iPad EFIS


9 posts in this topic

Posted

Looking into shedding some weight and upgrading avionics a little.

 

Is anyone running one of the Tablet EFIS systems? If so, which one and how do you like it?

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Posted

Hi John,

I am probably the least qualified to discuss this but I would not depend on an IPad for anything that I really needed.  My first one would just randomly kick out of ForeFlight whenever it decided to do so, and then could take minutes to reconnect to the Garmin Glo.  The one I have now seems to be better, but I like having instruments that are connected, dedicated and I have never had any reliability problems with.  The new digital instruments are very light and perform multiple functions.  I like simplicity for a basic VFR plane like mine and I have the MGL E-1, FL-1 and a couple others for volt/amps and some other engine monitoring.  They are very simple to scan and provide all the engine and flight info plus a bunch of other stuff like fuel flow, fuel level, time/distance remaining, TAS, density altitude, hobbs, maint. timer, OAT, parameter setting and warning lights, etc, etc,

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Posted

If you are looking for a moving map for navigation then I would say it depends.  When I was flying IFR regularly, the IPad with ForeFlight was really the only choice. That was several years ago though and now I don't fly IFR at all and I use a cheap Android tablet with Avare and Flight Plan Go.  I lean toward Avare because I have found that FltPlanGo can be sluggish at times but could be due to my use of an ultra-cheap  tablet.  Avare works great, but has some quirks. Once figured out all is good though and for any kind of VFR flight I find it perfectly adequate. Even for some IFR I would be OK with it.  Both can be paired with a Stratux or similar for in-flight traffic and weather. Both are free which is a major factor in my choosing them right now, but even though free they can do the job.

If you were really talking about an EFIS to replace flight instruments, I would say that it would not be my first choice to use a tablet. On a VFR Kitfox/Avid it would not be bad though because  a little practice should get a competent pilot to where they could fly the airplane without any instruments.  Having said that, on my project airplane I will be putting in a Garmin G5X which is $1250 but includes everything flight instrument related, can be connected to an autopilot down the road and can also be interfaced with the nav stuff too.

One of the main reasons I say I would not do a tablet EFIS is because in order to have airspeed and altitude that is not GPS based you have to have something that takes the pitot and static info and then in turn talks to the tablet.  This is usually done using a ADAHRS system and I have yet to see an ADAHRS like this for less that what the self contained G5X costs. 

As mentioned the other option would something like the MGL stuff.

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Posted

109jb, I use foreflight when I'm flying IFR and I dont have any issues with it in that regard and attached to the stratux it has worked well for me. I am looking into the ADAHRS interfaces, I would keep primary AS, Alti and turn coordinator as backups. 

On the G5, were there no additional components needed for installation? 

If you are looking for a moving map for navigation then I would say it depends.  When I was flying IFR regularly, the IPad with ForeFlight was really the only choice. That was several years ago though and now I don't fly IFR at all and I use a cheap Android tablet with Avare and Flight Plan Go.  I lean toward Avare because I have found that FltPlanGo can be sluggish at times but could be due to my use of an ultra-cheap  tablet.  Avare works great, but has some quirks. Once figured out all is good though and for any kind of VFR flight I find it perfectly adequate. Even for some IFR I would be OK with it.  Both can be paired with a Stratux or similar for in-flight traffic and weather. Both are free which is a major factor in my choosing them right now, but even though free they can do the job.

If you were really talking about an EFIS to replace flight instruments, I would say that it would not be my first choice to use a tablet. On a VFR Kitfox/Avid it would not be bad though because  a little practice should get a competent pilot to where they could fly the airplane without any instruments.  Having said that, on my project airplane I will be putting in a Garmin G5X which is $1250 but includes everything flight instrument related, can be connected to an autopilot down the road and can also be interfaced with the nav stuff too.

One of the main reasons I say I would not do a tablet EFIS is because in order to have airspeed and altitude that is not GPS based you have to have something that takes the pitot and static info and then in turn talks to the tablet.  This is usually done using a ADAHRS system and I have yet to see an ADAHRS like this for less that what the self contained G5X costs. 

As mentioned the other option would something like the MGL stuff.

Hey Randy, forgot to tell you that moose sausage was fantastic!

I'll look into the MGL offerings, I was interested in adding the iPad interface with an Airdata computer and leaving the primary instruments as backups. Itll be a little ways out before I can make it happen so I'm trying to do all the research now while I can. 

