Skydemon and iPad
Following my recent flight
to Duxford, with Niels, I’ve been researching the SkyDemon and iPad flight
planning and navigation software combination. This would provide a back-up
system to our Arrow’s ageing GPS, the Garmin 150XL navigator. Although our
panel mounted Garmin is old, it has always performed very well and there have
been no occasions when the unit has failed in flight over the last ten years. Upgrading would have considerable advantages over the older technology as equipment has advanced markedly since our 150XL was designed.
On the down side, the
Garmin has a small screen and does not come anywhere close to offering the
features provided by the iPad/SkyDemon combination. On a recent flight to
Duxford, I was very impressed with how Niels’ unit provided flight planning,
including actual and forecast weather, notams and flight logging. Sold on the
idea, I bought myself an iPad with retina display, upgraded my SkyDemon
subscription to include navigation, downloaded the app and set about learning
how to use it.
It didn’t take long to
grasp the basics, but what I needed was to test it in the air. To do this I
wanted to be a passenger so I could concentrate on using the iPad without the
additional responsibilities of flying, communicating and navigating. From my
research, it appeared that the iPad internal GPS was sufficiently accurate to
provide navigation guidance without adding a stand-alone GPS receiver. However,
I wanted to test this belief for myself. I found that a Bluetooth enabled
supplementary GPS was available for around £100 if needed, but I did not want to buy
one unless it became clear I needed it.
My friends, Steve and
Mike, regularly fly their helicopter from Barton, and Steve invited me along on
a flight so I could test my new system in flight.
On a very cold Sunday
morning in December, we met up at the Barton heliport and pulled the MD500
‘copter from the hangar. Checks complete, we strapped in with me sat behind Steve
and Mike, and prepared to fly down to Halfpenny Green aerodrome for breakfast.
I created a route on SkyDemon that followed the Low Level Corridor down to
Winsford and then headed directly to our destination. The weather and notams
were available to me via tabs on the right of the screen, and after I pressed
“Go Flying”, the aircraft symbol appeared showing our position on the map. My
position symbol showed a fixed wing plane, but I could have changed it to a
helicopter, had I wished. Looking good so far!
Mike lifted us into a
hover and we departed towards Warrington. The ipad showed our ground speed and
altitude, the forecast wind, as well as distances to run to my waypoints with
estimates for time of arrival. When we were established in the cruise, Mike read
off speed, position and altitude data from the cockpit instruments and they
tallied very closely to the iPad. I had a feature enabled that allows review of
the actual track followed and will show maximum speed achieved and altitude
flown, plus the time airborne. This “breadcrumb” line trails the flight as it
progresses and is a neat feature, especially when examining it later at home.
North Up Orientation |
Track Up Orientation |
Test ride: MD500 |
I wanted to be sure the
iPad’s displayed GPS position was correct and saw we were approaching the town
of Newport, with its lake making a good feature to confirm a positive fix. I
looked forward past Mike’s shoulder and was pleased to see Newport on the nose
as depicted on the iPad. During the flight there and back, the GPS had a
positive lock and did not lose our position once.
The wealth of information
available via Sky Demon is superb. Hold a finger on an airport, or notam or
section of airspace and up pops more information about it. Brilliant! As the
destination is approached, extended runway centerlines are available to give
enhanced situational awareness. If you prefer North Up or track up on the
screen, this is available along with many other ways to set airspace and
aerodrome parameters.
We landed at Halfpenny
Green after a flight of 37 minutes covering 62nm, the highest altitude flown was 1,395 ft, the
highest speed 114 kts with an average speed of 100 kts. This system is very
good indeed, and will enhance my flying in both the Arrow and Seneca. I would
also have it switched on in the Twinstar and G1000 Cessna as a backup to the certified
units. I would certainly use this as a means of providing a redundant
navigation system, but not as primary navigation.
After a sausage bap and a
cup of coffee we headed back to Barton and the iPad was again faultless on the
journey. Two flights are good to get an initial impression, but further
operational use and testing will follow over the next year. Sat in the back of
the helicopter, I had the iPad on my knee, so I need to look at how I could
mount it in the Arrow. This may or may not be practical, as a mount could
obscure the aircraft’s own flight instruments. I may have to keep it on my knee
and glance down to cross check against the conventional instrumentation in the
panel.
One of the issues when you
are in a group owning an aeroplane, is that it can be difficult to get
agreement on upgrading avionics. G-HALC’s panel is unchanged over the ten years
or so I have owned my share and it’s not for the want of trying to improve it.
Individual members have bought their own portable devices and see no need to
pay for upgrading to say a Garmin 430 or 530. I can see their point, but it is
frustrating for those of us who wish to improve our equipment. When, like me,
you’ve been flying Cirrus aircraft with Avidyne displays, or Twinstars and
G1000 equipped Cessnas, you long for a higher specification on your own flight
panel. SkyDemon and iPad does not alleviate that wanting, but it goes a
considerable way towards doing so.
If you are thinking of
using an iPad as I have done, you will need to purchase the 3G/Wifi model that
includes GPS functions. You do not need to obtain a data contract for the
system to work. For weather downloads you need to connect to Wifi or do what I
do: tether your iphone to the iPad. My network allows this for no extra charge
and my 1mb of data is way more than I ever use.
Good luck.
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