A Geek Goes Flying

Sold the iPad mini 1st gen ($195) and my old iPhone 5s ($165, lower than I could have sold it for, but I wanted it moved), higher than any trade-in values offered. The iPhone was rough around the edges, but I fully documented the "road rash" with pictures and in the description. (Clean screen, good battery, etc.) Anyway. Long and short, even after Amazon takes out their fees, I break even on a new iPad mini 2nd generation 32GB from PowerMax.com  - love those guys, have bought my last several Macs from them. (Really wanted the iPad mini 4, but couldn't justify the ~$200 price difference, even though the ‘4’ comes with 64GB - I’m dedicating this to aviation use, and even with ForeFlight, a full EFB, etc., I won’t come close to using even 32GB...)

Okay, so this isn't technically specific to flying geeks (though it's related; pretty much every flight ultimately results in a need for some form of terrestrial transportation), but ... My yoke mount experience with RAM, and seeing RAM mounts in use in the tow truck that picked up my Jeep (20 year old clutch hydraulic system had a leak), convinced me to hack this setup together: Motorcycle Handlebar Clamp Base with M8 Screws  (provides a hollow 1" ball a screw can be run through) Universal X-Grip Cradle Holder with 1-Inch Ball  (kind of clunky, but allows cell phone upgrades without having to replace mount components if/when the phone dimensions change) Short Double Socket Arm for 1-Inch Ball Bases A #8 sheet metal screw, 1 3/4" long, and a #8 washer, both sourced from Home Depot Removed one of the center section dash screws (holding the plastic dash in place) and replaced it with the longer screw from Home Depot, which ran through the 'motorcycle'

Before investing in repairs on my 1st generation iPad mini, I probably should have seen what the scuttlebutt was vis-a-vis ForeFlight usage: Gen 1 iPad Mini will be too slow. Here is our advice: https://www.foreflight.com/support/buying-guide/ (From:  https://www.reddit.com/r/flying/comments/34vxpe/foreflight_on_1st_generation_ipad_mini/ ) Sure enough, that page states: “Short advice: Buy the 64GB iPad Air 2 or 32GB iPad Mini 2 ...” And indeed, even just firing up ForeFlight takes about 30 seconds ! And that includes the 'reload' time when switching to another app, then switching back to ForeFlight. Moving around in the map, redraws are almost painfully slow. I haven't tried it in the cockpit yet, and don't think I will; in the air is not where you want to be waiting on your tech to catch up. The iPad mini 2 32GB can still be sourced from a variety of places, including Apple itself or my fave, PowerMax.com . Should be a nice speed bump, it uses the A7 proce

True to their word, iResQ sent me a replacement iPad mini (1st generation) 32GB, black, exactly like the one that got trashed somewhere between leaving my home and arriving back here, with a stop off at their repair facility. It appears to have been new old stock; it arrived still with the peculiar transparent plastic wrap Apple puts on their iDevices, with a 99% battery charge and running iOS 6.1.4. I was tempted to keep it on the old OS (I kinda like the skeumorphic design elements), but, naw, let it update to 8.4.1 and then (now) to 9.0 (after checking to make sure it was copacetic with ForeFlight and the external Dual GPS unit; it is:  http://ipadpilotnews.com/2015/09/new-ios-9-features-can-use-next-flight/ Heading to the FBO tomorrow… :)

As soon as I got the iPad mini back from iResQ on Friday the 4th, it was obvious it had been roughly treated. The new digitizer was off center (and one corner was correspondingly too thick to fit the RAM mount), the screen "popped" when tapped, there were gouges in the metal case, and then I learned (it arrived back to me with a totally dead battery) it wouldn't charge above 3% (apparently that can happen when swapping out the digitizer , likely culprit an unsoldered or destroyed resistor) and was doing a weird sort of "graduated pixelated fade" when it would lose power (after about 3 minutes of use) and crash , without going through the "spinning wheel" of a normal iOS shutdown. Sigh. I immediately documented all of this and wrote to the service manager of iResQ, after being pointed that direction by their online chat operator. They wasted no time in sending me a prepaid overnight FedEx label, that I printed and used to ship the iPad back to them

I feel I should point out (especially since it's evidently a FAQ ), ForeFlight's license terms specifically authorize use of a "main" iPad, a "backup" iPad, and use on an iPhone ( and an iPod touch!), all with one annual subscription. That fits my use case perfectly ; I have the iPad mini as my primary in-cockpit device (with the iPad Air 2 as a slightly more cumbersome backup while the iPad mini is hopefully being fixed ), plus my iPhone 6 (always with me, too small to really be a primary device, but "two is one, one is none")... The exact language from the ForeFlight FAQ: The 1-Pilot subscription allows you to use ForeFlight Mobile on 1-iPad, 1-iPhone, and 1-iPod Touch, simultaneously. A second iPad is allowed as a backup device (total 2-iPads). The "2-iPads" can be any mix of the iPad Mini or the full-size iPad. All devices are to be used by the same pilot. I would have just swapped my subscription between my iPads depending on whi

Stopped using this because it was simply too big (wouldn't fit in my flight bag along with my headset, unless I inserted another section - which made the flight bag unwieldy huge for a VFR day flight :) ). I also realized I didn't need to carry the Wasabi AC charger, the 12V adapter for the Wasabi charger, the ND filters I wasn't regularly using, etc., with me at all times... I can't find the one I was using available on Amazon anymore, but this seems to be the roughly equivalent replacement .

