PIREP: Tablet PC in the Cockpit

I posted a while back that I have given up my long-time (OK, "relatively"
long-time) subscription to Jeppesen in lieu of Sporty's IFR ChartViewer.
Just to recap, I can get a year-long subscription to the ChartViewer and get
every approach, departure, arrival, minimums, etc. that are printed in the
NACO packs for every airport in the US all for just a few dollars more than
a yearly subscription to just the Mid-Atlantic Jepp pack. There simply is
no contest.

The trick is using that technology in the cockpit. I tried it for the first
time on my flight to Concord, NC in October 2004. I took along an old IBM
ThinkPad T600X upgraded with a DVD drive to see how the software would work
and ATC obliged me by giving me a different approach than I expected.
Although I had the "new" approach in the Jepp pack and available, I took the
opportunity to test ChartViewer to see how easily and quickly I could find
the approach on the laptop. I was pleased to find it took only seconds to
find the approach.

While the software worked quite well (enough so that I chucked Jepp as soon
as my subscription expired), the hardware situation needed some work. On
that flight, I was able to put the laptop in "George's" seat since I was the
only one in the plane. The flip-top screen of the laptop wasn't a problem
in that scenario, but I could tell it would not have worked nearly so well
had there been a person sitting in the copilot's seat. The screen of the
laptop would have interfered with the yoke or else the copilot would have
had to hold the laptop above the controls (obscuring somebody's view, for
sure) and there is no way to put it in my lap without it interfering with
the yoke.

Enter the TabletPC.

I've been using a PocketPC in the cockpit for several years now and had a
PDA for a couple years before that. I use it for A/FD info as well as a
moving map GPS - at least until we got a panel-mounted Garmin installed
early in 2005. The point is I'm comfortable with pen-based interfaces and
started looking at Tablets for use in the plane. (OK, I was using that as
justification for a new toy, but I really *did* plan to use it in the plane.
Honest.) I ended up buying the Gateway M275 mainly due to cost and was able
to put it to its first test shortly afterward on a flight from Manassas, VA
to Manteo, NC (Outer Banks).

This model weighs in at a relatively hefty 6 pounds. While that's heavy for
a Tablet, you have to remember this is really a convertible laptop with all
the amenities one would expect from a laptop including a full-size (at least
in laptop terms) keyboard, DVD/CD-RW drive, connection ports, etc. The
screen rotates on the hinge 180 degrees to lay down flat again with the LCD
facing up over the keyboard. In this configuration, all the input is
performed via the "pen" (really a stylus on steroids).

My intent here isn't to write a full review of the hardware as much as how I
think it fits in the cockpit. With that said, I've become rather enamored
with the Tablet concept in general and use it daily at the office,
especially for taking notes and using it as a mini-whiteboard - quite handy
in software development when we start drawing doodles describing the next
Great Feature.

I had a full complement of passengers and crew for this flight so space was
at a premium. I put the M275 in its Tablet configuration and placed it on
the floor between the front seats finding it stood on edge nicely with
plenty of room to grab hold of it. The M275 has a rubberized grip on one
edge that makes it easy to pick up from this position.

Since this was my first flight with the Tablet, I wanted to be sure it
wouldn't interfere with the safety of the flight so I used my old trusted
pencil and paper for my initial clearance and frequency changes during
ascent to cruise flight. Once in cruise mode, I reached down and easily
found the Tablet's grip without even looking. While I didn't try it, it
looks like the Tablet would even fit in the large map pockets we have in our
Skylane.

Anyway, I put the Tablet on my lap and fired up Sporty's ChartViewer. The
Tablet fit quite nicely under the yoke with plenty of room for significant
movement of the controls. Extreme inputs like hard right or left rolls
would probably put the yoke in contact with the Tablet but, frankly, if I
have to put in that much control input in the kind of flying I do, I've got
much larger issues to be concerned with than a busted laptop screen.

