iPad + Foreflight Review

A few months back, I bought an iPad with the intent of using it in
flight for maps, approach plates, and as a supplemental nav. to my GNS
430. I finally got the opportunity to play with it today while doing
some hood work to see how well it performs in-flight, and I must say, I
am very impressed.

I spent yesterday installing a mounting bracket for it on the panel of
my Cherokee 6: a Proclip with a swivel mount:

http://www.proclipusa.com/brodit-dev...139-18173.aspx

The Cherokee 6 has plenty of panel space, so I was able to mount it
without it interfering with anything else, and the swivel mount allows
me to rotate it and angle it so that I've always got a good view of it
from the left seat. The screen was bright enough to see clearly even in
direct sunlight, and the glare was minimal.

As for the software, I'm using Foreflight HD ($75/yr for all US maps,
sectionals, IFR low and high altitude, and approach plates). Both the
iPad and the software performed flawlessly. The iPad's GPS agreed
exactly with my Garmin GNS 430. In many ways, it's even easier to use
the iPad for maps and plates than having the paper in your lap. Pulling
up the appropriate map, plate, or airport info is a snap, even in a
bumpy cockpit. My only complaint is that the Foreflight software doesn't
seem to have an option to orient the maps in the direction of travel;
North is always up.

I'm going to be flying from New Mexico to California next week to visit
relatives, and look forward to using the iPad and Foreflight in some
real IMC for my charts and plates. After today's test under the hood, I
am very favorably impressed.

-- Dane