iPad in the Cockpit Update

My instructor and I completed an actual IFR trip last weekend. It was a short 2-hour round-trip from my base in Marion (KMWA) to Effingham (1H2) and back. We decided to fly the airways instead of going GPS direct. This was a great opportunity to utilize SkyCharts on the iPad for enroute charts, which I really hadn’t done in-flight until now.

I must say, I was extremely pleased with the performance of the iPad and SkyCharts. I plotted the trip on SkyCharts — which remembers the trip each time you close and reload the program. Although you are forced to enter the trip as you would a route on a GPS, being able only to put in waypoint identifiers, it’s not overly time consuming, and once you’ve done it a couple of times, you’ll be a pro.

Our route was V67 to CORKI, then V12 to BIB, direct 1H2 to do the VOR 31 approach, then back to BIB on the miss, V429 back to MWA. It’s a simple route, but opens up several real-world opportunities.

For example, both airways (V67 and V429) have bends in them. This can easily be accomplished, in my airplane, using the IFR GPS in the panel, however, I wanted to use SkyCharts and the trusty ‘ol VOR to see how it worked out. Launching from Marion, I used SkyCharts on the ground to pick out the 346 radial as my initial route on V67. After take-off, I didn’t grab the iPad again until we reached the VOR changeover point enroute to ENL. I was able to quickly grab the frequency for ENL, probably easier than I would have been able to do on a paper chart. The pink route line on SkyCharts makes it easy to find your route and next waypoint.

Once we crossed over ENL, the next task was to verify the distance to CORKI. Again, only a quick glance was necessary to pickup the 26 as the magic number. I also grabbed the BIB frequency so I was setup for the turn.

A few miles out from BIB, I was ready to load the approach plate for 1H2, a quick double-tap of the airport on the chart gives you a list of procedures, including the A/FD page. With the plate loaded, we flew the approach.

The return trip to Marion was really a non-event. Direct BIB after the miss, then we jumped on V429 only for a few minutes before being cleared direct JONNY, the LOM for Marion’s ILS, which is the approach we’d requested.

The iPad was never meant to do what I’m using it for, but it does it quite well. I find that I don’t miss my Kindle, and I don’t want to go back. I’ve gotten used to the fact I can’t rest my hand on the iPad screen on my kneeboard, like I did the Kindle’s screen. This was the first flight with the iPad where the sun was out. We were in actual IFR for some of the flight, but near the end, the clouds had broken up and the sun was shining. Truth be told, the sun annoyed me more on my foggles than it did on the iPad screen. I had been concerned of this, because the iPad has a glossy (glass) screen, where the Kindle’s screen is matte. The iPad is slightly less easy to read in sunlight than is the Kindle, at least in the cockpit, but not so much so that I feel I’d ever have a problem getting a critical number off the plate quickly.

I’ll keep posting thoughts, but as of now, I’m still extremely happy with the iPad, and plan on taking it to my IFR checkride in two weeks.