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iPads, Foreflight and Synthetic Vision

(Original thread started on 11-04-11 by Rand Mathews)

I ran across this video and thought it was interesting where they mounted the iPad. I located mine to the left of the pilot, kind of between the MIP and left side panel. Can also be removed to the FO side when friends fly.

 




 

(Posted by Shane Barnes on 11-04-11)

Hey Rand, I found that video a couple nights ago as well. I don't have an iPad so fill me in here. Do the approach plates download to the iPad or how does that work? Help out the tech challenged guys!

 

(Posted by Rand Mathews on 11-04-11)

Shane, there are two things that I use. The first is AivlaSoft EFB which has a ton of options, you can check it out here. http://www.aivlasoft.com

 

I also made a few videos showing it running on my YouTube channel.  Then I will use http://skyvector.com/ charts which fit perfectly on the iPad. it's really a great addition to the Sim. If I can help you with any of the details with this stuff just give me a shout. You can see where I mounted the iPad in the bottom left corner:

Rand 2

 

(Posted by Alan Norris on 03-04-12)

This from MacRumors.com:

US Air Force Agrees to Purchase $9 Million Worth of iPads

Friday March 2, 2012 9:34 am PST by Jordan Golson

Alan 31

 

 

The U.S. Air Force has awarded a $9.36 million contract to purchase as many as 18,000 iPad 2s, according to Bloomberg. The plan is to replace bulky and heavy flight bags full of navigational charts and other materials with iPads in order to reduce the weight of pilots' bags and save fuel on flights.

 

The Air Mobility Command, which is purchasing the iPads, provides transport and refueling services using C-5, C-17, and C-130 cargo planes, and KC-10 and KC-135 tankers.

 

A number of airlines have begun testing iPads to replace heavy flight bags, including United, Delta, American, and the Marine Corps.

 

The iPads will streamline pilots' work by eliminating the need for thumbing through sheets of paper or waiting for pages to print. The iPads will reduce clutter on cramped flight decks and offer quick and easy access to required data at all times.

 

(Posted by Eric Williams on 03-14-12)

Looks like they sit front and center in the Lear. looks like it is an iPad, very similar if not.

 




 

(Posted by David Gutierrez 03-14-12)

Yes it's an iPad. Actually the FO is my friend, his name is Gerardo and he has been my friend for some years.

 

He is now working for the Government of Tabasco, Mexico as a First Officer on the Lear45XR.

 

(Posted by Eric Tomlin on 09-01-15)

Synthetic Vision for Foreflight. Is it possible in our sims?

https://www.foreflight.com/synthetic-vision/

 

(Posted by Greg Branch on 01-12-15)

After doing some research, it appears you will be able to have full functionality! Foreflight will receive enough data from FSX or P3D to simulate there being an Attitude Heading Reference System "AHRS" in the sim. I spoke with the developer of FSXFlight and it works! So good news!

 

All you have to do is update the app and open ForeFlight Mobile, tap More > Downloads > United States, and turn the Synthetic Vision switch ON.

 

(Posted by Ron Rollo on 01-16-15)

Greg Branch came down and we loaded up the synthetic version of Foreflight. It works great! I took only a few photos but I will have more in a few days:

Ron 561

 

An example of what this software can do, it is awesome!  It is like a sim within a sim!

Ron 562

 

(Posted by Justin Fletcher on 01-17-15)

This is amazing! Is there an app installed in FSX that feeds the flight data to Foreflight? The terrain and weather radar is worth it alone!

 

(Posted by Alan Norris on 01-17-15)

I assume you are running that on an iPad. And if so, how does the iPad communicate with the program on the server -- Bluetooth or WiFi?

 

(Posted by Ron Rollo on 01-19-15)

Justin, there is a minor Foreflight program that is free and installed on the server computer. It enables the program on the iPad to receive data from FSX or P3D. It is amazing stuff. It actually thinks that the sim is in the real world somewhere. Check it out here: https://www.foreflight.com/

 

Alan, the iPad is linked into the network via WiFi. When I first saw how fast it got linked in and was working, I was leaning towards thinking it was magic.

 

When I was first envisioning what my flight simulator would be like back in 2006 and 2007, I did not see this coming. These next few photos of the synthetic vision system within Foreflight will blow you away. How all this works is beyond me.

