Pilots using the iPad in the cockpit

anyone have any experience with the kindle in the cockpit?

I find it kind of expensive to buy an ipad simply for plates/maps/afd.

I was going to get a kindle for my books anyway and if it can do plates (I know it can I just want some input on usefulness), charts (I don't know about this one), and afd with airport diagrams, then I really would rather do that than the ipad. one less thing to carry

simply because I think the ipad screen for reading a book is awful... for everything else it's amazing! but I like to read and I wanna keep my purchases as low as possible
 
I'm one of those that agrees with you, but we may be in the minority. I like reading on my Kindle MUCH better than on my iPad. In the air I use both. I use a Kindle DX for approach plates and I use the iPad for other charts.
 
write-stuff said:
I'm one of those that agrees with you, but we may be in the minority. I like reading on my Kindle MUCH better than on my iPad. In the air I use both. I use a Kindle DX for approach plates and I use the iPad for other charts.
Click to expand...

Isn't the DX a tad large for carrying around like a book, as is the ipad? (I prefer the small kindle, but I may at a minority there.)

what do you use, if anything, to hold your kindle? I typically just throw all my stuffi n the passenger seat or the dash but I figured if I find a good way to mount it so I don't have to have it on my lap, it'd be preferred.
 
elmetal said:
anyone have any experience with the kindle in the cockpit?

I find it kind of expensive to buy an ipad simply for plates/maps/afd.

I was going to get a kindle for my books anyway and if it can do plates (I know it can I just want some input on usefulness), charts (I don't know about this one), and afd with airport diagrams, then I really would rather do that than the ipad. one less thing to carry
Click to expand...

When I travel, I usually carry a laptop with me to check e-mail, connect to work, read up on the news and check weather prior to leaving the hotel. An Ipad would do all of that, PLUS provide me charts, plates etc in the cockpit. And it is lighter than a laptop. I guess I am so used to reading from a computer screen that it doesn't bother me.

I am almost ready to spring for the IPad, but I am a little concerned about that article in an earlier link that said the GPS in the IPad sucks in the cockpit. (I paraphrased the "sucks" part).
 
elmetal said:
Isn't the DX a tad large for carrying around like a book, as is the ipad? (I prefer the small kindle, but I may at a minority there.)

what do you use, if anything, to hold your kindle? I typically just throw all my stuffi n the passenger seat or the dash but I figured if I find a good way to mount it so I don't have to have it on my lap, it'd be preferred.
Click to expand...

For book reading, I also prefer the Kindle 2. I use the DX exclusively for approach plates and A/FD. I did try mounting the iPad on the yoke of my 182. It does fit (barely) but adds noticeable weight to the yoke's throw during banking. Here are the kneeboards I use for the Kindle DX and iPad:

DX-pro-kneeboard.jpg


ipad-kneeboard-quad.jpg
 
JOhnH said:
When I travel, I usually carry a laptop with me to check e-mail, connect to work, read up on the news and check weather prior to leaving the hotel. An Ipad would do all of that, PLUS provide me charts, plates etc in the cockpit. And it is lighter than a laptop. I guess I am so used to reading from a computer screen that it doesn't bother me.

I am almost ready to spring for the IPad, but I am a little concerned about that article in an earlier link that said the GPS in the IPad sucks in the cockpit. (I paraphrased the "sucks" part).
Click to expand...
They do have antennas now that help the iPad GPS I heard.

It's not that I don't like reading the iPad screen. I would love it for charts, and plates, but I also really like reading books, and as far as reading books, the ipad screen is awful. I kinda want this to be a charts + plates + books deal.

For weather and anything like that I can always use the FBO or my iphone. if my iphone doesn't work, the ipad won't either so either way I'm screwed

but anyway, I don't think enroute and vfr charts work well on the kindle...

maybe the nook since it does indeed have color and isn't exactly the same technology as the kindle....

