Kneeboard

dell30rb

dell30rb

Final Approach
Joined
May 18, 2011
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7,147
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Raleigh NC
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Ren
I've ruled out buying an Ipad for the near future and I'll be going the paper route for IFR flying. Used Ipads are still $300+ bucks and I'll just be spending that on flying lessons. A contributing factor... my club offers current IFR chart materials for free to members.

Sometime today i'm going to order my own set of foggles from sporty's and I may grab a kneeboard as well. I have the basic "aluminum plate" style kneeboard now that I inherited, its just fine for VFR flight but I feel I may want one of the tri-fold kneeboards instead. Thoughts?
 
Don't waste your money. Get a $1 clipboard instead. Much more functional and you can simply stick it between the seats when it's not in use.

dell30rb said:
I've ruled out buying an Ipad for the near future and I'll be going the paper route for IFR flying. Used Ipads are still $300+ bucks and I'll just be spending that on flying lessons. A contributing factor... my club offers current IFR chart materials for free to members.

Sometime today i'm going to order my own set of foggles from sporty's and I may grab a kneeboard as well. I have the basic "aluminum plate" style kneeboard now that I inherited, its just fine for VFR flight but I feel I may want one of the tri-fold kneeboards instead. Thoughts?
Click to expand...
 
That's a good idea. I can see it fitting nicely between the seats.. also the only issue I have with my aluminum plate kneeboard is that its too small. Maybe i'll trick out the clipboard by putting some grippy foam tape on the back so it won't slide around in my lap.
 
A piece of self-adhesive insulation on the back will prevent sliding.

dell30rb said:
That's a good idea. I can see it fitting nicely between the seats.. also the only issue I have with my aluminum plate kneeboard is that its too small. Maybe i'll trick out the clipboard by putting some grippy foam tape on the back so it won't slide around in my lap.
Click to expand...
 
dell30rb said:
I have the basic "aluminum plate" style kneeboard now that I inherited, its just fine for VFR flight but I feel I may want one of the tri-fold kneeboards instead. Thoughts?
Click to expand...
The aluminum plate is what I use these days for IFR stuff. It works just fine and has a low profile that doesn't interfere with yoke travel. Never really felt the need for a 'lap-desk' or 'tri-fold kneeboard. Sometimes I'll keep a old fashioned clipboard that holds my flightplans, TOLDs, airplane dispatch sheet...etc and slide that in between the seats.

About 70 percent of the stuff at SPORTYS is just gimmicky crap that you really don't need IMO.
 
dell30rb said:
also the only issue I have with my aluminum plate kneeboard is that its too small.
Click to expand...
Too small for what?

All you really need the kneeboard for is to hold a pad of paper for writing down clearances/ATIS info...etc. Maybe hold an approach plate if you don't have a yoke clip or are mounting a GPS on the yoke.

When I first started flying, I had a much fancier kneeboard, but over the years, I discovered that simpler is better.
 
My only complaint is that it won't hold an approach plate and have room somewhere for a scratch pad. I can write on a piece of paper under the plate, but then I have to keep flipping it up to see what I wrote down. Not a huge problem. I don't have a yoke clip, maybe I should be looking into that.
 
Buy the clipboard 3-pack from Walmart for $5. Drill off one of the clips and mount it (rivets or small screws) on the side or other end of the clipboard. First thing you gotta do is be smarter than what you're working with.

dell30rb said:
My only complaint is that it won't hold an approach plate and have room somewhere for a scratch pad. I can write on a piece of paper under the plate, but then I have to keep flipping it up to see what I wrote down. Not a huge problem. I don't have a yoke clip, maybe I should be looking into that.
Click to expand...
 
dell30rb said:
My only complaint is that it won't hold an approach plate and have room somewhere for a scratch pad. I can write on a piece of paper under the plate, but then I have to keep flipping it up to see what I wrote down. Not a huge problem. I don't have a yoke clip, maybe I should be looking into that.
Click to expand...


