Tablets(IPAD) with Foreflight or Garmin 660

[WISC]

SMRacer, what do you use to mount your IPad?

[Snowflake]

I share some of @rolivi's opinions. I have an Aera 500 panel mounted, that is great for feeding frequencies to my Garmin 200 radio. It's good for navigation, but only if it's cloudy out. Any sunshine, and the screen becomes unreadable.

I just bought an Aera 660 to replace it. I'll sell the 500 to someone with a high wing or a large hood to place over it. It's still a great GPS, it's just not great if you want to use it outdoors. The 660 has a much brighter, higher-resolution screen, and uses a capacitive touchscreen like most tablets. I haven't mounted it on the panel yet but it shows great promise.

I also have a Nexus 7 tablet and a OnePlus 3 android phone. I use FltPlanGo on both. Like @rolivi, I use the Garmin on the panel more, and the tablets less. I attribute this more to the fact that my tablet is on my passenger seat, and the Garmin is on the panel. I have tried using velcro to mount my phone to the panel... When I did that I found the Garmin went unused except for the frequencies.

I am considering a panel upgrade that will include putting a tablet beside my Dynon and my Aera, so all three are available "up front and center" and without fumbling in the passenger seat or on my kneeboard. As an interim step i'm going to try a RAM mount for the phone at least, maybe for the tablet too, but I generally find the RAM solution to "feel wrong" when using it. I don't really like things sticking out off the panel, i'd prefer it if the tablet/phone were flush with the rest of the instruments. Maybe it's just my eyes not wanting to refocus.

Conveniently, it's cheap to try the free apps on your phone, and test these things. Foreflight, Garmin Pilot, FlightPlanGo, Avare, Naviator, all do the same things, all that's different is the user interface, and once you take the time to learn them they will be no different. FltPlanGo offers the most for Canadians right now (free charts) but in the US some of the other free ones are compelling too.

[patterson]

Bob Martin mentioned a $100 off Sale on the 660 earlier in this post. any ideas on where that can be found?
Ron

[Bob Martin]

Originally Posted by patterson

Bob Martin mentioned a $100 off Sale on the 660 earlier in this post. any ideas on where that can be found?
Ron

----------------
http://www.chiefaircraft.com/gmn-010-01518-00.html

It is a mail in rebate........above link is for Chief Aircraft but most likely would work anywhere.

[ChiefPilot]

I use Foreflight on an iPad Air 2 and have no complaints about the screen or anything else. It gets used a lot for flight planning and in flight for approach plates mostly or looking at weather sometimes. Otherwise I rely on the PFD / MFD in the panel.

[sglynn]

Get the iPad with Garmin Pilot. I use it all the time. Plan, file, fly, navigate, weather, log book, weight balance, traffic, log book and more.

[Snowflake]

Originally Posted by Bob Martin

----------------
http://www.chiefaircraft.com/gmn-010-01518-00.html

It is a mail in rebate........above link is for Chief Aircraft but most likely would work anywhere.

Frack. Wouldn't you know it, I ordered mine on November 11th and it shipped on the 21st... Two days before the cutoff (rebate starts on November 23rd). $100 would go a long way towards a database update.

[gereed75]

I am using the Nexus 7 with the Ifly GPS app for android. This is a great combo. Excellent screen clarity with no readability issues, even using the sectionals. Easy updates, intuitive and very simple to use. Essentially no learning curve, just go.

The Nexus 7's can be had cheaply, I use an upgraded power cord and plug and it keeps up with charging no problem. Not sure how you could beat this for economy and service use.

[flyboy1963]

Bruno, as Mark and Rob have noted, there are limited options for Canada, the 'pay' option, Foreflight, with charts and CFS, only on iPad.........and the others, like FlightPlanGO, for android, which appears to have charts and the airport pages, for free!
....not sure how they handle the update cycle on the CFS.

If you are just a day VFR burger cruiser like me, all this becomes a wee bit less crucial.

I just signed up for another year of Foreflight, they have some $75 'basic' plan for Canada now, but not 100% sure what is included, it's a bit confusing.
FltPlanGo is free, but playing around with it on my Nexus 7 looks pretty, but I'm already used to the functions of Foreflight, and find FltPlan a bit less intuitive...( or is it I've just spent less hours playing with it, because it's 'free'?)

or could it be I'm just old, near-sighted, and a bit daft?

[RV-4]

Thank you everyone for all the fine comments,

I've forwarded the info to my friend and as of right now, he's leaning toward the G660 with an IPAD Mini with either Foreflight(he's used to it) or FltPlan Go (I've just send him the link)

Perry, my friend is definitly a burger cruiser and flies just for fun so the easier the better.

Thanks again everyone

Bruno