Cary wrote:I have a Mini with 32 Gb plus cell--that's the only way to get a built-in GPS

I argued for a long time that people should buy the mobile version for that reason. So, I thought I'd share that I just got an air-2 without mobile for two reasons:

1) I'm using a stratus anyway, so get the GPS via that link

2) I don't need to be able to connect to the cellular network for data because my phone now can be a mobile hotspot to achieve the same goal.

Both of those being true, it saved me a bunch of gallons of mogas to not pay for the mobile radio.

Alex wrote:

I'd go with the Mini again in a heartbeat.

Thanks guys. The mini is what I was thinking but, I wanted to double check my thinking.

Alex

I would give thought to your mounting options, and get the full size if there is a way that it can be mounted without crowding you or obstructing your visibility. My full size ipad nestles perfectly in the yoke of my 180 with an unmodified ram mount.



I can say that I have never wished that my screen was smaller.

Ah memory....wait...what were we talking about again?

rw2 wrote:

Cary wrote:I have a Mini with 32 Gb plus cell--that's the only way to get a built-in GPS

I argued for a long time that people should buy the mobile version for that reason. So, I thought I'd share that I just got an air-2 without mobile for two reasons:

1) I'm using a stratus anyway, so get the GPS via that link

2) I don't need to be able to connect to the cellular network for data because my phone now can be a mobile hotspot to achieve the same goal.

Both of those being true, it saved me a bunch of gallons of mogas to not pay for the mobile radio.

True, but you now have THREE mobile devices to do the job......battery life. May not be a problem if all plugged in to ships power, but you've got a lot of cords floating around.

With the 3G/4G enabled Mini, I get weather via Foreflight, in much of the country. Can be a little spotty in mountains, but surprising where you have cell coverage.

And as a point of reference, my airplane has no electrical system.

MTV

Regarding size.........

I went from a full size ipad to a mini about a year ago as the newest version of Foreflight was no longer supported with my older ipad. In my bonanza, I couldn't come up with a clean place to mount the full size ipad that didn't block something important or look out of place and I thought the mini was going to be the ticket.

The mini fits in the cockpit better for sure........but I do miss the size and find myself having to zoom and fiddle more with the mini to see what I want to see, especially with approach plates overlayed over the enroute low chart. Now with the synthetic vision, that takes half the screen, so I am thinking bigger is better.

I haven't paid attention to the size difference between, an original ipad and the air.........is the air similar screen size but thinner/lighter?

Regardless, a great tool in the cockpit. Yesterday, I was flying a practice approach and my 4 year old son was following along on the plate on the ipad. He told me we were coming up to the next fix, which the gtn 650 was showing was still 5 miles away. I did a double take and sure enough, I had not activated the approach yet and was navigating to the wrong fix on the GTN

For perspective, the I Pad Mini is almost exactly the same size as the Garmin 796. That should give you a clue as to how big a manufacturer of aviation devices thinks you can go practically.....

I agree that for IFR work, as in using the approach plates, the larger I Pad may be a little better, but frankly, I can still zoom in with the Mini and do anything I want to do.

The latest version of the full size I Pad is the same size as earlier ones, just thinner.

The best advice I think is to borrow one of each size I Pad and take them to your airplane and see how they "fit". I doubt that the size of the Garmin 596/696/796 just happened. I'm guessing Garmin did their research and decided that's about as big as a device can be and still fit in most GA cockpits easily.

FWIW.

MTV

For those with center stack radios, if you have the room available, AirGizmos makes a panel dock for the IPad Mini to fit in vertically.That's the mount I use in my 170. No center stack of course but there was plenty of room to panel mount the Mini once I got rid of the ancient (and heavy) gyros.

mtv wrote:The best advice I think is to borrow one of each size I Pad and take them to your airplane and see how they "fit".
MTV

Alex, You are free to borrow my iPad and RAM mount anytime to test it out. My airplane is down for maintenance and upgrades for the next two months, so this equipment is free. I'd also be happy to show you around Foreflight over a beer some evening soon.

highroad wrote:Regardless, a great tool in the cockpit. Yesterday, I was flying a practice approach and my 4 year old son was following along on the plate on the ipad. He told me we were coming up to the next fix, which the gtn 650 was showing was still 5 miles away. I did a double take and sure enough, I had not activated the approach yet and was navigating to the wrong fix on the GTN

Highroad, that is one awesome little copilot you've got there! He's definitely earning his Cheerios with that kind of timely information...

PS- Thank you for correct use of "regardless", too... As opposed to the non-word, "irregardless"!

highroad wrote:Yesterday, I was flying a practice approach and my 4 year old son was following along on the plate on the ipad. He told me we were coming up to the next fix, which the gtn 650 was showing was still 5 miles away. I did a double take and sure enough, I had not activated the approach yet and was navigating to the wrong fix on the GTN

Ha ha! This is why it's good to fly with your kids.

It was time to upgrade the tablet. I went with the iPad mini 3 w/cellular 128 gig.

ForeFlight Mobile Pro w/Synthetic Vision.

Got the Stratus 2 to compliment the iPad. Attitude Heading Reference System (AHRS) for backup attitude. ADS-B traffic. WAAS GPS receiver. Stratus is the first ADS-B receiver to offer a complete flight data recorder system.

This stuff just keeps getting better.

Cheers...Rob

I've got a little something in the works for my early panel Cessna 170. The plan is to loose the old gyros, I'm never going to fly IFR with those anyway. A new IPad Air will fit a little better than my old 3, but I'm staying with full size.

It will be way lighter and way more useful!

OregonMaule wrote:It was time to upgrade the tablet. I went with the iPad mini 3 w/cellular 128 gig.

ForeFlight Mobile Pro w/Synthetic Vision.

Got the Stratus 2 to compliment the iPad. Attitude Heading Reference System (AHRS) for backup attitude. ADS-B traffic. WAAS GPS receiver. Stratus is the first ADS-B receiver to offer a complete flight data recorder system.

This stuff just keeps getting better.

Cheers...Rob

Man it's nice to have too much money

Waterboy wrote:

I've got a little something in the works for my early panel Cessna 170. The plan is to loose the old gyros, I'm never going to fly IFR with those anyway. A new IPad Air will fit a little better than my old 3, but I'm staying with full size.

It will be way lighter and way more useful!

Nice, I'm looking forward to see how it turns out.

robw56 wrote:

Waterboy wrote:

I've got a little something in the works for my early panel Cessna 170. The plan is to loose the old gyros, I'm never going to fly IFR with those anyway. A new IPad Air will fit a little better than my old 3, but I'm staying with full size.

It will be way lighter and way more useful!

Nice, I'm looking forward to see how it turns out.

That looks pretty cool Ken. I want to see it too.

Cheers...Rob