2 x IFD540 in a TB20

I posted some photos here, a few months ago, of an IFD displaying Jepp terminal charts.

It does work, though of course the whole plate is not going to be readable on a display of that size (not even on a GTN750) at the LCD resolution, and even with an infinite LCD resolution would not be visible by anyone but the world’s youngest IR holder

So you have to pan it up and down, but it can be displayed in full width.

Whether the Ipad is a viable solution depends on how much room you have in the cockpit. In the TB20, you do have ample room for the humans but there isn’t much room for “junk” around the pilot’s seat, and an Ipad (or any other tablet) is IME unusable unless the screen can be locked from accidental touches. On an Ipad that is impossible unless (a) jailbroken (which is a hassle) or (b) the app itself provides such a function. JeppTC does not provide it but JeppFD does.

The other issue is that the Ipad (or any other tablet) will shut down if it gets too warm. The Ipad shuts down when the internal temperature reaches about +50C, and with a temperature rise over ambient in the horizontal (lying on its back) orientation being about 20C (at max brightness), it doesn’t take a very warm cockpit or a bit of sunlight shining on it to make it shut down. If you hide it under some papers it will just shut down. So it’s a solution which works for some people, and probably works in turboprop and jet scenarios where you have aircon and small windows.

IMHO a huge reason why the Ipad is so very popular for this is because you can get terminal charts from “contacts in low places” in PDF form and display them in Goodreader, very effectively. I am sure nobody on EuroGA is doing this but I know most of the rest of the private flying universe most definitely is. If you don’t do this, you have to pay c. €2000/year for all of Europe, which is not possible to circumvent if you want any sort of panel mounted display, and very very few pilots pay this money. The only way to reduce this cost is to syndicate the aircraft. In the USA this is not such an issue because Jepp terminal charts are much cheaper.

I don’t think I would be paying for Jepp charts on an IFD540 because doing so would increase the annual database costs about 4×.

I get Jepp Europe on the iPad for about €500

We have done this before, in vast long threads.

Can you post the exact coverage map, Jason, on the 500 quid pricing and which products (if any) you are buying at the same time?

When I say “Europe” I mean “Political Europe” not “Jeppesen Europe”.

Is that the 4-installation pricing? They started doing a new package recently but I don’t know if it appears of the MFD products.

I have looked at the Ipad Mini very carefully.

It can just about display a full Jepp terminal chart and still be readable, with reading glasses.

But it won’t do the satellite wx unless I also buy the ADL120 for €2000 plus €25/month (which is a good solution for Ipad users, however).

And it won’t run any VFR charts unless I spend a whole lot more on JeppFD-VFR – about €300/year?

Coming back to the IFD540, it will be interesting how many bugs surface in more obscure bits like interfacing to flowmeters. The product has only just begun shipping in the USA. I monitor the forums there and there is very little feedback of any kind. Avidyne told me at EDNY, April 2014, that they purchased every piece of equipment listed in the GNS530[W] IM (I think the man actually referred to the Garmin AML STC but the IM is implicit in that) and tested it with the IFD540. But they did not test anything not explicitly listed in there by P/N…