iPad, changing aviation one app at a time

After months of deliberating over spending the absurd amount of money on an Apple iPad, I finally took the plunge and bought one. I had been eyeing these since they first came out and I have tried several Sony e-readers and even a Kindle, but none of them showed approach plates very well and were just too cumbersome to use. My wife bought the first iPad when it came out and I downloaded some plates just to see how it worked and it was simply amazing. My experience with her iPad was limited though since she loved it so much, she wouldn't let me use it all that much. It was only a Wi-Fi only version, so it had limited aviation applications since it had no GPS.

So for aviation purposes, you really need to get a 3G version from either AT&T or Verizon. This provides you with the ability to use it anywhere you need to, which is extremely helpful if you ever fly into a small airport with limited facilities. The 3G version also has the built in GPS with allows for the use of numerous aviation programs. Although I have yet to try it, I'm told that you can track your flight while in the air as well. If you purchase the Georeference package from Foreflight, you can even have georeferenced instrument approach plates that will show you where you are at, as you fly an instrument approach.

There are numerous applications out there for the iPad now, but so far here are the ones that I have/use. Some of these are iPhone applications, but others have been "upgraded" to iPad versions:

Aeroweather - This is by far one of the best weather apps out there! It is easy to use and a great reference tool for pilots.

CirrusPerform - This is a must have app if you own/rent/fly a Cirrus aircraft

FlightPlanForm - Although this app has a few glitches, it is good to help guide a briefer when calling in a flight plan

AOPA Airports - A great source for airport data

ForeFlight - This is an AMAZING application! It has more functions than you can ever imagine!

JeppTC - This app is only good if you have already paid the outrageous subscription for digital approach plates for your CMAX or other digital chart programs. If already have CMAX, then you really don't need an iPad unless it's to be used as a back-up.

AirCheck - This is a handy app for making digital checklists.

FlightPlan - This app is decent and has some good conversion tools

FltPlan - Another airport data app.

DUAT - an ok, but bland app for flight planning. You can link into DUAT using ForeFlight or Garmin Pilot My-Cast and have a better tool.

Garmin Pilot My-Cast - This is another very good flight planning/all purpose aviation tool.

PilotWiz - This is a pretty good flight planning tool. I especially like the weight and balance functions since it allows me to create my own.

LogTen Pro - This is an ok app, but as a professional pilot it might be a very handy tool. As a PP it doesn't fit the bill for me.

MyRadar Pro - This is a great radar tool!

myE6B - Another flight planning tool.

These are only a few of the applications available to use for aviation. The iPad in my opinion is a game changer just like XM - NEXRAD Radar and GPS. It provides pilots with lots of information for flight planning and also allows a pilot to have all the necessary tools like IFR approach plates, enroute charts, and sectionals, all without having to lug around 20lbs of books, or having to find a place that actually has those products for sale. Oh and if you get stranded due to bad weather, you can watch movies, listen to music, surf the internet, play games, or check your e-mail. Other than the price, the iPad is a perfect tool for pilots at any level of aviation.

Flight Review

Today (18 JUNE 11) I took my first ever Flight Review (previously referred to by the FAA as a biennial flight review, or BFR). This is a flight review required by the FAA (14 CFR 61.56) for pilots to be considered "current to fly" and must be completed every 24-calendar months for active holders of a U.S. Pilot certificate. The flight review consists of at least 1-hour of ground instruction and 1-hour in-flight instruction with a qualified flight instructor. The FAA and instructors seem to be quick to point out that it is not a test. There is no pass or fail criteria, although the instructor giving it can decline to endorse your log-book that a flight review has been completed.

Being this was my first one (my previous requirement was met by completing my instrument rating) I was a bit nervous since I didn't know what exactly to expect. My instructor Joel was the same instructor that I did my Cirrus transition training with, and a fantastic flight instructor, so there wasn't any worries from that aspect. I just wasn't exactly sure what to expect.

Since I had to meet Joel at Gardner (K34), I departed KMKC at 0645 for the quick 10-minute flight to Gardner. This turned out to be kind of fun since the paved runway there, RW 8, is only 2960' x 39' which being narrow makes it seem like you are flying way too fast on final. The flight over was uneventful and I linked up with Joel to execute the flight review.

N779WC at Gardner Municipal (K34)

Ground Training - For this part of the exam I had prepared a XC flight from KMKC to KOMA and we used this as a basis to "chat" about IFR procedures, Airspace requirements, and flight rules. Instead of getting a machine gun list of questions, Joel turned the discussion into an exam without really making it feel like one! It was quite awesome really. We talked for about 1.5 hrs and then stepped out to the plane.

Flight Training - We loaded up in 9WC and departed on RW26 and headed out to the west to do some basic maneuvers. We did stalls, steep turns, slow flight and then shot an ILS into New Century RW 36. After this we did some touch and goes into RW 8 at Gardner which were a blast because of the narrow runway and then because of the quick turn to the north in order to stay clear of the Class-D airspace. When looking at the airspace you would think that it would be right traffic, but it's not! When looking at the Garmins or MFD it actually shows you inside of the Class-D airspace, however Joel assured me that we were safe and not actually inside the controlled airspace. After a couple of these, we stopped and the flight review was complete. It really turned out to be a pretty fun training experience!

