Magnets on a kneeboard

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Brad W

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What are your thought about magnets in the cockpit?
How close to the compass to create errors?
...thinking about one of those cell phone holding magnets
 
Brad W said:
What are your thought about magnets in the cockpit?
How close to the compass to create errors?
...thinking about one of those cell phone holding magnets
Click to expand...

You make a lot of calls when you are flying?

Seriously, you are better looking into a Ram mount or something similar that will perform better in turbulence than a magnet for your phone. Otherwise you will inevitably be fishing for it on the floor at some point.
 
One of the biggest scares I experienced was an IFR departure into a low ceiling and upon turning to climb on course, My HSI and compass were frozen.

I un-slaved the HSI, guessed on a heading and returned to the airport with an ILS approach.

The long cardboard tube I was delivering turned out to contain something that was magnetized and it was not noted on the HAZMAT papers!

No magnets anywhere, any time for me... :eek:
 
GRG55 said:
You make a lot of calls when you are flying?

Seriously, you are better looking into a Ram mount
Click to expand...


ha ha....no...I've been playing around with an EFB on my phone. I'll eventually get a tablet I suppose if I keep this up, but I'd like to somehow hold the phone to my kneeboard better.
I looked at Ram mounts but those things are huge and clunky. Obviously fine for some, and I'd imagine better for those who own their own planes...but putzing with that big ole thing in and out of various rentals doesn't seem fun.
I was trying to think of something much more simple and elegant
I like the rubber band idea from texasclouds, but I see that as kinda futzy... and it would cover the screen, etc...
Some of those phone magnets hold very strong, and it would be easy to pickup or replace the device without looking...I my phone case already has the metal ring built in to stick to the magnet in my wife's car and in my RV
 
My tablet has magnets in the case cover to hold it shut, the magnets also activate a switch to turn the tablet on when opened. The magnets are strong enough to hold the tablet on a vertical surface like a refrigerator. I made a custom kneeboard with a thin metal sheet to magnetically stick the tablet to (see the March issue of Kitplanes magazine). Before doing it, I sat in the cockpit and moved the tablet around... no visible effect unless it was within a couple of inches of the compass.
 
Dana said:
My tablet has magnets in the case cover to hold it shut, the magnets also activate a switch to turn the tablet on when opened. The magnets are strong enough to hold the tablet on a vertical surface like a refrigerator. I made a custom kneeboard with a thin metal sheet to magnetically stick the tablet to (see the March issue of Kitplanes magazine). Before doing it, I sat in the cockpit and moved the tablet around... no visible effect unless it was within a couple of inches of the compass.
Click to expand...

Fun times to be had as an instructor, when a student sets their iPad on the glareshield, then sets their heading indicator to the magnetic compass. One of those times that you just sit back and see if they can figure it out.
 
Velcro!!! Lots of Velcro


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
midwestpa24 said:
Fun times to be had as an instructor, when a student sets their iPad on the glareshield, then sets their heading indicator to the magnetic compass. One of those times that you just sit back and see if they can figure it out.
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:) It depends on the plane and compass placement. I've done lots of experiments with placing portable devices (including my tablet and my SiriusXM receiver) at different locations on the glareshield, and can't produce more than the tiniest jiggle in the whiskey compass in my PA-28-161.

OTOH, when my prop got struck my lightning in 2005 (while parked), the entire engine, engine mount, and firewall were magnetised, and it took a lot of degaussing before we could get a compass to stop thinking north was always forward.
 
Tommar98 said:
Velcro!!! Lots of Velcro
Click to expand...

Wrapped all the way around the phone :D

David Megginson said:
...OTOH, when my prop got struck my lightning in 2005 (while parked), the entire engine, engine mount, and firewall were magnetised, and it took a lot of degaussing before we could get a compass to stop thinking north was always forward.
Click to expand...

That's every pilot's dream. I'd have left it. Makes navigating when one doesn't have a magenta line to follow sooooo much simpler. ;)
 
GRG55 said:
That's every pilot's dream. I'd have left it. Makes navigating when one doesn't have a magenta line to follow sooooo much simpler. ;)
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Actually, it did work out well. The shop found lots of pitting, etc, inside the engine—we weren't sure how much of it was due to the strike, but the insurance company contributed CAD 30K towards the repairs, so I got an engine overhaul nearly for free. Almost all new parts, including the crankshaft.
 
You get strong enough magnets close enough to the compass and you'll be buying a new compass. It's not hard to wreck it. When working on aircraft we never let any magnetized tools near the compass.
 
Dana said:
March issue of Kitplanes magazine
Click to expand...
wish i had access.....i always enjoy seeing the products of creative people

David Megginson said:
This. Adjustable width, and works really well, even for a 10 inch tablet.
Click to expand...

i was looking hard at that one yesterday! looks like it might be great for a tablet especially
 
David Megginson said:
:) It depends on the plane and compass placement. I've done lots of experiments with placing portable devices (including my tablet and my SiriusXM receiver) at different locations on the glareshield, and can't produce more than the tiniest jiggle in the whiskey compass in my PA-28-161.
Click to expand...

One of the most memorable I had, the compass was off by about 100 degrees, and the student faithfully reset the DG to match the compass without much consideration to which direction the plane was actually pointing. It may have been a headset instead of a tablet, can't remember exactly.
 
For the phone I bought one of those obnoxious bicep phone holders that the terminally hip use when running or in the gym. I added some additional material to make the strap longer and put it around my leg. I also have a suction cup mount for it. I bought it originally for use in the car. It works just fine.
For the tablet I use a Ram mount suctioned on the window. I also bought a tablet case and added my own strap so I can put it on my leg if that is a better option, depending on the plane.
 
I have a kneeboard with magnets that hold the metal clip portion on. Never noticed it messing with a whiskey compass in the Cardinal. There is no whiskey compass in my RV, so I guess I've solved the problem a different way.
 
I have yet to see a kneeboard that was not aluminum. Why would you try to use magnets on it?
 
Nice woodshop work there Dana

Shepherd said:
I bought one of those obnoxious bicep phone holders that the terminally hip use when running or in the gym. I added some additional material to make the strap longer and put it around my leg
Click to expand...
great idea...I didn't think about one of those things!
 
Sac Arrow said:
I have yet to see a knee board that was not aluminum. Why would you try to use magnets on it?
Click to expand...
I was "brainstorming" a way to hold my phone securely too it...thinking the magnet type mounts might make for easy picking it up for a better look and replacing it without looking...and without straps and such getting in the way of the screen.
 
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