A Geek Goes Flying

Found a convenient thing: A "pole." (No, nothing to do with Stephen Colbert .) Seems like general aviation planes are sprouting GoPro quick release mounts all over the place, and a very common location is on the ceiling of the plane: Which is cool and all, but the view the camera gets tends to be kind of ... Subpar. Enter the GoPole Arm , a $20 piece of kit with a set of three GoPro prongs at one end, and two at the other (could probably have used something similar, like this , but Frys was on the way to the airport...). This lets it install between, e.g., a quick-release insert and the frame mount for the camera. This allows the camera to be brought down lower, to, e.g., the pilot's eye level, and greatly enhances the image that can be captured (more "outside" the aircraft). Still fiddling with getting the right position, but at least now that's a possibility!

ForeFlight rocks. ForeFlight doesn't exist for Android . Probably won't. (December 2023 edit: Nope .) Maybe on April 1st, next year . (Keep checking back.) In theory, I should  be more of an Android guy. I love Linux/UNIX. (Since 1993! Root since 1995.) I write my own code. I don't run Windows anywhere. Love a good POSIX shell. Like open architecture. Etc. But iOS devices are too damned slick, the UX is too polished, the level of integration (Apple TV, tablet, phone, Mac devices...) is too perfect ... And there's no ForeFlight for Android. End of analysis. (Or, for more:  Why Android is losing in aviation .) However, WingX just announced it will run on the Amazon Fire tablets . That's potentially huge . A new Fire tablet can be had for $50 ! (Don't think that model has GPS though. In fact, looking at the tech specs for all the Fire tablets, no - they all provide location services via WiFi. No idea if a Bluetooth GPS module will work... The Dual I use has a

When I first started carrying an electronic flight bag, I wrote hacked together a couple of simple Java apps to (a) retrieve and compile the A/FD whenever it gets updated, and (b) check to ensure I had the latest sectional and terminal area charts for my local flying areas. I downloaded the FAA's PDFs. However, the PDFs don't include things like the ‘VFR Flyaway’ chart on the back of the LA TAC, which is actually kinda useful. The charts also include stuff that either isn't in ForeFlight, or isn't intuitively/quickly found (at least, I haven't found it), like the details for the LAX VFR Mini-Route, LAX Special Flight Rules Area, etc. (I'm also not entirely sure ForeFlight satisfies Special Flight Rules requirement that “[t]he pilot shall have a current Los Angeles Terminal Area Chart in the aircraft.”) So... I rewrote the script to pull down the TIFF versions, which still get synched to GoodReader automatically, and then I can use GoodReader's file brows

So, I flew to a small airport a few days ago for an overnight stay, and the next morning, the plane wouldn't start. Long story short, the head of the FBO came up in another plane and, after trying to get my rental to fire for a while, we gave up and flew back in the plane he'd arrived in. In the midst of all of that, I forgot my Dual GPS receiver on the dash. Sigh. I'm flying on Saturday, and kinda want ForeFlight with me. I could drop $90 for another GPS receiver. But I won't. Instead I've ordered: RAM-B-238 Diamond Base RAM-HOL-AP18U Mount Cradle for the iPhone 6  (there's also a  6 Plus version ) It's a relatively short flight (just barely enough to be cross-country), but through some convoluted airspace (two Charlies, multiple Deltas, and a TRSA), so the more SA I have with me, the better. And hey, when I'm done, I can swap the cradle into the Jeep, in place of the clumsier-than-I-anticipated "universal mount" installed in there no