(greg) wrote in
om:

I'd like to know how most people handle using their tablet PC based
EFBs in the cockpit.

Our company is just getting a few of these to try. I've seen them, but
haven't flown with one. Ours are in a case, and have the software to do
the customer paperwork, manifests, wt & bal, approach plates, pretty much
everything. It's big & heavy, and there is no yoke in a helicopter; the
cyclic stick sticks up between your legs, and the collective is on the left
side, so you have to be careful not to hit anything while you're using the
thing. The only way this works with us is that we have 2 pilots - one
flying, and one doing everything else. How this will eventually work in
your single-pilot aircraft isn't clear to me. We just hold it in our
hands, probably on one leg to write, and put it away when not in use. For
single-pilot IFR, this could be tricky. IMO these things are way, way to
big and heavy. A Palm-sized package is better. I carry a Palm with me all
the time, with Copilot for flight planning, another database for all the
offshore waypoints and lease blocks, logbook, & everything else I might
need. The Palm is more than adequate, and can be made to hold approach
plates. If your eyesight isn't very good, that could be a problem, but the
newer high-resolution devices make it much easier. It works for me, YMMV.

--
Regards,

Stan