 

So here we go! This is a photo of the the synthetic vision program not connected to the sim on our iPad mini:

Ron 563

 

I did a test flight from Juneau Alaska (PAJN) because there are a lot of mountains and I have Orbix FTX scenery. In this photo notice the mountains in the background and the tower to the left?

Ron 564

 

And here is the synthetic vision displaying all of the elevation hazards directly in front of the airplane as it sits on the tarmac:

Ron 565

 

Notice in these next few photos the colors. Green means you are at least 1,000 feet above that part of the ground. Yellow means your within 1,000 feet of that part of the ground. Red means your are equal or below that part of the ground. This also applies to towers, buildings and other man made structures that could be considered air traffic hazards:

Ron 566

 

You can split the screen so that you can see the main functions of Foreflight:

Ron 567

 

If you and the sim banks, the synthetic vision banks. I describe it as a simulator within a simulator. I actually tried to land the sim only using the synthetic vision when Greg was down a few days ago. It wasn't pretty but at least I got the wreckage on the runway to make it easy for the simulated emergency crew!

Ron 568

 

I took the sim up to 10,000ft. In this photo you can see that I would easily clear all mountains for at least 50 miles:

Ron 569

 

Coming in on approach back to PAJN. Look out for the mountain to the right!

Ron 570

 

In this photo you can see the runway coming into the picture:

Ron 571

 

And here I am sitting on the runway after landing. I have noticed that some runways line up perfectly and others are offset to one side or the other by as much as 10 feet. But still......what do you expect:

Ron 572

 

All in all, I am just scratching the surface of what this new tool is capable of. What I have not tried yet is an ILS approach in 1/4 mile visibility. I have done ILS approaches in 1/4 miles visibility but now I will have a "synthetic window view" into the soup!

 

(Posted by Eric Tomlin on 01-26-15)

While I was more concerned with demonstrating Ron's sim to a visitor, I have to say, the synthetic vision via Foreflight is very nice! I look forward to putting the software through more tests at a later date. Thanks to Ron for hosting Jose Justin Fletcher and I.

(Posted by Ron Rollo on 09-24-15)

I was browsing around on an aircraft trader website and I came across a Lear45 with what looked like iPad mini brackets mounted to the yokes. That's all I needed to see! In other words it gave me the green light to mount my iPad Mini(s) to the yokes. It is a pilot preference I suppose.

 

So I found a really neat website: http://rammount.com/

 

If you got it, RAM will mount it. They have hundreds of products to browse through and your going to love the prices. I got everything I needed for two sets right at $85. Here is a photo of the four pieces I selected to make what I needed in my sim:

Ron 573

 

There is the iPad holder, the mount that bolts to the back side of the iPad holder with a one inch ball, the short arm with two one inch ball sockets and the mount that has a one inch ball. (eight pieces in all because I have two sets) I decided to mount the iPad holder directly to my paper chart holder which apparently is becoming more obsolete by the day. This way the iPad mini is not floating around the cockpit getting dropped or whatever.

 

My sim now has a set of balls. They are small, one inch rubber balls, but balls they are:

Ron 574

 

If you decide to follow my lead, be careful as to where you mount this RAM mount to the chart holder. There is some hardware behind the chart plate that you have to work around and the bolts need to fall inside the opening on the front side of the yoke. You can't go wrong by mounting it like I have in the photo above:

Ron 575

 

What is also cool about this mounting solution is that I can loosen the arm with the one inch ball sockets, move it up four inches, tilt it back, forward, sideways or remove it all together:

Ron 576

 

I have done a few test flights and I got to say I love it. I can't wait to get one of you guys down here to get a second opinion.  Flying down a valley with synthetic flight! (Shane, take note of the color of all my back lighting):

Ron 577

 

(Posted by Shane Barnes on 12-08-15)

After seeing good reviews from Ron, I recently downloaded the Foreflight app for iPad and added to my sim. I created a short video showing how to create a flight plan. I thought some of you guys currently in the building stage might like a motivational video to keep building. I know during the building stage I really enjoyed seeing photos and videos of progress made by other builders:

https://youtu.be/3xFlpFMCNkU