Ipad / Foreflight questions............

Hi Tom.

If you have an iPhone 4S or later, you can download a 30 day fee trial of ForeFlight. That might be enough to get you by. The annual subscription for the least expensive FF is (I think) about $80. I have it but don't remember exactly how much it costs. Then, as most of the pilots here (and probably the rest of the world) have done, you would need to buy an iPad to run FF. That is another few hundred bucks, but if you want to use the iPad to surf the net and POA, you can do that. Just be sure to buy an iPad with cellular, but you don't have to activate the cellular. That way (as others here have said) you don't need another gadget for the GPS. Be sure to download charts and pack for the trip. I would try it out before I went for the long Xcountry. Good luck!
 
Just make sure it's cellular and you won't need an external GPS. I like the full version of foreflight but who wouldn't, so I'd say that anything foreflight will improve your flying experience!

Happy flying!
 
I use FF basic $99 subscription plus synthetic vision for another $25-$30 or so. Definitely saves money vs buying sectionals , plates and low enroutes. One of the times I went out to fly it was about 15 degrees, I-Pad would not work as it was out of its operating temperature range. Had to resort to the old maps, what a hassle and glad it was vfr weather for the cross country. FF is great! Very good customer service too.

My opinion is the I-Pad Air is a bit too large for a yoke mount but works really well on a ram dash mount. If you use a mini on a yoke mount do you recommend it or what is a good alternative for a second I-Pad? I want to be able to install a second one.
 
Couldn't agree more with Perezhr, I could never imagine going back to paper!
 
I got my rating with paper charts, then after a LONG break from aviation, I got back into and started using paper, because that's what I knew. I also started sampling different apps and quickly realized that using an app was a major improvement over paper. I tried several and decided on Foreflight. I felt it was on the most stable platform and that for me it was more intuitive and easier to use - but - that's just me. I also felt that with the Apple environment, with it being more restrictive than android, I would probably have fewer bugs and better support. So far - it's work great - I just have the lowest/basic subscription today.

Dean
 
codeeno said:
I got my rating with paper charts, then after a LONG break from aviation, I got back into and started using paper, because that's what I knew. I also started sampling different apps and quickly realized that using an app was a major improvement over paper. I tried several and decided on Foreflight. I felt it was on the most stable platform and that for me it was more intuitive and easier to use - but - that's just me. I also felt that with the Apple environment, with it being more restrictive than android, I would probably have fewer bugs and better support. So far - it's work great - I just have the lowest/basic subscription today.

Dean
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I think I've told this one before. My wife and I flew with a pilot coming back from a long break from aviation for a club fly-out. He was doing the flying and wanted to treat the flight as IFR for practice. So there he was folding and unfolding, shuffling paper. He has been experienced enough before the layoff that he was actually pretty efficient about it. But after the flight, my wife, a non-pilot, said to me, "No wonder you love your iPad."
 
So I am going to start the iPad foreflight journey. I already have a mini 2 no gps. So should I just buy a cheap external gps like the bad elf or go ahead and get a stratus 1s?
 
How do the prices of external GPSes compare to the price of a new iPad?
 
midlifeflyer said:
I'm not. An EFB, even a free one, that runs on iOS, Android and Windows (is there any other that runs on Windows now?) has to have a couple of tech folks hanging out somewhere.
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But they don't actually have to answer the phone. :-)
 
Wade said:
So I am going to start the iPad foreflight journey. I already have a mini 2 no gps. So should I just buy a cheap external gps like the bad elf or go ahead and get a stratus 1s?
Click to expand...

I'd start with a cheap Bluetooth GPS, maybe even used(like the XGPS150a) and then consider upgrading later and resell the GPS, personally I don't like the connector GPS units as they have a worse sky view and can get in the way depending on how/if you mount the iPad. This would also allow you to decide if maybe a new/different iPad might work better for you and the space you have.
 
Wade said:
So I am going to start the iPad foreflight journey. I already have a mini 2 no gps. So should I just buy a cheap external gps like the bad elf or go ahead and get a stratus 1s?
Click to expand...
If you have a want ADS-B weather and trafficc information(partial unless you have ADS-B out), Stratus. If not, the less than $100 GPS receivers are a good deal. I've gone over 6 years without an iPad that has a GPS chip.
 
midlifeflyer said:
If you have a want ADS-B weather and trafficc information(partial unless you have ADS-B out), Stratus. If not, the less than $100 GPS receivers are a good deal. I've gone over 6 years without an iPad that has a GPS chip.
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Thats what I was wondering. I figured throwing the 100 bucks at the stratus would be a better way to go to get weather and adsb in at least.
 
Fatherof2 said:
Hi Gang,

I have a few questions about this combo.

1. I plan to use a Mini. Anybody have experience with an older model? Foreflight recommends the Mini 4. Should I pony up?

2. Is an external GPS a must?

3. Is the basic foreflight plan fine for a casual VFR pilot or is the Plus plan a better call.

Thanks All!
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I am a little late to the party but I would pony up for the mini 4. I have a mini 2 and it works fine but it could be a little faster when dealing with FF maps etc...

Basic plan is fine. Unless you frequently go to class C or B airports, then you will want the geo referenced taxi diagrams of Pro
 
Wade said:
Thats what I was wondering. I figured throwing the 100 bucks at the stratus would be a better way to go to get weather and adsb in at least.
Click to expand...

The Stratus 1 models (original black box) are going for less than $200 now on e-bay. Mine is still working great
 
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