Here's what I do:


  1. PRINT out all the applicable approach plate(s)
  2. Have the FAA bound book in the airplane
  3. WRITE CRAFT on small sheet of paper (usually I have a steno notebook in my headset bag).
  4. Set up route in GPS
  5. Put post-it note next to Altimeter for altitudes (90% it's "Climb and maintain 3000 heading directly away from where you want to go...")
  6. Set heading bug for initial heading
 
okay, now I am thinking i'll get a yoke clip and just use the kneeboard I have. There are alot of yoke clips... I need one that will fit a PA-28, C152, C172 and a Citation X. Any recommendations
 
If you're going to use it to hold the approach plate, get one that has a solid portion to support the plate, preferably one that is supported near the bottom by the center of the yoke. If you haven't started your IFR training, you might want to wait until you have a better idea of what you'll really want rather than buying something now based on what you think you'll want.

dell30rb said:
okay, now I am thinking i'll get a yoke clip and just use the kneeboard I have. There are alot of yoke clips... I need one that will fit a PA-28, C152, C172 and a Citation X. Any recommendations
Click to expand...
 
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I'd say use the kneeboard you have. Primary students quickly purchase two things when they start training - a huge oversized flight bag and one of those fancy tri-fold kneeboards. By the time they finish, they're looking for smaller versions of both. Your plain brown wrapper aluminum kneeboard will probably serve you just fine.
- Russ
 
Thanks. I have started and we've just progressed from practice patterns and maneuvering exercises under the hood to flying published procedures. So I need to get my charts and organization up to speed.
 
dell30rb said:
I've ruled out buying an Ipad for the near future and I'll be going the paper route for IFR flying. Used Ipads are still $300+ bucks and I'll just be spending that on flying lessons. A contributing factor... my club offers current IFR chart materials for free to members.

Sometime today i'm going to order my own set of foggles from sporty's and I may grab a kneeboard as well. I have the basic "aluminum plate" style kneeboard now that I inherited, its just fine for VFR flight but I feel I may want one of the tri-fold kneeboards instead. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

Just wanted to say, buy the big visor kind, not the glasses kind. My instructor told me some (most?) examiners wont take the glasses kind. He said I need to use the visor.

I use a regular clipboard.
 
bluee said:
Just wanted to say, buy the big visor kind, not the glasses kind. My instructor told me some (most?) examiners wont take the glasses kind. He said I need to use the visor.
Click to expand...
Interesting...never heard that one and have used the foggles on two checkrides with two different DPEs.

That being said, I ditched the foggles and went with a hood because I wear glasses and hate the tendancy for foggles to cause my glasses to fog up.
 
dmccormack said:
In SOME airplanes you can't even wear a kneeboard without interfering with the yoke.
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If you have that problem, this will probably solve it for you as it did for me:
http://www.flyboys.com/fb1316.html
Add to that a 5x8 mini-legal pad, and that's what I fly with. In my pre-paperless days, I'd put the approach chart over the nav log over the pad, each clipped only at the top. Once I'm on the approach, there's not much to write, but if there is, I just flip up the chart/log and write on the pad, then put the chart/log back down. You can also use a nav log which has space for writing, saving the need to put things on the pad in the first place. Now when I'm on approach, I just set my iPad on top of the kneeboard, and drop it on the right seat (or the right seater's lap) when I'm not using it.
 
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Fearless Tower said:
Interesting...never heard that one and have used the foggles on two checkrides with two different DPEs.

That being said, I ditched the foggles and went with a hood because I wear glasses and hate the tendancy for foggles to cause my glasses to fog up.
Click to expand...

Maybe just the DPE my instructor uses? Don't know.

The glasses bugged me anyway.
 
I ordered blockalls and a yoke clip a few hours ago. They looked pretty good.

I almost bought a big honking hood but decided against it... would be too bulky to carry around all the time. My experience with foggles... you can cheat but only if you really try to.. and why would you do that??
 
dell30rb said:
I ordered blockalls and a yoke clip a few hours ago. They looked pretty good.

I almost bought a big honking hood but decided against it... would be too bulky to carry around all the time. My experience with foggles... you can cheat but only if you really try to.. and why would you do that??
Click to expand...

You can always cheat with the hood and you will subconsciously anyway (you can see light up and dark down).

Which is why you need to fly in actual to experience IMC.
 
If the discussion is now vision-restricting devices, I like Jeppshades. The foam strap fits well under headsets, and the flip-up/flip-down function makes transitions to/from instrument flight very easy.
 
dmccormack said:
You can always cheat with the hood and you will subconsciously anyway (you can see light up and dark down).

Which is why you need to fly in actual to experience IMC.
Click to expand...

