

IPad gets approval from FAA to replace paper flight charts and maps - statictype
http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/01/ipad-gets-approval-from-faa-to-replace-paper-flight-charts-and-m/

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aaroneous
This wasn't a blanket approval for pilots to throw out all dead trees.

The FAA actually only gave approval to one charter company (Executive Jet
Management) to use the iPad in conjunction with their extensive operations
manual. Right now all authorizations are being done on a case-by-case basis.

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ABFrep
I concur and approve this post for Internet Accuracy*.

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machrider
Don't worry, they'll still make you turn yours off until 10,000 feet.

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duck
There probably are some good reasons for doing this (or at least in addition
to the paper versions). That is, until a pilot gets caught playing Angry Birds
instead of doing their job.

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wtn
What about Flight Control HD?

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jarin
It will definitely be concerning to see planes crashing into helicopters and
landing after 180-degree turns at 500 feet.

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bigiain
I wonder how this is going to pan out with the FlightPrep/RunwayFinder patent
drama?

<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2007899>

(this might be a very smart move on FlightPreps part - wait until some well
funded company gets far enough down the rabbithole to get FAA approval, then
hit them up for license fees. _Way_ more likely to get money out of _that_
than from RunwayFinder)

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pmorici
What happens when you run out of batteries mid flight? Paper doesn't have that
problem.

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melling
You plug it in and charge it. At least that's what I did on my last vacation
when I was in the air for 15 hours.

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ChuckMcM
I know folks who have used e-readers for this purpose too. Charts are a really
natural fit since they are updated regularly and they are bulky. Next up check
lists.

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obtino
Paper flight charts are there for a reason - they're made of paper!

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Groxx
Indeed. They burn _far_ better if you're stranded on an island.

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mixmax
apparently they're ahead of their seafaring counterparts. Commercial ships are
still required to carry paper charts.

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celoyd
Three reasons:

1\. Electronics are vulnerable to salt water.

2\. Ships are at sea for longer than planes are in the air, so their power
supplies are less reliable, and they are generally dirtier and more chaotic.

2\. Ships tend to have proportionally smaller budgets for fancy electronics.
More of them are run by random people from poor countries.

None of these is a fundamental limit. There are tens of thousands of ships
designed and run such that none of these points matters. But I think that,
generally, they tend to damp down enthusiasm about relying on electronics at
sea.

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ams6110
If you believe what you see in those "reality" fishing shows on the Discovery
Channel, they are using computerized charts and setting crab pots using GPS so
the know exactly where they are. Not to say they don't also carry paper
charts, and maybe even a sextant so they can navigate if the GPS goes down,
but I am guessing they are not used in practice very often.

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celoyd
Yes, offshore fishing boats in the developed world almost universally use GPS,
as do most ships of any size. But there’s still a lot of conservatism in the
regulation of what you _have to_ have aboard and know how to use.

Reading nautical charts is nontrivial. They tend to be extremely dense (in
areas where you need to use one at all); you have to know a bunch of buoy
symbols, implicit rules, and so forth. Switching entirely to an electronic
system where you could choose optional display layers and tap unrecognized
symbols for help could make navigators’ licensing considerably easier.

Edit: A chart I happen to know a little:
<http://www.charts.noaa.gov/OnLineViewer/18432.shtml> . Notice the cable zones
(where you can’t anchor), the international boundary, the shipping lanes
(where you’re liable to be run over if you’re not a 1000-ton vessel), the
magnetic declination rosettes, the angles showing lighthouse visibility, the
warning of local magnetic disturbance, the nature preserves … and not far off
this particular chart, there are even markings for unexploded ordnance, left
over from exercises in the Cold War. And this is a simpler chart than one you
would theoretically use to move an oil tanker through the shipping lane, if
you did it on paper. So you can imagine how much a good electronic system
could clear things up.

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ZipCordManiac
they should require papers maps on the plane at least, what happens if you
drop the ipad and it breaks ?

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aaroneous
And what happens when you spill your coffee on paper maps? No system is
perfect.

(not that an iPad is immune to the cup of joe either)

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DrStalker
It's harder to make a paper map useless than to make an iPad useless.

Of course a protective case and a spare would solve that problem since I
assume flight crews are used to operating in an environment where they are
surrounded by sensitive electronics that they really don't want to break.

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ozziegooen
Sounds great, but I bet a few months after they finally purchase them everyone
will wonder what pilots are doing with outdated iPads.

