<<This is why an iPad is not an "Electronic Flight Bag" and never will be, despite the claims to the contrary by those who do not know any better.>>

 

I'm on the same page as these guys, but I admit I'm a dinosaur.  My job gave me the opportunity to go to Jeppesen Galactic HQ (which is right down the street here in Denver) a few months ago.  They showed me some eye-watering technology.  Like, having the GPS show you a little airplane on an approach plate so you don't have to do mental gymnastics to figure out where you are.  Charts that you can magnify so I don't need these dang reading glasses.  Truly awesome stuff!  Screens ten times the size of a Garmin 430, which used to be the coolest thing ever.

 

But then I realized it's on an iPad or iPad mini (my sister-in-law says "Don't be calling it a Mini Pad!") and I choked at the thought of people using consumer-grade stuff in an aviation environment.  Yikes!  There's a reason why DO178 and TSOs exist.  When was the last time your KX-155 crapped out due to environmental factors?  Probably never.  The iPad?  Probably yesterday or last weekend.

 

But this stuff is really cool and I hope there's a way we can get a ruggedized platform to run them, like they did when IBM PCs first came out.  Ruggedized laptops, ruggedized chassis.  Heck, I think there were TSOd radar displays 15 years ago that were just IBM PCs mounted to the panel.  (Gives a whole new meaning to "blue screen of death", doesn't it?)

 

This is what Angier is asking for, what Hamid is warning us that we need, and that I'd be willing to buy.

 

So, what's out there, guys?  Anything rugged enough for the aviation environment yet, at prices that 320 builders can afford?  Not the Legacy and 4P guys -- they can afford anything!  (That last item is just a joke.  I salute and envy you Legacy and 4P guys!)

 

- Rob Wolf