I bought my iPad mostly to use with ForeFlight for flying. IMO for anyone looking for flying applications for both VFR or IFR, ForeFlight is the best.
Good:
ForeFlight does it all from flight planning to viewing approach plates and airport taxi diagrams. Go to the ForeFlight website and view the demo videos. They offer a 30 day free trial.
Bad:
Nothing bad about ForeFlight with the exception that you cannot expand the IFR low altitude charts beyond a certain point to get more detail. You'll probably still need a paper chart to see the details you need when flying through congested areas with lots of stuff on the chart.
But, here's my problem. While waiting for my iPad to arrive I bought a RAM yoke mount and Otterbox case intending to mount the iPad in front of me for ease of viewing and to minimize cockpit clutter. Yesterday the iPad arrived and I warped out to the airport to check it out. Snapped it into the yoke mount, turned it on and........ couldn't see a dang thing. The glare inside the cockpit on a sunny day wiped it out. What a disapointment! Anyone own an iPhone and try to use it outside in the sun? Same thing with the iPad. And, you can't really adjust the viewing angle of the RAM yoke mount to get a more direct view. You're looking down at it from an angle which makes the glare effect worse. (I'm average sized 5'11".) I tried to max out the brightness control but that had little or no effect. Placing it on my lap helps but defeats the whole idea of what I had in mind for it in the cockpit. I want it right out there in front of me so I can view the approach plate like it was clipped to my yoke. In IMC, glancing down at my lap periodically to view my iPad is a distraction I do not need.
I'm hoping someone who has experienced the same glare problem will read this post and will perhaps have found a good solution to recommend. I know there are a bazillion anti-glare screen protectors out there but which one is actually effective for eliminating or reducing glare in the cockpit?
Meanwhile, I can imagine using my iPad in the cockpit will be great when flying at night but worthless on a sunny day. (sigh)
August 2011 Update:
Since my original post I tried a PowerSupport anti-glare shield. Although it helps and is much better than what I had, I still cannot see the display all that well on a sunny day inside the cockpit. I dropped by an Apple store last week and asked them about it. I mentioned that I was curious why I can see my Garmin 430 mounted in the panel with no problem but can't see my iPad under the same lighting conditions. They said the screen on the Garmin and the iPad screen are illuminated by two different technologies.
As a result, I have essentially given up using my iPad in the cockpit and am back to using paper. I still use Foreflight for flight planning at home before I fly but other than that the iPad is mostly extra weight I don't need while flying.
Good:
ForeFlight does it all from flight planning to viewing approach plates and airport taxi diagrams. Go to the ForeFlight website and view the demo videos. They offer a 30 day free trial.
Bad:
Nothing bad about ForeFlight with the exception that you cannot expand the IFR low altitude charts beyond a certain point to get more detail. You'll probably still need a paper chart to see the details you need when flying through congested areas with lots of stuff on the chart.
But, here's my problem. While waiting for my iPad to arrive I bought a RAM yoke mount and Otterbox case intending to mount the iPad in front of me for ease of viewing and to minimize cockpit clutter. Yesterday the iPad arrived and I warped out to the airport to check it out. Snapped it into the yoke mount, turned it on and........ couldn't see a dang thing. The glare inside the cockpit on a sunny day wiped it out. What a disapointment! Anyone own an iPhone and try to use it outside in the sun? Same thing with the iPad. And, you can't really adjust the viewing angle of the RAM yoke mount to get a more direct view. You're looking down at it from an angle which makes the glare effect worse. (I'm average sized 5'11".) I tried to max out the brightness control but that had little or no effect. Placing it on my lap helps but defeats the whole idea of what I had in mind for it in the cockpit. I want it right out there in front of me so I can view the approach plate like it was clipped to my yoke. In IMC, glancing down at my lap periodically to view my iPad is a distraction I do not need.
I'm hoping someone who has experienced the same glare problem will read this post and will perhaps have found a good solution to recommend. I know there are a bazillion anti-glare screen protectors out there but which one is actually effective for eliminating or reducing glare in the cockpit?
Meanwhile, I can imagine using my iPad in the cockpit will be great when flying at night but worthless on a sunny day. (sigh)
August 2011 Update:
Since my original post I tried a PowerSupport anti-glare shield. Although it helps and is much better than what I had, I still cannot see the display all that well on a sunny day inside the cockpit. I dropped by an Apple store last week and asked them about it. I mentioned that I was curious why I can see my Garmin 430 mounted in the panel with no problem but can't see my iPad under the same lighting conditions. They said the screen on the Garmin and the iPad screen are illuminated by two different technologies.
As a result, I have essentially given up using my iPad in the cockpit and am back to using paper. I still use Foreflight for flight planning at home before I fly but other than that the iPad is mostly extra weight I don't need while flying.
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). I hope someone finds a solution to this problem. I don't want to start trying all the anti-glare protectors either, so just hoping someone out there has a solution.
