane?
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For a while, I used a little super-slim kneeboard that a friend of mine made specifically for holding the Mini. But I ditched that since I found it just wasn't necessary. I just let it rest on my leg, or stick it in a side pocket if I don't need it. Some of the airplanes I conduct practical tests in don't have a side pocket. So I'll stick it under the seat in that case. Sometimes I wedge it under my leg if I just want it out of the way quickly (unusual attitudes... )

I still haven't gone completely away from two iPads in my personal aircraft when I'm traveling. For one reason or another I keep finding occasion to use them both. I am absolutely not into having excess gear, in fact I'm constantly trying to streamline, so this is a sign that the setup is actually useful for me. I leave the Mini (usually) on a yoke mount in the portrait orientation so I can reference approach procedures, or traffic in flight. I use the full size 6th-gen iPad for most everything else including flight plan edits which I send to my GTN650. The Flightstream 510 keeps all of the iPads synced all the time which is a really nice feature. The primary benefit to a yoke mount is being able to reference the approach plate in a heads-up way. I don't like looking down at my lap and then back up at the panel during an instrument approach, as it is an invitation to spatial disorientation.

To each his own... this is a very subjective matter.
 
I started using an Apple pencil on a Ipad pro 9.7 on a yoke mount for IFR clearances. I eventually switched to a pen and paper on a kneeboard. I like to copy frequencies, altitudes and headings and too often I couldn't switch the ipad to the notepad.
 
I'm with Ryan F. I use a mini Ipad 5 in a yoke mount with an original apple pencil. I like being able to rest my hand on the ipad while I write. The pencil allows me to do that where the stylus did not. I quit using paper sometime last year after I figured out where to put the apple pencil when not needed. I use a holder wrapped around my pilot side visor that allows me to grab the pencil quickly, but out of the way. I found it on Etsy and it also has a small pocket to hold the charging adapter so I can recharge in flight. Here is a link: https://www.etsy.com/listing/465283...qRMQyS652QMZGMMolL9f9Hgmt_GIJmtYaAlXvEALw_wcB
 
pnancoz said:
I started using an Apple pencil on a Ipad pro 9.7 on a yoke mount for IFR clearances. I eventually switched to a pen and paper on a kneeboard. I like to copy frequencies, altitudes and headings and too often I couldn't switch the ipad to the notepad.
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Yes, I keep a notepad too for this. FF needs a quick push button from the map page to scratchpad and back again to make this easier. You can write on the moving map now, but not sure that would be useful for writing things down.
 
If you have one of the newer iPad Pros, the pencil magnetically attaches to the side, with the side benefit of keeping the pencil charged. It is a very strong magnet, and haven't had any issues with it. I would agree that it would be nice to quickly be able to go back and forth between the scratchpad and map on ForeFlight, but it might just be an user issue on my end. ;)
 
ISU_Radar said:
If you have one of the newer iPad Pros, the pencil magnetically attaches to the side, with the side benefit of keeping the pencil charged. It is a very strong magnet, and haven't had any issues with it. I would agree that it would be nice to quickly be able to go back and forth between the scratchpad and map on ForeFlight, but it might just be an user issue on my end. ;)
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if you lock the ipad, you can write on the screen with the pencil and it will automatically go to the "notes" scratchpad
 
I had a "Pencil." It broke. I find using my finger works fine.
 
Pen and paper is on the cover for my iPad
 
How strong is the apple pencil version 1 magnet? With a mini 5? Last thing I'd want is to lose the pencil in IMC.
 
172Pusher said:
How strong is the apple pencil version 1 magnet? With a mini 5? Last thing I'd want is to lose the pencil in IMC.
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I don't think the original had a magnet, did it?
 
I use an ipad mini in a case that holds the pencil although this is a knockoff apple pencil. I'm still working on the transition from a paper kneeboard but one thing I do like is the silicon tip. It makes writing on the glass a bit closer to writing on paper. I'm no longer all over the place trying to write something down. My handwriting needs all the help it can get.

22-01-02 11-09-28 0491.jpg
 
I don't need to write on my tablet, but I do need to be able to use it when wearing gloves (needed in cold weather in an open cockpit). I have a stylus on a string so I can't lose it.
 
I use apple notes in split screen with ForeFlight (1/4 screen notes) for IFR with an Apple Pencil. I have the pencil tethered to the iPad so I can’t drop it. I love it. I can’t stand ForeFlight annotations.
 
SoCal 182 Driver said:
Where does the stylus reside normally (when not hanging on the string)?
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There's a little pouch hanging on the side of the cockpit where I keep small items, I tuck the stylus into a webbing loop on that pouch.
 
Mechanical pencil and post-it or folded paper on a small clipboard. I have a couple extra pencils in the plane in case one goes under the seat in turbulence. Post-its and pencils don't require batteries.
 
Pretty much just use a knock-off stylus to mark up plates and airport diagrams before flight during planning. In the plane, it's pen(s) and paper. I normally start with two pens on a trip and end up with a different number of pens by the end.
 
My advice is to get the ball point pens that have the rubber tips which are made to write on iPads. They are so cheap that many companies give them away as promotions. I bought mine off eBay for $20 for a package of 5, but that was more than a year ago.

I bought an Apple pencil when I first got my iPads, mainly because I didn't know how any of that worked. It's fancy, and you make make all sorts of colors and shapes. I mark up my plates on FF much the way Bruce Williams does, and the Apple pencil helps a little with that, although now I could do the same with the the freebee. For cockpit use, the Apple pencil is not any more useful than the freebee.

Unless you do artsy things, I think the Apple pencil is a waste.
 
I fly with an iPad 9.6” with Gen1 Apple Pencil, here’s some points which I didn’t see addressed already in them thread:

1) For those using Gen1 pencil iPads, you can get the Logitech Crayon , it works just like an Apple Pencil but is shaped flat and Long, like a construction pencil. It also charges from normal Lightning cable without needing the double-ended adapter.

2) why not just use a pen with stylus tip? Because I can’t rest my hand on the screen and write list like paper. An Apple Pencil (or Logitech Crayon) will give palm rejection, so for example in foreflight scratchpad I can rest my hand on it and write just like paper.
I use a “Logitech crayon” it is shaped like a construction pencil so it won’t roll-away like the round Apple Pencil. Just sew-on a pencil-holding loop on the side of the knee board or top of the tablet to slide the pencil in there between use.

mine is on a kneeboard, not yoke mounted. Just my preference but I hate having stuff attached to the yoke.
 
I used the freebie pen soft tip for a long time. That's the way to go if you can make it work. Maybe it's just me but I suck at highlighting important stuff on plates and writing notes with it. One day I just gave up erasing and redoing something multiple times and bought a cheap generic stylus that works on any screen, and now I don't waste so much time correcting my markups. Can do it almost all in one go now that I have the hang of it.
 
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