Hi there!

 

I'm registered in this forum since last summer, but this is my first post. I hope I'm posting in the right section regarding my topic/question...

 

Well, since the iPad obviously became a useful tool in real world aviation during recent years,

 

 

 

I thought it also might be a very nice tool for PC flight simulation. I'm really a hardcore flight simulator enthusiast and a lot of my spare time goes on flight simulation (rather than on girls :lol:). Currently I'm flying the B737-700/800 by PMDG for MS FSX on a relatively professional basis. So far I used to print all my stuff, which doesn't only include maps and charts but also entire operating manuals. But I'm tired of spending a lot of money on ink and paper for printing everything. Especially charts and flight plans on a regular basis, which easily can be up to 50 pages and more, depending on the route. Not to mention thick folders in my shelf and in my pilot's case below the desk.

 

So I just want to ask if someone here uses an iPad for PC flight simulation (for flight plans, checklists, charts etc...), and if it would be a useful investment. I have no clue of iPads yet (I never bought anything from Apple so far). And would an iPad2 do the job just as an iPad3?

 

Thanks in advance, and best regards!

 

I use the iPad mini along with Dropbox to drop my PDF docs onto my iPad. It works great and rarely use my second CPU anymore other than for utility programs. Since I only fly in the USA I have ordered a subscription to foreflight and with active sky next its as real as it gets.

 

I highly recommend an iPad if your as serious as you say.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Okay, thanks sgreen91.

 

I already was thinking about the iPad mini, but now I hover between iPad mini and iPad2...

For PDFs, I highly doubt you'll see a huge performance difference between the iPad 2 and the 3.
 

But do remember, the iPad 3 has the seductively crisp retina display, and that, imo, is a huge factor. I'd go with the 3, feels better in the hand for charts (to me).

I was faced with a similar dilemma, iPad Mini vs. iPad Air. I went with the new iPad Air. The bigger screen really does make a nice difference. As the poster above stated, I use dropbox to synchronize my PDF files between my FSX PC and my iPad, and I couldn't be happier. Taking it an additional step further, I then import my PDF file into a program called Papers3 and that allows me to edit the PDFs with highlights, user notes, and even write stuff on the PDF itself. Very nifty stuff.

 

My  next step is to synchronize my FSX location on ForeFlight, so that I can see where my flight is at any given time and not haveto look at the FSX pc itself.

Blue ray just google flightsimgps. It's a free program that wii tie your location in fsx into foreflight. It works great, I use it for every flight.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Blue ray just google flightsimgps. It's a free program that wii tie your location in fsx into foreflight. It works great, I use it for every flight.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Will do, thanks!

I use a Microsoft Surface for PDFs and Angle of Attack Tutorial

Got the Surface RT on sale a few weeks ago for $200

 

 

I use the iPad mini along with Dropbox to drop my PDF docs onto my iPad... I have ordered a subscription to foreflight

 

I use exactly the same setup, except with a full-size iPad 2.  Fantastic combination - all the charts via Foreflight and all the manuals and checklists and such via Dropbox.  Works beautifully.  Highly recommended.  

II use Foreflight ( http://www.foreflight.com/ )as well, on a 3rd gen iPad.  It's a phenomenal real-world app (NA only, however) for flight-planning, wx, charts etc.  You can trial it (for a month, I believe) and then you'll have to get at least one of the chart subscriptions from there.  There are several options, depending on whether you want geo-location on approach plates, and whether you need/want Canada.  The Geo-location pieces work great with FSX, with the addition of either low, or no cost wired or wireless addons.  I use the free FlightsimGPS to wirelessly connect ( http://www.flightsimgps.com/ ).

 

Good luck,

 

Scott

Thanks for all the information so far.

 

Dropbox looks interesting. Foreflight as well, but I only fly in Europe, so it doesn't make sense yet in my case. It might change in future once I get the PMDG 777. But I don't know when this will be. Long haul is a different business even on PC. And I'm still busy with planning and flying routes in Europe with my 737 NGX.

 

I still don't know whether to buy the iPad 2 or 3 (it was typo in post 3, i.e. not iPad mini and 2 but iPad 2 and 3). I might make a decision tomorrow.

 

 

I still don't know whether to buy the iPad 2 or 3 (it was typo in post 3, i.e. not iPad mini and 2 but iPad 2 and 3). I might make a decision tomorrow.

 

Pick the 3. The Retina display is worth the extra dosh.

Pick the 3. The Retina display is worth the extra dosh.

 

Well, I almost was going to order the iPad Air yesterday...

 

But than I thought that I might have a look at other tablet PCs as well. I came across the Acer Iconia series and I figured out that the A3-A10 suits my purposes as well, while it costs only 230 Euro / 315 USD. Of course it's not an Apple, it doesn't have a retina display and there are some other significant differences in terms of display quality, cpu power etc. But one can connect much more peripherals to the A3-A10 (especially micro SD memory cards). So from a beginners point of view and taking the budget into account also, I thought that the A3-A10 might be a good beginning in my case.

 

I really appreciate all your suggestions. Thanks a lot. I still might buy an iPad Air later this year, since I really liked what I read and saw in videos so far. But for reading aviation manuals and documents for the main part I think the Acer also will do it for now.

 

CommercialAviator,

 

You'll be quite happy with the Acer; in general, Tablets of either flavor make for very nice FlightSim accessories! I would definitely think about Dropbox; it's a handy app to have. It makes transfer of data from your computer to your tablet (and vice versa) much, much easier. Another aviation app you might want to look at is called PilotWxChartJr. It gives you access to Sectionals, SIDS/STARS, METARS and Airport Info, all at the touch of an icon.

 

Peruse the Google Play store... there's a lot of good apps that are useful in the FS environment.

 

Alan 

CommercialAviator,

 

You'll be quite happy with the Acer; in general, Tablets of either flavor make for very nice FlightSim accessories! I would definitely think about Dropbox; it's a handy app to have. It makes transfer of data from your computer to your tablet (and vice versa) much, much easier. Another aviation app you might want to look at is called PilotWxChartJr. It gives you access to Sectionals, SIDS/STARS, METARS and Airport Info, all at the touch of an icon.

 

Peruse the Google Play store... there's a lot of good apps that are useful in the FS environment.

 

Alan 

 

I'm quite happy indeed. I got my tablet yesterday and it's amazing. The first thing I did after I was familiar with the tablet, was to copy the PMDG 737NGX manual and a few Jeppesen charts to it. It's great how comfortable it is to adjust the size as desired. And especially how crystal clear the charts look, no matter how much you zoom in. It's definitely superior to plain paper in every respect. I wouldn't be surprised if one doesn't find paper in most cockpits anymore in the future...

 

I'll have a look at Dropbox. But I think PilotWxChartJr doesn't make sense in my case, since it only coveres the US from what I have seen so far.