Writing without a kneeboard, what do you use?

jsstevens

jsstevens

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jsstevens
I'm finding that my short term memory is not keeping up with streams of numbers as communicated in IFR clearances. So I want something to write things down on. I have kneeboard, but it interferes with the yoke. (And I have the seat at it's lowest height setting.) So what do you use to support what you are writing on as you write things down in the cockpit?

John
 
I've never that problem myself. I use the kneeboard at Sporty's here. But, I've also got a few cheapy VFR kneeboards from my student pilot days that do not have pockets, etc. They are pretty small.

If anything gets in my way it's usually my knees, not the kneeboard heh..
 
I always thought a button that records the last incoming broadcast would be nice. Another button replays the snippet.
 
CT4ME said:
I always thought a button that records the last incoming broadcast would be nice. Another button replays the snippet.
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That's great if you have one of those audio panels.
 
JoseCuervo said:
Buy a RAM yoke with suction cup, stick it to the window.
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I've got one I'm trying to sell in the classifieds. Excellent product but I couldn't find anywhere to put it that didn't block either instruments I wanted to see or some of the out the window view that I wanted to see. Ultimately I want a yoke mount for the iPad, but this isn't my plane and it's already got a yoke mount for approach plates and checklists.

John
 
Small legal pad that's on the front of my soft iPad case.
 
You might try one of those Sporty do-hickies that'll clip to the yoke, like the ones that will hold a printed approach plate, etc.? I think some of them have a pretty sizable surface, definitely large enough to write on.

I have my iPad on my kneeboard, and a small notepad under the kneeboard clip. When IFR, if ATC get's windy, I tell 'em to standby (if they don't ask me to advise when ready to copy), and set the iPad on the seat next to me, making the notepad accessible. If they're giving you an amended, they're usually pretty good about not jamming you (or themselves) up too much.

My iPad is in a rubberized case, and it's more-or-less "non-slip".
 
I bought a nice case with a pad of paper on it for my iPad and gave it a shot. It is a knee board option. As I have a g1000 I find it to be clunky and in the way and really unnecessary.

So now I keep it simple. I fold an 8x11 paper in half and use my check list as the backer board. It is nice and sturdy. I like this method because keeps the cockpit clean and makes me always have my checklist handy. I don't want to ever forget my checklist so it seems to be my best option.
 
You mentioned IFR clearances so I am making a huge assumption that you mean "not during flight".
For that, I just flick the master on, turn on a radio, get the AWOS/ASOS/ATIS and call for a clearance. I am not strapped in, I am not started up, I have wiggle room.
And to actually answer, I usually have a few charts printed out (and navlogs etc) that I folded over after printing and they are normally firm enough to write down the AWOS/ASOS/ATIS and the clearance.
 
Legal pad. I have my process. I don't repeat frq changes until I have them entered (gtn750). Course or altitude changes always get written down and read back after writing. I have one of those auto recorders but I only use it (and rarely) after exchanges that make me say hmmm. Not enough time usually.
 
Flew with a Capt once who used a grease marker on the side windows. Copied the clearance and ATIS on the damn window. Way too much effort and work for me. A piece of paper about 5x7 seemed to work good or even a little smaller. In a 2 pilot cockpit we but it on the console so both had access to it.
 
Go with a 6x9 steno pad. They exist for the purpose of taking shorthand when you don't have a hard surface to write on and they aren't at all cumbersome to keep handy in the cockpit. A legal pad is designed for use on a flat desk or table and would be too bulky in any cockpit I've flown in. A pad smaller than steno size might be too small to be useful but your mileage may vary.
 
I've just used a small pad of paper and a pen when I didn't have my kneeboard. works just fine. When I do have my kneeboard I still use a small pad of paper clipped to it.
 
iamtheari said:
Go with a 6x9 steno pad. .
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This is what I use now, especially w/ students. Very handy to scribble in the left column and make pertinent notes/additions in the right column and/or suggestions.
 
get a clipboard and put it on the passenger seat. If you have a passenger, let them hold it in their lap when you're not using it.
 
Small yellow kneeboard sized lined pad. And I have a pad of those little post its. I'll write a number on one of those and stick it on the panel somewhere.
 
John, It seems that its not that you need a note pad but that you need something that won't interfere with the yoke is that correct? What kind of plane are you flying? I have never had that problem when flying any piper, cessna or Grumman products. Now that I fly a V-Tail Bo the cross bar for the yoke makes using my knee pad very difficult and am looking for a solution as well. My guess is the clip that holds a pad over the yoke is the best I'm going to come up with.
 