Trip to the Hamptons (2010)

On Monday 13 September 2010, I took my family (Mandi, Mason-almost 4yo, and Tyler-3 weeks old) with me to Watertown, NY for work. This was a landmark trip for us in many ways. First off, it was the longest cross country trip I had taken to date (2,526 NM). Second it was the longest trip my family had taken to date. Lastly we had a three-week old baby with us! All of this posed some interesting challenges for us, but overall it would end up being quite the adventure. Because of the age of Tyler, we were limited to no more than 8000’ cruising altitude, so as not to hurt his newborn ears. This also makes traveling in warm weather a bit bumpy since we couldn’t climb over it to the smooth air sometimes when needed.

Mandi and Tyler in cruise mode

Mason occupied with a movie

We departed KFLV in the morning and headed for our first stop Celina, Ohio (KCQA) about 2:30 flight time. We filled up on fuel and I took the courtesy car into town to get some food for lunch, while Mandi tended to Tyler. After lunch we departed NE towards Cleveland, OH and then followed V14 towards Syracuse. Just prior to Syracuse we were give a “cleared direct to KART” and turned out over Lake Ontario direct to Watertown. As we approached Watertown, there was a storm moving down from Canada, so we raced to get in and then get the plane unloaded and secured before we got wet. Flight time for this leg was just over 2:30 hours. All was good though and we called the airfield manager to come let us out of the gate and give us the keys to our rental car. We drove to our hotel and I conducted my business for the next couple of days.

Late morning on Wednesday, we departed on our “vacation” over to Long Island to site see and to visit my friend Alex. Part of this trip was to fulfill part of my bucket list by landing in every state one-time enroute. My planned route was to fly from KART to Rutland, VT (KRUT) about 40 minutes to the east, however as we began our VFR approach it got to be pretty turbulent and the wife was NOT happy, so I aborted and we continued on for another 23 minutes to our next airport at Laconia, NH (KLCI) at which we landed on RW26 and stopped for the night due to all the turbulence. Laconia turned out to be a really awesome little vacation town and a fantastic airport. The manager gave us his courtesy van free of charge and we drove into town and found some dinner and then a hotel. We both really enjoyed the area and hope to come back for a visit when we had more time. We had breakfast the following morning at a place called Kitchen Cravings that was to die for! Unbelievable food and it’s right across the field on the opposite side of the airport.

The next morning we departed KLCI for Sanford, ME (KSFM), 11 minutes flight time, where I did a touch and go on RW14 and then headed south for 28 minutes to Provincetown Municipal (KPVC). KPVC is a very unique airport in that it is on a sandy point allegedly has the shortest RW with an ILS (3,500’).

Approach into Provincetown Municipal

We circled the point and sucked in the amazing scenery and then landed on RW25 to check it out.  By this time it was getting pretty late, so we decided that maybe we should head for Martha’s Vineyard, MA, which was only 20 minutes away, since there was an airport café there and we wouldn’t have to bother with getting a cab or rental car at Provincetown.  So we loaded up and departed for KMVY where we landed on RW24 and got some lunch.  It was really hard to believe that we were at Martha’s Vineyard!

Approach into Martha's Vineyard

After lunch we departed for South Hampton (KHTO), 30 minute flight time, where we had to dodge some outgoing traffic in order to land on the short runway since there was significant wind.  We landed on RW16 (2,060') and parked it for the night. 

South Hampton Airport

We were fortunate enough to get a really nice Buick Enclave that was never picked up and got a great deal on it. We then drove over around a bit exploring and waited for my friend Alex to fly over from Bridgeport, NY to Montauk (KMTP) and have dinner with us. We linked up with Alex at Rick's Crabby Cowboy, which was adjacent to KMTP and ate dinner. Rick’s is a really nice restaurant right off the airport and on the bay. The owner even came over and sat with us for a bit since he knew Alex. Great food and great hospitality! I hope to come back here again someday. After dinner, Alex flew me back to KHTO in his Cirrus SR20 where my wife met up with us and we went to the hotel for the night. As it turns out, there were no reasonable hotels near us, so we drove well to the west closer to NY since we wanted to stay in a place that we knew like the Hilton Garden Inn.

Since some bad weather moved in, we decided to stay a second night in the Hampton’s and we drove around and explored a bit. The Hampton’s are an interesting place in that there is a lot of money around you, yet it doesn’t seem like a very clean area like you would think. The roads are narrow and busy and there aren’t any chain stores or restaurants on Long Island. You really don’t get to appreciate Long Island though until you fly around it.

One of our most memorable stops was to visit the Montauk light house, which is at the very most eastern end of Long Island.  It was cool to see it in person and walk up inside this old light house.

Another cool sight was the Grumman Goose and Cessna Caravan owned by none other than Jimmy Buffet, seen here at South Hampton.