Using the pen in cruise wasn't a problem and I was quickly able to locate
the approaches for Manteo (KMQI). Using the Tablet in portrait mode shows
probably 90% of the chart on the screen at once and I only need to scroll
the view to see the minimums block at the bottom of the chart. My M275 uses
1024x768 resolution only and I don't know if a higher resolution like that
of the Toshiba Tecra M4 would show all of the chart, but I found the text
easily readable from my lap without squinting.

The screen is readable, but that's not to say all is perfect. One of the
things I like about the screen is, like many newer LCDs, it does not have a
dull anti-glare shield on the display. My opinion is this makes it easier
to eliminate glare because you don't have to move the display angle much to
eliminate the light source. However, when the display is flat on your lap
under the yoke in the cockpit, one doesn't have the luxury of changing the
angle much to remove the large light source otherwise known as the
windshield. I found that the readability was improved by turning the
display backlight on full bright or by taking off my sunglasses. While I'd
rate this Tablet maybe a "3 out of 5" for cockpit readability, other models
with transflective displays (similar to my iPAQ hx4700) would probably rate
much better. Also, while I'm not enamored with the bright-light
readability, I did not find the screen even close to unusable.

I discovered another use for the Tablet beyond ChartViewer, too. Like many
pilots I know, I have acquired the habit of writing down frequencies
immediately after ATC issues me a handoff (usually before I acknowledge the
call). Having Windows Journal (or better yet, Microsoft OneNote) up makes
it a snap to "write" down the frequencies as they're rattled off. Just like
with paper, it's my writing only I can add more writing area by simply
scrolling down. I found this feature quite useful when checking weather
reports and other minutiae pilots find useful to jot down. This also makes
it easier to write down thoughts, notes, etc. for later write-ups or log
entries.

One possible concern is the pen. As I said before, this is a stylus on
steroids with pressure sensitive electronics embedded in it and the Tablet
(in Tablet mode) won't accept any input without it. This isn't like the
PocketPC with a pressure-sensitive digitizer on the screen. It would not be
good to lose the pen in the cockpit. I bought a second pen to have in a
handy place for this occurrence, but one could mitigate this risk by tying a
small lanyard or affixing a Velcro strip to the pen.

It was drilled into me during instrument training that you want to move your
head as little as possible while in IMC to help prevent spatial
disorientation. Having the Tablet on your lap means you'll have to move
your head to see it. How much depends on your vision, but I don't find this
to be any more of an issue than looking at my kneeboard to write a clearance
or frequency change.

My flight to and from KMQI was just about two hours each way and I found the
battery on the M275 was able to last the entire flight with a little less
than 20% capacity remaining. I was not using ChartViewer in "run from DVD"
mode, but rather had all the charts I needed installed on the hard drive.
Also, I did not have the backlight on full bright unless I felt I needed it
and turned it down to its lowest setting for most of the flight. (Toggling
the brightness is easily done by pressing a button on the display until the
desired setting appears.) The M275 draws less than 3.2 amps of 19 volt DC
power and comes with a 60 Watt power supply that shouldn't be much of an
issue for the typical 12 volt power outlet (using an inverter, obviously).
There are after-market power supplies available that work directly from the
"cigar lighter", too.

In summary, I find the Tablet form factor to be rather useful for pilots.
The size is large enough to have a readable screen (mine has a 14" display)
without being bulky or unwieldy in the confined space of the cockpit.
Fliers of stick-controlled planes like the Diamond Eclipse may find a need
for a Velcro strap to keep the Tablet positioned on one leg, but most pilots
would likely find it fits just fine in the plane. Readability for this
model isn't as good as, say, my iPAQ screen, but it is usable and the
"endless sheet of paper" it offers is enticing.

Not to mention its ability to play music or other in-flight entertainment...

--
John T
http://tknowlogy.com/TknoFlyer
http://www.pocketgear.com/products_s...veloperid=4415
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