I have a single suction cup on the ram mount for the iPad Air (secured on the window) thinking it would be enough. Turns out if it’s cold outside combined with turbulence it’s not.
There is a twin suction cup device which I have bought for a few jobs.
I used two of them here
Not cheap but good stuff is never cheap and if it is cheap it is usually expensive in the long run – applies to almost everything 
I still use a safety tether, in case it falls off, but this thing never has. Note that at say FL180 you are at ~500mb so only half the MSL suction.
Peter_Mundy wrote:
I use the custom holder for an iPad mini and have never had a problem with overheating. A single suction cup should be fine – assuming you are not into aerobatics
Thanks, this is a good piece of information.
Silvaire wrote:
Every installation varies, but FWIW I found the double suction cup mount to be less reliable than the single suction cup – which has never come loose in my application.
Do you mean that one of the cups of the double cup come loose more often than the single one of single cup mount, but still holding the device in place, or that the whole assembly fails more often? The latter would be interesting.
The further the arm is cantilevered, the higher the loads on the suction cup. So you might consider that.
I would have a fairly short arm between the mount and the iPad holder. Just enough to provide some distance from the panel and make the whole assemly more flexible.
I would also consider a ball mount bolted to the panel someplace inconspicuous. The need for an iPad or similar in the cockpit is probably not going away.
There is no such place in my cockpit (photo of a similar one), unfortunately. The only place to fit a tablet and have it in convenient view is to place it in the big empty space (sized perfectly to fit an iPad Mini) next to the radio and the clock. Any holes there would be quite conspicuous, unless of course hidden by the tablet itself.
Also, mounting anything with bolts/screws would need paperwork, wouldn’t it? :S
Alena wrote:
I have a single suction cup on the ram mount for the iPad Air (secured on the window) thinking it would be enough. Turns out if it’s cold outside combined with turbulence it’s not.
I can’t really mount anything on the sliding canopy. I hope that temperature won’t be an issue on that part of the panel behind the engine.
Peter wrote:
I still use a safety tether, in case it falls off, but this thing never has.
I may be able to hang some kind of tether from the inner handle of the canopy (visible in the top left of the linked photo). That handle is totally worthless for any practical purposes otherwise.
JnsV wrote:
Do you mean that one of the cups of the double cup come loose more often than the single one of single cup mount, but still holding the device in place, or that the whole assembly fails more often? The latter would be interesting.
Something like that. One of the two suction cups would come loose on almost every flight, and then the iPad would hang perilously until I pulled it loose and put it safely on the seat next to me. In contrast, the single cup (actually one of the two used previously) has never so far come loose. In my (limited) experience a single cup with a string to stop it falling on the floor someday is a better solution.
The single Ram suction cup has BTW been substantially more reliable than other types of suction cups I’ve used in a number of applications in cars and planes.
If there’s a spot where you could hard mount a 1 inch Ram ball, I think that’s the best solution. In my case I couldn’t find a suitable spot, but looking at the panel photo I see a number of possibilities where one of these might fit. It’s potentially one small diameter hole in the instrument panel. If that’s a problem at annual inspection remove the ball and plug the hole. I also see three existing holes in the photo that might work! The lowest of the three holes looks most promising to me 
and FWIW – I think mounting ANYTHING to a canopy or window is a bad idea. I always cringe at the photos posted here that show substantial parts of the lookout obscured by tablets. If you have some empty space in the panel or (not in the Zlin, of course) Yoke, better to put it there – you have the right idea.
I would go for a RAM mount (they sell every component separately, so configure yourself as needed) with a suction cup and a single joint. This will allow you to tilt and angle the device sufficiently without having to long a lever arm.
Silvaire wrote:
One of the two suction cups would come loose on almost every flight, and then the iPad would hang perilously until I pulled it loose and put it safely on the seat next to me. In contrast, the single cup (actually one of the two used previously) has never so far come loose. In my (limited) experience a single cup with a string to stop it falling on the floor someday is a better solution.
Thanks, I will not get the twin version then.
The single Ram suction cup has BTW been substantially more reliable than other types of suction cups I’ve used in a number of applications in cars and planes.
In my car I have used a couple of cheaper suction cup phone holters and have been mostly dissatistfied with them. Actually, I am not using them any more in my car and very rarely in rentals.
If there’s a spot where you could hard mount a 1 inch Ram ball, I think that’s the best solution. In my case I couldn’t find a suitable spot, but looking at the panel photo I see a number of possibilities where one of these might fit. It’s potentially one small diameter hole in the instrument panel. If that’s a problem at annual inspection remove the ball and plug the hole. I also see three existing holes in the photo that might work! The lowest of the three holes looks most promising to me
My panel has a pristine sheet of metal there, at least as of today.
Cobalt wrote:
I would go for a RAM mount (they sell every component separately, so configure yourself as needed) with a suction cup and a single joint. This will allow you to tilt and angle the device sufficiently without having to long a lever arm.
Thanks. I will do that or have a 1" ball screwed in.
So, the next question is where to get them… All the Hungarian stores have 3-4x the US prices and any other European stores that would readily ship to have at least a 100% markup on the American prices. I may try to order from the US, but then I would have to be very carefuly not to bust the ridiculusly low (22 EUR) limit in Hungary for extra-EU online orders. Anything above that would incur a 27% VAT and above 150 EUR also a hefty import duty.
JnsV, if you’d like me to buy or receive something in the US, I can bring it to Germany and send it to you from there in late May. I think you have my email, let me know.
We’ve used a Koala mount for mini iPads the last couple of years. Annoyingly expensive at around £12, but does the job.
There’s a wider range on Amazon US.
Fairly obviously the OP one is powered, which is a key difference not just for certified aircraft but also for general lack of wires hanging around the cockpit.
