I took the IPAD2 up for first flight yesterday and the GPS worked great with both the WingX PRO7 and the ForeFlight HD. Personally I don't care for the knee pad approach. It reminded me of why I went to the smallest knee pad I could find for writing ATIS etc. I like to sit up close and high and it just seems to get in the way. I am going to try the RAM suction cup next flight although I'm hoping it is not to heavy to maintain suction.
The Winx pro7's in ability to drag and drop a flight route to avoid Restricted areas or runway flight paths is a weakness but I was told by Hilton Software ( wingx) they plan to implement this function this month, I hope so because the split screens capability in wingx is a function I like. The ForeFlight HD has the drag and drop function for flight route moving map but doesn't have split screen capability which means you need to switch screens to see runways, comm, AF/D, etc. That is not a big deal but it is nice to have all the info on one screen upon approach. Although the drag and drop puts the ForeFlightHD the lead for the time being. IMHO
Since Oakland area officially has ADS-B working the Wing7PRO, Skyradar, and IPAD2's compatibility makes it still the choice for the future. My understanding is that having just a ADS-B receiver doesn't wake up the ground or other aircraft for TCAS unless there is another aircraft in the area with a transceiver capability. A Receiver will constantly get weather from the ground station. It seems to me that in Class B, C, D area this would not be problem but class E, G the TCAS will not work unless there is an aircraft with Transceiver capability nearby! There are no portable Transceivers to date so the expense of a Transceiver is pricey!

Dunno if anyone has commented on Skycharts. I paid the $19.99 and have found it to be almost useless. First and foremost, you are never quite sure if it is going to work. I tried putting in DYA to GLH and it simply wouldn't take it. Also, the downloads are immense (Gigabyte or so each) and very, very slow (hours is the metric). Usually you get what you pay for, not with Skycharts. It's a dud.

stevelesak wrote:Dunno if anyone has commented on Skycharts. I paid the $19.99 and have found it to be almost useless. First and foremost, you are never quite sure if it is going to work. I tried putting in DYA to GLH and it simply wouldn't take it. Also, the downloads are immense (Gigabyte or so each) and very, very slow (hours is the metric). Usually you get what you pay for, not with Skycharts. It's a dud.

Have to respectfully but completely disagree. That's all I use and I find it works very well. I have entire sectional coverage for the 48 states cached plus a variety of IFR charts, approaches and the AFD and in total I think everything consumes 8gb. The FAQ on the product website tells you what to expect for memory requirements so this should not have been a surprise. When the chart cycle updates I just leave it on in the house for a few hours to let it download everything.

In flight performance has been perfect. I didn't get it to use as a moving map - that's what my Garmin is for - I use it as a replacement for paper charts. The rudimentary flight planner is a bonus and I use it routinely as well. By no means am I arguing that skycharts is replacement for Foreflight but I certainly think it was worth what I paid. iPad with Skycharts has gotten me through 2 coast-to-coast flights so I've definitely spent some time with it. If I was doing that much xcountry work more routinely I would spring for Foreflight but as it is skycharts is adequate.

Update the RAM suction cup not enough suction fell off on take off. Reset it but came off shortly after. The IPAD is to heavy & big for suction. The Ram device that looks like it might work is the one that attaches to the seat rails but I think it might get in the way. My primary is still the Garmin 396 so having the IPAD 2 hang out on the seat works for me until I try something else!
BTW WingX pro 7 has added touch screen to the moving map but it works little different then Foreflight. WingX pro 7 has also introduced synthetic vision but it has an additional $99.00 a year subscription.

Has anyone used the iPad to drive an autopilot using apps that support NMEA 0183 such as NMEAremote (click the "more" link in the Description Section)?

Page 5 of the TruTrak Digitrak User Guide suggests "...you use [install] a 9 pin D
subminature connector in your panel" to transfer power and data for portable gps devices, laptops, etc. Then all you would need is a USB/RS232 adapter such as the $3 Cablestobuy USB 2.0 to 9 Pin RS232 Serial Convert Adapter.

It seems that would certainly be an inexpensive GPS and flight information assistant under IFR, or could legally couple with the autopilot on VFR flights for experimental aircraft.

I'm looking to use either WingX or Foreflight and have run both on their free trials. Does anyone know if WingX has Canadian Maps, etc; I didn't try that before the trial ran out? I know Foreflight does so I'm leaning that direction since I'll be in Canada and AK this summer. Any other thoughts on the differences between the two?

