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IPAD Mini

olyolson

olyolson

Well Known Member
Friend
My wife surprised me with an IPAD Mini for Christmas. Retina display, Black/Gray, 32GB, cell pkg for the GPS (no cell plan). I love this thing! Downloaded Foreflight and got a one quarter subscription to try it out and I will be signing up all year for this one.

Two questions:

1) I would like to have inflight weather and possibly ADS-B IN of other traffic. Are there many choices of antennas or am I limited with the IPAD Mini? Costs? Eventually I will upgrade the transponder to an ADS-B OUT when the prices come down a bit.

2) I fly an RV-4 so you all know that space is limited. What is the best way to mount/view it inflight? I'm thinking some kind of flexible mount on the right side canopy rail or a kneeboard mount.

Any idea?
Oly
 
stick a T-mobile sim card in...

You get 200 Meg of free cell data (great for grabbing weather in fore flight) if you stick a T-mobile sim card in... (they are typically free or 10 dollars when not free)
 
ipad mini

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GtQlCQldos


I like this case. North American made, the glue on mount is cool and their magnet mount and or suction cup is great. Shop amazon for much discounted prices. Just an idea. You will love foreflight.

Wish my wife bought me a new mini or air... Very sad. Still plugging away with a version 1. haha. time for an upgrade.
 
Kneeboard

Congrats on the iPad Mini. You will love it in flight as well. I use both Foreflight and FlyQ and still can't make up my mind which one I want to use full time. One other app that you may want to look into is Xavion. Its $99 but well worth the cost IMO.

I haven't pulled the trigger on ADSB yet so can't help you there.

As far as use in plane, I use the AppStrap (http://www.theappstrap.com/store/as-mini-ipad/) and it works nicely for me. Eventually I will put a ram mount in my 9A but for now this works great.

Darin
 
olyolson said:
2) I fly an RV-4 so you all know that space is limited. What is the best way to mount/view it inflight? I'm thinking some kind of flexible mount on the right side canopy rail or a kneeboard mount.
Click to expand...

I played with lots of different mounts and ended up liking a knee board strap. I like it a lot as anywhere I looked at putting it up high it just didn't fit without blocking something or mount position was poor or had glare issues. Since foreflight (I like and use FlyQ) and other software is just a moving chart, a kneeboard was what I was used to anyway. (Note to self: even after 30+ years of flying, still need to practice not pushing forward on stick when looking down at kneeboard)
 
+1 for free data from t mobile. Also FWIW, I bought a kneeboard for my ipad a long time ago and used it for a while but it bothered me a lot. I don't like knee boards, especially with an ipad in them. Mine even tilted the ipad up so it was oriented toward me and didn't constantly flip orientation, one of the biggest issues I have with keeping an ipad strapped to my leg. This summer, I bought an otterbox for mine to protect it from the elements in Afghanistan and have kept it on. The rubber keeps it in place on my lap or my leg when I want it there, and I can just put it on the floor or dash out of my way without worrying about it getting scratched or dinged more than it already is. I use it as a backup to my 696, so I don't need to constantly have it up and in sight, and there isn't really any real estate in my 8 to mount it without it blocking something.
 
I mounted mine in my 9A using a RAM mount. It took me a while to find the best place but having the flexibility that you get with a couple of different RAM accessories at your disposal (I had some left over from an old GPS) really helps out.
 
Ram mount

Kelly. Any pics? And or recommendations for a location and the needed Ram assories? Thanks.
 
There are a number of ADS-B IN devices on the market. I have recently bought the SKYRadar ADS-B that is providing WAAS GPS and ADS-B to my IPAD and very happy with it. I am in the process of upgrading my GTX330 to ES and soon will be having both ADS-B in and out.
Will report back as soon as it is return back to me from Garmin.
 
To answer your first question, the last time I checked, the only ADSB that worked with ForeFlight was the Stratus.
 
You'll probably be happy with the iPad, but here's what I did:

1. Sell the iPad.
2. Buy two Nexus 7 tablets, running Garmin Pilot.
3. Buy a Garmin GDL-39 ADS-B receiver.

You now have traffic and weather in both front AND back cockpits, on a better, brighter display, with a faster processor, without all the Apple baggage -- for less money than the single iPad/Stratus combo.

You can thank me later. :D
 
agirard7a said:
Kelly. Any pics? And or recommendations for a location and the needed Ram assories? Thanks.
Click to expand...

I finally settled on mounting the ball base to the F721A-R, FWD Canopy Deck:

bf9c253e1ae435e6929092d37cf794df_zps3db61e83.jpg


I used the Univeral Cradle (RAM-HOL-TAB12U), two diamond bases (RAM-B-238), and a double socket arm (RAM-B-201U).

I had to use a Dremmel to open up the cradle a bit to clear the music output jack and to clear the ON button at the top of the iPad.

I attached the base to the canopy deck using Rivnuts.

I do have to rotate the Mini out of the way of the map box to put my checklist back in it but I usually don't need to open it in flight.
 
To FlyArmy: The iPad has an option that allows using the side switch to lock the screen rotation. Look under "Settings | General".
 
Don said:
To answer your first question, the last time I checked, the only ADSB that worked with ForeFlight was the Stratus.
Click to expand...

While both ForeFlight and the Stratus are excellent products, you will be locked into ONLY them. I'm not aware of any way to get the ADSB information from the Stratus into any of the EFIS's.

If you intend on upgrading, or already have an EFIS, you may want to look into other options if you want your weather and traffic displayed on your EFIS.
 
jjhoneck said:
You'll probably be happy with the iPad, but here's what I did:

1. Sell the iPad.
2. Buy two Nexus 7 tablets, running Garmin Pilot.
3. Buy a Garmin GDL-39 ADS-B receiver.

You now have traffic and weather in both front AND back cockpits, on a better, brighter display, with a faster processor, without all the Apple baggage -- for less money than the single iPad/Stratus combo.

You can thank me later. :D
Click to expand...

Not going to get into a brand debate, but the iPad mini retina is faster than the Nexus 7. You were probably thinking of the first generation mini.
 
iPad knee mount

Oly

Have sent a pm on a knee mount.

Mega pleased with my IPAD mini running Skydemon.

Happy flying
Rob

RV8 slow build
RV3 bought flying
 
Here are some better pictures of my setup

I finally took some better pictures of my setup over the weekend:



 
IPAD Mini mount

Kelly,

Thanks for posting the pictures. Have been debating using a kneeboard type mount or one like yours. In the front seat of an RV-4 space is limited so I have to be creative. I found a smaller mount called the Easy Roll R that I can mount with some small leftover Ram mounts I have. Thinking about the right side canopy rail so it will be out of the way with the tilt over canopy.

Oly
 
I couldn't find a suitable place to mount the IPAD mini on the panel without it being in the way of something else. I have a nice kneeboard a friend gave me, so rather than buy a new on for the IPAD, I thought I'd make an aluminum bracket for the one I have. It seems sturdy enough and it's very simple to unclip the IPAD. I built some angle in it because it's easier to see the screen. All n' all it took about a half hour to make and didn't cost anything.

4vd4.jpg



8ctk.jpg
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Knee board every time!

Great for the -4 with the lack of space.

Design 4 Pilot - i pilot mini :)
 
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