Stick this somewhere:

71k-5d64ZrL._SY355_.jpg
 
I have a small piece of leather which is velcroed to my tablet, it folds over the screen and i use a small binder clip to attach a couple of pages from notepads i steal from hotels. I then have a leg strap from an old Blackhawk thigh holster (ca 2003) which has velcro on the outside and rubberized nubbins on the leg-side. I stick the tablet/notepad to my leg when I need it and stuff it in the side pocket when I dont, the strap stays on for the whole flight.
 
Writing without a kneeboard sucks . . . Put paper on top of your folded sectional, closed iPad, checklist, anything for support.

This is a great kneeboard, it fits right leg in a Cessna and left leg in my Mooney (interferes with the throttle quadrant): http://www.sportys.com/pilotshop/sporty-s-classic-kneeboard.html

It's the perfect size for recycling printed stuff from home or work, just fold the paper in half, blank side out. You will never run out . . .

I used this VFR kneeboard for a while, then my wife gave me an IFR one with a much wider elastic strap with velcro catch instead of the 1/2" elastic with a little metal tab on this one. But it works . . .
 
mscard88 said:
Flew with a Capt once who used a grease marker on the side windows. Copied the clearance and ATIS on the damn window. Way too much effort and work for me. A piece of paper about 5x7 seemed to work good or even a little smaller. In a 2 pilot cockpit we but it on the console so both had access to it.
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Sounds like a Vietnam era FAC pilot.

I was a ground pounder, but I wrote all my daily radio freqs and call signs on jeep/Humvee windshield. My driver hated it.
 
The Lancair 360 cockpit is far from spacious. I use the ForeFlight scratchpad on an iPad mini and that is all. Enroute, I don't write anything down at all. On the ground, I do the standard CRAFT with as much of it prefilled out as possible (clearance limit, initial altitude and dep freq if other people are getting clearances or if I have local knowledge).

In flight freq changes are read back instantly (which lets the controller move on in a busy terminal environment), plus saying the freq out loud helps solidify it (for me at least).
 
mscard88 said:
Flew with a Capt once who used a grease marker on the side windows. Copied the clearance and ATIS on the damn window. Way too much effort and work for me. A piece of paper about 5x7 seemed to work good or even a little smaller. In a 2 pilot cockpit we but it on the console so both had access to it.
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This. Actually I use a 3x5 pad for clearances, and keep it handy during flight in case ATC comes at me with an amendment to my clearance. (It's at those times that the A/P comes in especially handy. ;))
 
When I was flying a lot of IFR, I had three cheap clipboards (I think they're $1 each) that I simply laid on the co-pilots seat (99% of my flights were solo).

#1 had all the departure info.
#2 had all the enroute info.
#3 had all the destination info.

There was always plenty of room to scribble down notes in the blank areas of taxi diagrams, approach plates, etc.

On the rare occasion that I had a passenger, I'd either just toss them in the back seat, or ask the passenger to keep the "active one" in their lap (or just slide it in the back pocket of the copilot's seat). It worked great for my plane/purposes and it didn't require that I buy more overpriced aviation schmuck stuff.

For VFR flights I have one clipboard with departure and destination airport diagrams, taxi diagrams, etc. clipped to it.

I haven't used a kneeboard since my PPL training. Gave it away awhile back.
 
AdamZ said:
John, It seems that its not that you need a note pad but that you need something that won't interfere with the yoke is that correct? What kind of plane are you flying? I have never had that problem when flying any piper, cessna or Grumman products. Now that I fly a V-Tail Bo the cross bar for the yoke makes using my knee pad very difficult and am looking for a solution as well. My guess is the clip that holds a pad over the yoke is the best I'm going to come up with.
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Cessna 172s. A C model and an M model. In both cases the kneeboard interferes with the yoke. Not so much for level flight but for maneuvering.

And, clearances, yes, but also other instructions along the way. Frequencies, transponder codes, etc. Altitude/Heading, no problem.

John
 
Using the passenger seat is what I do when I'm flying alone (not IFR yet). Sometimes I'll ask the passenger to hold the iPad as well. But with the flight instructor in the passenger seat it doesn't work as well. Also, VFR I don't have nearly as much to keep track of...
 
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