You may be right (I’m a huge iPhone iPad fan), but how do you KNOW. You need to KNOW it is better if you want to rely on it to keep you safe.
You can only KNOW it is better if it has been subjected to rigorous aviation standards tests………
……… which makes it so expensive.
I often fly with just my tablet. If it fails, my engine will not stop, ATC will not stop to respond and I will not die.
Why should I be concerned about my maps when I only have one engine of very questionable quality? Yes, I take a bottle of water with me when I drive my car through the desert but I don’t take well drilling equipment with me.
Between paper in my folder, the GNS430 in the panel and an Aera500 on the co pilot’s yoke I’m very happy to use the ipad….brilliant device…running Skydemon….my 747 Capatin brother-in-law gave me a tip the other day….he takes page snaps in sequence of airport diagrams, SIDS, STARS and IAP….and uses the Phot App to pull them up….in the cockpit of a 747….
Btw, it did overheat once but I have it setup with a constant stream of air blowing on it now…
The same “rigorous aviation standards” used by Continental and Lycoming for their engines :-) ?
On a motorcycle trip in the alps this month I had quite a bit of trouble with my iPhone overheating while being used as a GPS. This made me smile because I’ve never had similar trouble in the plane – my cooling ventilation in the plane works very well. In either application I find my way regardless, with backups and my eyes.
The Discovery Lite is a new system from MGL avionics. It’s sort of in between a tablet and the normal complicated and very expensive panel mounted stuff. Pitot static, GPS and AHRS sensors are build into the device. It looks interesting for the homebuild market. A fully functioning system apparently will cost less than 3000 USD.
On a motorcycle trip in the alps this month I had quite a bit of trouble with my iPhone overheating while being used as a GPS.
Why waste a perfectly good riding day fiddling with cantankerous electronics? Tankbag and map navigation still works. I didn’t even need a stopwatch or compass. 
I checked this again last week in the Alps.
A fully functioning system apparently will cost less than 3000 USD.
Impressive. That makes it less expensive than eg. a certified electrical AI if you are looking for a backup system.
I’m so reliant on my Foreflight and iPad that I will add a dedicated panel mount for them. Not only that, I will install two of them so that I can run one on IFR and the other VFR/synthetic vision for situation awareness when I’m in the soup. I will unfortunately have to install the GTN650 to be able to do legal approaches (I have a 430W today), but I’ll keep it to a minimum. No backup gps, no big screen 750 – all of those needs are met by the iPad’s.
I will unfortunately have to install the GTN650 to be able to do legal approaches (I have a 430W today)
What capability does the GTN650 have that the 430W does not have? I was not aware of any differences in approvals.