 

Hi John,

I am probably the least qualified to discuss this but I would not depend on an IPad for anything that I really needed.  My first one would just randomly kick out of ForeFlight whenever it decided to do so, and then could take minutes to reconnect to the Garmin Glo.  The one I have now seems to be better, but I like having instruments that are connected, dedicated and I have never had any reliability problems with.  The new digital instruments are very light and perform multiple functions.  I like simplicity for a basic VFR plane like mine and I have the MGL E-1, FL-1 and a couple others for volt/amps and some other engine monitoring.  They are very simple to scan and provide all the engine and flight info plus a bunch of other stuff like fuel flow, fuel level, time/distance remaining, TAS, density altitude, hobbs, maint. timer, OAT, parameter setting and warning lights, etc, etc,

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Posted

On the G5, were there no additional components needed for installation? 

The Garmin G5X is self contained but you can add to it for additional features.  By itself for $1250 it gives AS, GS, ALT, VSI, AHI, TC, Skid Slip, GPS direction. For this you only need to hook up power and ground wires, and the pitot, and static port hoses.  

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Posted

On the G5, were there no additional components needed for installation? 

The Garmin G5X is self contained but you can add to it for additional features.  By itself for $1250 it gives AS, GS, ALT, VSI, AHI, TC, Skid Slip, GPS direction. For this you only need to hook up power and ground wires, and the pitot, and static port hoses.  

Thanks, when I first dismissed it I was under the impression it needed added components.

Any chance you looked at the uAvonix 30 also? Seems it's the same price with a built in battery, round and has a built in angle of attack.

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Posted

I did look at the UV-30, along with Dynon, MGL, and others.  I'm going with the G5X for a few reason. First, I just don't like the looks of the UV-30, meaning the organization of information and the way it is presented. It seems too cluttered and jammed in there. The G5X is much more palatable in this regard.  Second, I plan to do an autopilot, and the G5X setup is great in this regard.  It is also cheaper than the others to do an autopilot. The UV-30 doesn't have this option so it was out on this fact alone.

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Posted

Good Day,

Being an avionics shop tech, I am upgrading my Avid panel.  The issue I have seen with the tablet (iPad) is heat.  If the tablet is cooled with a fan it will will 98% of the time.  For me, I plan go with the AV30 display because of it’s features, cost and I have good transponder/radio since I fly and out of class B everyday.

GRT Sport EX is my second choice due to the flexible upgrades, ease of installation, cost and when I called GRT, I got a person at the other end.  I use ForeFlight on my tablet as a backup navigator. Keeping it simple for me has always been better, but I have had more Cessna and Piper people come in and say, “my iPad keeps quitting”, and normally it in the sun and being charged at the same time.

Any questions feel free drop me a line.  We give free advice, quotes and we’re a small shop who like to help out ELSA and SLSA when we can. 

doug@gibbs.aero

 

 

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Posted (edited)

i am currently building a panel with 2x 8" android tablets and 1x MGL MX-1 (8" portrait mode) .. it is not for an avid though, the panel is higher than the avid's. On my avid i plan on using the MGL iEFIS 8" display in landscape mode. the MGL's are extremely light, actually so light that they feel a bit flimsy when you hold them in your hand, i had really expected more weight. I will use the MGL as my primary flight display and have added a Talos Aeolus sense which is connected via WiFi to the tablets to provide a backup ADHRS (that's mandated even for VFR if you rely on purely electronic gauges here in switzerland). For the tablets i have built some custom mounting frames which flush-mount the tablets from the back to the panel. I have 3d printed those and added the 5v power supply and a 5v 40mm fan to provide additional airflow for cooling the tablets. In my previous plane i was using another Huawei 7" tablet as my nav display and i had it mounted on the panel in the sun and it never overheated..

i have also heared, that newer ipad's don't overheat as much as older ones.. no idea if that holds true but i think as long as you cool them with a fan they should be fine.. there are also nice panel mounts available for ipads.. don't recall the name of the manufacturer anymore, but you will find it if you google for it.

here is a picture of what it is going to look like. currently the panel itself is just a thin mdf sheet that i have routed to test the fit of everything before i make the final panel in aluminum.

 

Screenshot from 2020-07-23 10-53-31.png

here is a picture of the 3d printed mount.. it attaches to the panel from the back and the tablet is just held in there by the panel pushing it into the cutout. the whole mount is about 140 grams (only 15% infill was used for the plastic), it is printed in a speacial PET-G plastic which is flame retardant. I have cut some holes in the back of the tablet and soldered in some wires to bring the power button, volume buttons and audio out to a SUB-D 15 pin plug so i can connect it to the wiring harness. i also had to move the usb connector for charging the tablet to the back because as you can see on the above picture, i was quite limited in hight and cound not afford to plug in a usb connector at the bottom of the tablet. but all that is nothing a dremel can't solve for you ;)

 

Screenshot from 2020-07-23 10-54-35.png

Edited by Pascal

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