My next lesson will be at night with foggles... and we'll be doing unusual attitude recovery and stalls full and partial panel :D

I hope I get some actual soon. In the next one or two lessons we will start filing and actually going places so hopefully I can bust some clouds.
 
Yoke clip for a Citation X? That is a joke,right?
 
I feel I may want one of the tri-fold kneeboards instead.
Click to expand...
Make a cardboard dummy and try to unfold & use it in the airplanes you usually fly. IMHO they are unnecessarily big and clumsy.

I use a home-made "aluminum plate" kneeboard that has a set of 3/4" Jepp style rings on the left side. Kind of like this one: harper-aviation.com/kneeboards/fixedring On the rings is a bunch of home-made crib sheets for GPSs I seldom fly with, CAP radios I seldom use, and a reference card with the light gun signals, ARTCC phone numbers, etc. For trips, I print NACO airport diagrams and plates, punch them, and put them on the rings. Everything is together and easily available.

The best "hood" I have found is a modified pair of Uvex "Horizon" welding safety glasses. (http://weldwarehouse.securesites.com/cgi-bin/einstein.pl?::1:WLDWH:1:number=S212) Snap the welding filters out of the flip section & throw them away. Snap the clear lenses out of the glasses and into the flip section. Add white vinyl tape to suit. This is the first setup I have ever flown with that really does feel like IMC.
 
Ron Levy said:
If the discussion is now vision-restricting devices, I like Jeppshades. The foam strap fits well under headsets, and the flip-up/flip-down function makes transitions to/from instrument flight very easy.
Click to expand...
Man, I hate Jeppshades. They do not work with my head. I bought those and no matter how I try to set them, there is too much open space around and it's extremely distracting. I then bought regular no-name foggies and those worked great, blocking everything around the intended field of vision.
 
gprellwitz said:
My DPE won't accept Foggles. The VLDs must be acceptable to the examiner.
Click to expand...

So what you guys are saying is that this issue evokes the normal high level of consistency we're used to from the FAA. :dunno:
 
Rndmtrvlr said:
So what you guys are saying is that this issue evokes the normal high level of consistency we're used to from the FAA. :dunno:
Click to expand...
They're just trying to avoid over-regulation. Remember, regulations are bad! :rolleyes2:

Her argument is that if you claim that the Foggle has trained you adequately to fly without outside reference, then you should have no problems flying with the hood that she provides.
 
dell30rb said:
okay, now I am thinking i'll get a yoke clip and just use the kneeboard I have. There are alot of yoke clips... I need one that will fit a PA-28, C152, C172 and a Citation X. Any recommendations
Click to expand...

http://www.mypilotstore.com/MyPilotStore/secp/168

My 1.5" version works great in my club's 172 and PA-28. The ad says it fits the 152 also, and I don't doubt it.

I use it not only for approach plates, but also for notes and checklists during VFR flights.
 
I've put a lot of hours on my old GAP VFR tri-fold (with a leg strap); in the air and in my simpit- I like it.
The key, for me, to enjoying it is to have one part of it hang down alongside one leg so only two parts are open across my lap. When flying with a paper chart and paper navlog, I have both clipped onto the middle section, and just flip the navlog up to look at the chart. Doesn't get in the way of a yoke or stick- at least it hasn't been a problem for me yet.
 
I like the chart clip on the yoke that I bought from Sporty's. So much that I bought a second after leaving the first in the club's 182 and having it disappear.

I've tried a couple kneeboards. The first was Sporty's folding flight desk. It's around the house, somewhere. It's NOT in my flight bag. It has a clip, and writing surfaces, but it just wasn't convenient for me. The second is Sporty's Pilot's Pal Plus (5118A). I bought the left handed one (timer holder on the left) and that didn't work on my left leg. The timer platform is jambed into the side of the cockpit. So I tried it on the right leg. OK, but the timer wasn't positioned well. So, now I simply use it upside down with the clip at the bottom instead of the top. Puts the timer on the right out in the empty space between the person in the right seat and me, and makes it easier for this lefty to write on the sratch pad as the clip is out of the way. I just keep a note pad cliped in place. Charts, flight plan, etc are stuffed under the note pad. It actually works fairly well for me. Oh, and this knee board is on sale right now for the exorbitant price of $8.95 plus shipping. :D

Just my experiences.
 
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