Over the last few years, more and more commercial and general aviation pilots are adopting the electronic flight bag concept.
On my flight back from Perth on Friday I noticed that Qantas provides its A330 pilots with Panasonic ToughBook CF-19
tablets in this role. Apparently the ToughBook CF-19 is commonly deployed on modern Airbus aircraft like the A380 and A330.
A key benefit of the Electronic Flight Bag is the possibility of eliminating paper (and weight) from the aircraft. In some cases, manuals can account for more than 20kg. With a tablet pc you could increase the documents you carry but reduce the weight.
Key criteria in selecting EFB / Tablet PC Hardware:
Screen visibility
- Outdoor viewable
- Wide viewing angles
Why? If you have to move the tablet to see the screen, it is not an effective paper replacement.
Power management
- Long battery life
- Fast charging
- Hot swap batteries -12/19/24v Power
Why? Long battery life is not enough. Power management and flexibility will allow you to run much longer than the longest battery life (consider operations longer than just flight endurance).
Ruggedness
- Gorilla Glass
- Drop tested
- Water resistant
Why? A Tablet in the cockpit will be stowed and retrieved frequently. Vibrations, bumps and knocks will all be part at the environment. Your EFB can’t be too precious.
A final consideration would be mounting options, This of course may be subject to further certification.
More interesting discussion on EFB:
http://www.adrsoft.com/Electronic_Flight_Bag/Press_FAA_Certification.htm
http://www.aviationtoday.com/av/issue/feature/918.html
Tablets to consider for EFB Role:
which tablet were you using to write your review? and which software?
This was done on a Motion Computing J3500. The software is Microsoft OneNote 2010 and the scrolling screen capture is done using Hypersnap 6.
thanks for all the info, I like OneNote a lot and the motion computing tablets are winning my heart so far. I have been searching for a good handwriting capable tablet for a while and I am liking the motion computing. I might wait a couple months before making the decision, maybe the CL900 will be available in the U.S. by then. HP slate 500 seems to be a decent competitor but it is hard to tell without trying and comparing both tablets.
Marina, HP slate is a big letdown from HP, I would steer clear of it. Like many large corporates they have completely misunderstood the market, and as a result the Slate 500 is a bit half baked. Because of the mucking around they did in releasing it, the hardware is now over a year old. The screen is glossy indicating that it was designed for the retail market and then re-thought later.
I suggest waiting for the CL900. Motion Computing are very clear on where the market is for Tablet PCs and make products accordingly. The CL900 is very advanced hardware compared to the HP Slate 500. It has the latest generation internals (i.e. it is much faster), Rugged Design, Corning Gorilla Glass and 3G Mobile Broadband. It is due late April.
yes, I have never owned any HP product except for a printer, for a good reason. It is good to know the flaws of HP slate. I will wait until the CL900 reach the market, I think the big issues for me will be the price and weight since most of windows OS products are expensive and heavy, CL900 will probably be pricey for sure.
Interesting blog, thank you.
Have a look at TGL36 and or EASA AMC 20-25 which defines the EFB as far as Europe is concerned.
Please tell me your thoughts on the Ipad for aviation and the suitability of the ipad and its operating system as far as compatibility with commercial aviation and aviation safety is concerned?
Do you have any thoughts on Windows 8 and the latest tablets to run the OS (Lenovo and Samsung)
Regards
Nigel Johnstone