I need to find some nook aviators. But again I did hear there are some antennas to help with the GPS signal on the iPad.
 
JOhnH said:
When I travel, I usually carry a laptop with me to check e-mail, connect to work, read up on the news and check weather prior to leaving the hotel. An Ipad would do all of that, PLUS provide me charts, plates etc in the cockpit. And it is lighter than a laptop. I guess I am so used to reading from a computer screen that it doesn't bother me.

I am almost ready to spring for the IPad, but I am a little concerned about that article in an earlier link that said the GPS in the IPad sucks in the cockpit. (I paraphrased the "sucks" part).
Click to expand...

Depending upon your definition of "connect to work", the iPad might not work for you... For me, that often means a VPN connection which depending upon my client at the time, it might not be supported on a non-Windoze platform.

Personally, I don't think that the iPad really does anything that my laptop couldn't probably already do. It's just a bit smaller and at least theoretically could be mounted somewhere that wouldn't require me to have it sitting on the seat beside me in the cockpit.

The iPad was not designed for use in aircraft, so their assisted GPS that relies on cell phone tower triangulation to get an initial fix is not going to be that great if you lose your GPS signal while flying. Eventually, it will be able to sync back up, but it's not going to be as quick as a normal GPS would be.

Assuming the Kindle's PDF display is acceptable, it's quite likely that it might serve a niche market as a valid replacement for approach plates (and maybe even maps if you can deal with grayscale instead of color maps). So far, it doesn't appear that the Kindle supports an external GPS or a moving map display and their may even be some display refresh speed issues with theoretically using it as such even if it was available. If you are tired of carrying around a bag full of approach plates, maybe the Kindle is just what you need. There's nothing wrong with having multiple devices though. That way, you are not always switching back from one screen mode to another like you might do with only a single device.
 
I'm pretty low time and VFR only, but I've used my iPad (WiFi version) with Foreflight on my last few flights...here are my takeaways.

Pros:
- It's a great chart reader. Much better than the 696W I looked at. I still have all my charts and A/FD in my bag, but I've stopped using them, so there's much less clutter.
- It's nicely sized to be a kneeboard. I set it to landscape and it works great for pilotage. My old analog kneeboard strap works fine with the strap on the iPad case.
- The Scratchpad is a great feature; I jot down the CRAFT and my takeoff heading, no pen/paper needed.

Cons:
- The glare. It's sorta annoying, but not bad. I've got an antiglare cover on the way.
- Brightness. Doesn't matter during the day, but at night you can't dim the thing enough. I've ordered a set of tinted reading sheets of all different colors to see if that helps (I suspect the grey tint will work best).
- GPS signal. I've got a Bad Elf coming from eBay.

And of course there's no WX, but I've been looking at getting a Garmin Aera 510 or 550 for that.
 
JOhnH said:
I am almost ready to spring for the IPad, but I am a little concerned about that article in an earlier link that said the GPS in the IPad sucks in the cockpit. (I paraphrased the "sucks" part).
Click to expand...

I would not say it "sucks" unless you're above 25,000 feet or going faster than 300 knots - In those cases, it just can't keep up.

It's also not Garmin quality - But look at the intended uses of each device, and that's not unexpected.

I do use the moving map functionality with ForeFlight on the iPad, and it usually works just fine. Would I use it as a sole source of navigation in IMC? HELL no! But the Garmin handhelds aren't legal for that either.
 
Where did you purchase the glare sheild? Does it work?

You can reverse the night lighting by going to settings ....turn on night and turn on tap 3x button to reverse.
 
On the standard Kindle, the plates are too small for practical use (no zooming either). On the DX, plates are good. Kindle is a fixed-display device, no provision for moving map or the like at all.
 
SCCutler said:
On the standard Kindle, the plates are too small for practical use (no zooming either). On the DX, plates are good. Kindle is a fixed-display device, no provision for moving map or the like at all.
Click to expand...

Can you zoom in on a page on a PDF file?
 
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