Jimmy Buffet's Grumman Goose

Jimmy Buffet's Cessna Caravan w/floats

The morning of our departure, 18 SEP 10, I had to stop at a few more states that were on my "bucket list" prior to heading back to Kansas City.  One more note on South Hampton (KHTO) that pilots need to know.  They charge exorbitant prices for everything AND THEY CHARGE FOR TOUCH & GOs!!  I DO NOT RECOMMEND USING THIS AIRPORT!  Instead fly to Montauk (KMTP) or Mattituck (M21) or Francis S Gabreski  (KFOK).  After paying our fees, we departed KHTO and flew north over the bay to a really cool airport right on the water called Elizabeth Field, Fishers Island, NY.

Approach into Elizabeth Field

This had a really cool approach and we flew in over a bunch of boats all watching us come into this relatively short airfield and land on RW12 (2328'). We stopped to check the place out and to use the restroom and then departed to the NE to do a touch & go at Westerly State, RI (KWST) on RW14. This place was crazy busy and there was flight training traffic going all over the place, so we did a quick touch-down and departed to the north to Willimantic, CT (KIJD) Were we landed on RW27 and stopped to file our IFR flight plan. This was also a very busy airport and quite frankly had fairly poor facilities. The weather was ok, however there was a broken cloud layer around 3000' and I wanted to get above it. We filed and I figured that I would pick up my clearance in the air or at least that was the plan. We took on a little fuel and departed on RW9 since the winds were calm and that was the active RW. I turned to the west and tried to call approach control. After numerous failed attempts and us bouncing around in the low level turbulence, I decided to head for a controlled field and get my clearance straightened out. The closest Class-D was Hartford, CT (KHFD), however as I approached the airport another aircraft reported engine problems and they directed me back east and then to the north. As we approached the airport, there were a lot of planes flying around and I could see the airport in the distance. The problem though was that the airport diagram didn't look the same as the airport, it was actually the exact opposite! Both of my GPSs were showing me in the right spot as was the MFD and the paper chart I had, yet the airport didn't look right. The tower then cleared me to land and I was adamant about where I was and what I was cleared to do, yet the tower said nothing. Then just as I was about to turn final I noticed what appeared to be a huge stadium at the end of the runway and then I noticed "Xs" on the runways. Just then both Mandi and I realized that there was TWO airports next to each other! We then landed safely on RW20 at Hartford and pulled off the runway. I told that tower about my dilemma with my clearance and they directed us to a parking ramp while they tried to figure it out.
We sat with the doors up, engine running, dying in the sweltering heat, on the tarmac for almost an hour trying to get our clearance figured out. Since I was very unfamiliar with the area and wasn't used to the Boston type accents of the controllers, I must have had them repeat the clearance 14 times until I finally understood where we were going. Mandi and I had the charts out and were searching all over for the route that we had been assigned. Our final clearance was as follows: KHFD-PWC-V106-LHY-KJST. Once we figured it out, we departed on our 1:43 minute flight and all was fine. I had never received a clearance like this before, so it was a great learning experience, I just wish I had done it under different circumstances. After we got out of the NY airspace, it was smooth flying and we landed at Johnstown, PA on RW23. As it turns out, the John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport is a fantastic and beautiful airport and home to one of the 56th SBCT Battalions. We had a beautiful approach into this airport and the scenery was just amazing. We topped off with some fuel and decided that our next stop would be our last for the night since it was an 1:30 minutes away. We took off and headed to Hamilton, OH (KHAO), which is in northern Cincinnati. We decided that with all the traveling that Mason deserved a little waterpark time, so we landed here for the night and got a taxi to take us to Coco Keys indoor waterpark. We landed at night on RW29 and found a taxi to get us to the hotel.

Approach into John Murtha Johnstown-Cambria County Airport , PA

Coco Keys was a pretty nice place, but I must say I'm more partial to Great Wolf Lodge in Kansas City. We ordered in some dinner from room service and crashed for the night. The next morning Mason and I went down and played in the pool for a few hours and then it was back to the airport for our final leg.

Hamilton Airport is a really nice little airport with a nice new modern FBO. The service was fantastic and we will definitely stop there again. We packed the plane and departed on our final leg back to Kansas City (KFLV). Flight time planned was 2:46 for this final leg, and we had smooth flight the entire leg.

Although at times, trips like this can be kind of stressful, overall it was a very fun and scenic trip. We got to see some really pretty terrain from the air and from the ground, and I got to fly to eight more states on my “bucket list”. I would love to come back with more time and do some exploring. The east coast is an amazing place with lots to do and it’s all very accessible by air if that is your mode of transportation. The Airspace is very busy (compared to what I’m used to), so you need to be ready for the quick flight plan changes and the fast talking controllers. We found all ATC controllers out east to be great. On my flight plans I had added in the remarks box “Baby Tyler on board, gradual climbs and descents required” and we had several controllers as us how Tyler was doing and if he was enjoying the flight. Overall, it was a great experience!

2,526 NM and eight states.  It was a grand adventure!