A Geek Goes Flying

I’ve been using the same flight bag for the past ~10 years. 2015 configuration ; 2020 configuration . The tech stack has evolved a bit. Still have the same Stratus 2S (it could probably use a battery replacement at this point). Upgraded the iPad mini to a 6th generation , which of course meant a new RAM cradle  (reused the old hardware) and protective bag and a cheap pencil . The iPad is connected via a medium length RAM arm to the older  RAM-B-121-238U claw , which protrudes just enough to go under every yoke I’ve tried it with (Beech, Piper, Mooney) and feels a bit more stable than having a longer RAM arm. For power, a Shargeek 140 battery pack is slim enough to fit in the middle outer pocket of the Brightline  FLEX Pocket Cap (blue zippers section #4 on this diagram ), and has more than enough power output and capacity to “fuel” multiple hours of flight. Cables, I have a 15W USB A to USB C cable for the Stratus (it doesn’t seem to like power delivery negotiation, b...

$150 off an iPad mini 6 on sale at Amazon finally convinced me to upgrade from the iPad mini 4 I’ve been dragging between rental planes (with its slightly cracked screen and outdated operating system - iPadOS 16, released in 2023, left it behind ). Since it would now be USB C instead of Lightning, and since my old charging setup was woefully inadequate (10,000 mAh and 10W total output power), it was time to just sort of refresh things. Flight bag, 2020 edition , now: Center Section Four Top Pocket: Still the AO sunglasses and foggles. Main compartment: Same Stratus GPS / ADS-B receiver and RAM suction cup mount . At some point I might replace the battery, through the official kit ($125) or just an aftermarket battery ($30). Same  Bose A20 headset, but I needed to replace the ear pads ; I opted to use the official Bose SKU ($36 shipped). Same  Velcro PTT switch . New for the iPad mini 6: RAM-B-202-AP36U RAM® EZ-Roll'r™ Cradle with Ball for Apple iPad mini 6 ($36.50). I’l...

Trying to figure out how much battery capacity I need in my flight bag (the crappy 2.1A-shared Insignia just ain’t cutting it anymore). These aren’t ideal tests and I’ll redo them at some point with a work load going on while sipping USB power (which will hopefully recharge while providing operating wattage), but, here goes (readings taken with a Klein ET-920 ). iPad Mini 4, recharged from dead to full: 13:31  Dead   9-10W 14:10  17%     7.8W  1142 mAh 15:08  44%     7.4W  2720 mAh 16:50  84%       5W  4729 mAh 17:52  98%       5W  5387 mAh 18:14  Full    1.3W  5500 mAh ("Not Charging") So about 5500 mAh (realistically, with charging loss, ~8,000 mAh capacity on the charging pack), and requires about 10W at maximum to recharge. I’ll do a test with the screen on, connected to the Stratus GPS unit over WiFi, AS...

It’s been a while ; I should probably revisit what’s in my flight bag. The exact configuration will change depending on if I’m renting or flying one of the planes in our “fleet,” the following is pretty typical for “grab the bag and go flying” no matter what aircraft it is. Note that my flights tend towards the cross-country, and I’m usually hundreds of miles from home. I fly a lot of missions ( Pilots n’ Paws , etc) and I’ve, e.g., been stuck in Las Vegas overnight when mountain waves suggested it would be a really good idea to wait out the ~50 knot headwinds. So, here goes. Everything in this list has saved a flight at least once. The bag: BrightLine Flex B4 Swift I paid $164 for this in 2014; it’s gone up a bit since then ($196) but I think it’s still a great deal. It’s incredibly durable, expandable (e.g., I have a Center Section Three ($40 in 2015, $46 now) I can zip in when I need a bit more storage - an overnight change of clothes, a second headset, whatever), and I like hav...