Cockpit Organization vs. Generation Clutter

TangoWhiskey

TangoWhiskey

Touchdown! Greaser!
Joined
Feb 23, 2005
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Midlothian, TX
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3Green
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KJWY - Mid-Way Regional
Great article...

http://aviationweek.com/blog/safety-snapshot-generation-clutter

Discuss! How much is too much? I watched this video this morning; it, along with others, surprises me with how much we bring into the cockpit sometimes. Even with a glass cockpit, there's the iPad, iPhone, GoPro on the headset, GoPro on the dash, GoPro on the wing... where does it stop? Does it interfere with our primary responsibility to fly the plane?

 
It certainly could. But I know from my own flying that I often forget the existence of the video camera when it's on. I think most of the people who do videos have a "set it and forget it" mentality. It's not something you play with.
 
I don't have an iPhone, GoPro on the headset, GoPro on the dash, GoPro on the wing or any other clutter for that matter. For two reasons:
1) that money is a waste and can be spent on avgas instead :)
2) those are useless to me, they don't make the plane fly better

Now go out there and fly! (unless you are in CTX and the weather sucks and will suck all weekend again)
 
Been flying since 1985, IFR since 1994. I used to haul a very heavy flight bag around with headsets, Jepp IFR charts, sectionals, timer, E-6B, etc. and was so happy to jettison all that crap when glass cockpits came about.

I fly my G-1000 Mooney with nothing else onboard but my iPhone and a handheld comm for backup. I don't understand guys who mount iPads and handheld GPS units on panels containing G-1000's.
 
I think I might have seen that fool circling around over the San Pablo Bay.
 
I asked the same question a while back in a thread about the number of gps devices we have in the cockpit. I was pretty surprised by the amount of stuff folks take flying with them, not including cameras. The fact that those devices replace a lot of other crap is a good point, but often, one or two devices can do all those functions, just not at the same time. Different strokes for different folks.

We do have a lot on good quality vids nowadays, and I think it's pretty neat. I'm glad some folks put a lot off effort into them.
 
Those of us recently active on COPA know this fellow.

We followed him through his primary training, and he showed his proclivity to gadgets even then. A lot of us, myself included, encouraged him to get back to basics and not get distracted by all the toys.

That said, I think he's turned into a pretty competent pilot in a fairly short time. I think too much "stuff" detracts from the pure joy of flying, but as long as he's flying safely, who am I to judge?
 
The more stuff you have the stupider you are. Poorer too. And less happy. Suckers.
Just started reading this, not that I ever disagreed with the ideas.
 
I always carry the same stuff if I'm in something with no GPS or a G1000. One tablet on the Yoke. A backup from a different manufacturer in the flight bag and my phone. Maybe I find the airspace easier to read on the sectional/TAC on the tablet than the G1000, maybe I find the plates easier to use in front of me than on the MFD, maybe I just don't trust technology. It's mostly the last one though, I've worked on computers all my life so I never trust any single piece of technology. I'm up to 3 alternator failures now, but that could just be the rental fleet I get to use. This excludes everything else in the flight bag like a PLB, flashlights, leatherman, spare batteries, leather gloves, etc.
 
All the cameras do make for impressive videos. I'm certainly not gonna spend the money on them, but they are cool.

What I carry with me when I fly:
1. Ipad for charts(on my lap, not on a mount)
2. Checklist(still on the ipad but required for work)
3. Piece of paper
4. Pen

In all my flying I've found those are the essentials I need.
 
I carry my tablet (with Avare) and my handheld to the plane.
In the plane I have a knee board with a laminated 5x8 card and a grease pencil for notes. My checklists and an excerpt from section 5 of the owners manual is laminated and stuck on the edge of the windscreen.
My plane has an old fashion six pack and a GX-55 GPS.
I'm not a big fan of clutter.
 
colojo said:
Been flying since 1985, IFR since 1994. I used to haul a very heavy flight bag around with headsets, Jepp IFR charts, sectionals, timer, E-6B, etc. and was so happy to jettison all that crap when glass cockpits came about.

I fly my G-1000 Mooney with nothing else onboard but my iPhone and a handheld comm for backup. I don't understand guys who mount iPads and handheld GPS units on panels containing G-1000's.
Click to expand...

I find the approach plates on the G1000 about as useless as the electronic checklists (plus, I'd rather see the moving map on the MFD anyway), so I fly with an iPad Mini/ForeFlight/Stratus2 combo in our G1000.

That's it though, plus a headset.
 
I have some pilot friends who seem to be more interested in the gadgets than the flying. Like the plane is just a vessel to haul cool electronics into the sky so they can play with them. Personally, I prefer the flying bit. I take the wife's tablet occasionally, but I don't care for it much. I just bought a Garmin 696 that will go in an Airgizmos panel dock so its nice and clean in the cockpit., and that ought to take care of everything I need. I much prefer an uncluttered cockpit and panel. I suppose I'm in the minority among other millennials, but I'm an early model. ;)

Hell, I still use a flip phone :yes:
 
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I bring my David Clark deluxe headset bag with me. I've never needed anything else. I have my headset, fuel tester, clipboard, charts, and pens and I'm good to go. If other people want to bring the other stuff it doesn't really bother me.
 
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