Argh. So my iPad mini has had a weird life. I picked up a 32GB 1st generation mini in the fall of 2012, before I headed out to Portland for a week-long deposition prep/defense session. Used it. Loved it. Except it had a consistent issue staying connected to my WiFi networks (Apple Airport Extreme base stations at home and at the office). Took it to the Apple Store at Century City Mall and they handed me a different 32GB iPad mini 1st gen. Never really got around to using it. My "big" iPad (which once fell off a moving car - built like a tank, that thing), and then the iPad Air 2, handled most of my needs. The mini sat in a drawer. I went to start using it for flight stuff, and it bounced around like a toddler on crack. Some phantom touch problem with the digitizer (apparently really rare on iPads that haven't had their digitizer replaced - e.g., because the screen was broken or something): Anyway. Long story short I sent it off to iResQ to be fixed. I was hoping a

I suppose I should start with a little about myself... I've been flying (Cessna 172s; Piper Cherokee 140, 161, 181s; SportCruisers) since the mid-1990s. I've been a Linux geek since around the same time (I use OS X now as it's an awesome blend of UNIX goodness and a usable desktop environment, complete with Office, Final Cut Pro, Photoshop...), and I'm an Oracle Certified Professional Java Programmer (and an attorney, and...) As a Kool-Aid Drinker™, I've bought into the whole Apple ecosystem; iPhone, iPod, iPad, Apple TV... So that's what I use in the cockpit. Most recently, I got back into flying through DuBois Aviation at Chino Airport ( KCNO ), an operation I can't recommend highly enough. (I drive out from the west side of Los Angeles, which says it all I think). I've also had great experiences with Santa Monica Flyers at Santa Monica Municipal Airport ( KSMO ) (they predominantly fly the light sport Czech SportCruisers, which sip fuel

When I started out, the iPad (variously, an old 16GB 1st generation WiFi model; a 32GB WiFi mini; a 16GB WiFi Air 2) was "just" an electronic flight bag. I wrote a couple of small applications in Java that retrieve the current A/FD s (updating every few months, as the documents expire; the application also grabbed all the pages and assembled them into a single PDF) and the relevant sectional and terminal area PDF charts from the FAA website. These went into a WebDAV-accessible directory on my Linux-based homespun NAS unit (a MicroServer Gen8 with some big drives, booting CentOS from an internal USB stick - geeky enough for you yet?). That directory automatically syncs to the iPad via GoodReader . Eventually I also loaded PDF versions of checklists, etc., onto the iPad. Then I discovered ForeFlight ... I loaded ForeFlight onto the Air 2 and the mini (alone in my collection in having enough storage to accommodate ForeFlight comfortably). Love love love it! With a RAM yoke m

An instructor turned me on to BrightLine bags; I picked up the B-4 Swift . It’s modular, so I also have an additional Center Section 3 I can add when I need more storage. Love this bag. Very intelligently laid out, with dedicated pockets for things like an ASA fuel tester , radio pocket with separate antenna holder, etc. Currently taking up space in mine: Medical certificate and PPL card in the back pocket VFR kneeboard Headset , in its original case GoPro camera and accessories , including Camera itself with suction cup and quick release mounts, filters, battery, etc., in the CamKix case; PowerAdd Slim2 battery and mini USB cable; Nflightcam audio/power hookup cable (kept in the Sennheiser headset bag); and A couple of GoPole mounts Smith & Wesson Galaxy 6 LED Flashlight (3 Red + 3 White LEDs)  (just the thing for night flying A small backup flashlight / pen combo that I got from my flight school when I first soloed, kind of like one of these , and other assorte

After a bit of trial and error, I’ve settled on what I think is the best combination of capability and longevity when it comes to capturing my flights on video. Here's a short example clip: My current setup consists of: GoPro Hero 3+ Black CamKix Frame Mount  ($19; I went kind of cheap on this one, 'cause it's just a simple piece of plastic) GoPro Suction Cup Mount  ($30; there are cheaper alternatives, but they're not recommended; this thing is sturdy and GoPro official...) Wasabi 1200mAh batteries  ($17 for two, including a charger) Nflightcam GoPro Hero Aircraft Audio/Power Cable ($40; captures headset (intercom and radio) audio, and charges the battery) GoPro Hero 3 52mm Filter Adapter BlurFix3 Micro 52  ($34; allows 52mm camera filters to be mounted to the 'naked' GoPro) Tiffen 52mm 1.2 ND filter, part of the  Tiffen 52mm Digital Neutral Density Filter Kit ($45, but can probably get just the 1.2 ND filter cheaper) Hoya 52mm alpha Circular

Not much to say here. I started off with a used ASA-HS1 , that I picked up just so I wouldn't have to use rental headsets all the time. (Originally just to avoid using those sweaty abused pieces of equipment, but especially now that my usual FBO is charging a rental fee for them!) Eventually I decided to bite the bullet and picked up a refurbished Sennheiser S-1 Passive . Cheap (about $300, a little more if you buy new - I got mine from MyPilotStore.com ), iPhone interface (haven't used it yet, but it's there), so light weight I forget I'm wearing it, comms come through loud and clear... I like the auto-off feature (40+ hours of flying, haven't had to swap AA batteries yet, though of course I carry spares just in case - same type of batteries feed my main flashlight, too.)