I had a lowrance in a panel mount. since they stopped supportingi it I took the panel mount out, attached a ram moun behind the panel and attached the iPad mount. I use both wingX and Foreflight and kind of like wingX. Simply a personal preference.

dplunkt wrote:I had a lowrance in a panel mount. since they stopped supportingi it I took the panel mount out, attached a ram moun behind the panel and attached the iPad mount. I use both wingX and Foreflight and kind of like wingX. Simply a personal preference.

Does your WingX show Canadian Maps?

I have JeppFD on my iPad. It's not like having a Garmin or similar device. I've loaded north America as well as Asia and Europe. The charts are much easier to use than paper. I bought the Dual150 GPS and it seems to work fine with the enroute charts. Approach and airport chart geo-referencing does not seem to be an option at this time. No drag and drop on the route.


The Dual150 GPS is a nifty and compact unit. I lit it off at home and it initially took about 15 minutes to locate itself in 3D. After that it booted up in less than 60 seconds. Then took it on a Europe flight but didn't turn it on until enroute on the return trip. It took at least 30 minutes to fix location. Probably attributable to being 5000 miles from the last known position and moving along at 600 mph. It seems to eat the battery rather rapidly when it's trying to lock position. Shut it down still 2500 miles from home. After recharging at home turned it on again to see how long it would take to find itself. It took a good 10 minutes. So I guess the lesson is to turn it on well before you need it if you've transported it to a new location.

I too have the Jepp charts. They will geo reference but only the airport charts which works really well, very handy at a large unfamiliar airport. Jepp says they don't want people shooting LPV approaches using an ipad so they don't plan on adding that capability to approach charts. I agree battery life for both the ipad and Dual 150 GPS can be a problem on a long flight. Turning down the brightness or even letting ipad go dark while enroute helps a lot. I use foreflight's world map in Europe and the Middle East which works pretty well especially when the boss wants to know what that little town over there is.

Blackrock,

WingX does not include Canada (Except around Toronto, Ottawa ad Quebec City)

And they are not recognized as canada

dplunkt wrote:Blackrock,

WingX does not include Canada (Except around Toronto, Ottawa ad Quebec City)

Thanks for the info. That settles it, Foreflight it is.

once&futr_alaskaflyer wrote:

madpilot wrote:I know there is alt limit on the Ipad. I belive 10,000'. Anyone had any issues?

Jeppesen has worked with operators/FAA to fully certify IPADS in the cockpit for 135 and 121 which includes decompression tests, amongst a multitude of others. Not knowing the specific results they did pass with flying colors and are in use. I have personally had one well above 10K unpressurized with no problems whatsoever so I would assume this is a myth.

The 10k foot rule only applies to hard disk drives. The heads literally fly on a cushion of air above the spinning disk platters. Above 10k feet the air becomes too thin to hold the heads up and they drag on the disk. So the story goes anyway. The iPad has no internal disks so you can operate them as high as you want. I believe certain U2 pilots can vouch for this.

svanarts wrote:The 10k foot rule only applies to hard disk drives. The heads literally fly on a cushion of air above the spinning disk platters. Above 10k feet the air becomes too thin to hold the heads up and they drag on the disk. So the story goes anyway. The iPad has no internal disks so you can operate them as high as you want. I believe certain U2 pilots can vouch for this.

I don't know about iPads, but I've worked for a couple of companies whose electronics products had an altitude design limitation. All electronics produce heat. Most electronics are air cooled. At some threshold altitude, the thinner air can't convect the heat away fast enough, and the device has a major malfunction, or maybe just subtle memory corruption. 10K feet is usually chosen as the design threshold for products sold in the U.S., since practically everyone is always below that altitude. Of course, the spec is usually 10K feet at 90 degrees F or 120 degrees F or whatever. If it's cooler, you should be able to go higher.

Actually Apple does say the alt limit for all their iOS devices is 10000 feet. But there is a lot of empirical evidence out there that says they will operate just fine at higher altitudes. I can vouch for mine at up to 12000 feet.

Flew commercial from San Diego to Albuquerque last night. 30,000 ft and and the iPad worked like a charm.

iPad works fine at altitude. Flown lots with it at 20,000 to 23,000, no problems with heat or gps link.

dplunkt wrote:Blackrock,

WingX does not include Canada (Except around Toronto, Ottawa ad Quebec City)

This is the same for Foreflight. Enroute IFR charts are available and selected approach plates. It may be some time for VFR charts for Canada since the Canadian government has not transferred them to digital format.