I am being bought an iPad mini for helping out a friend and I want to use it for flying, ie nav and planning. Especially nav as the C150 I private hire now has no Nav Aids as the VOR has recently died!
Is a 16GB mini I-pad sufficient to run Sky-Demon?
Does it need anything else internally/externally?
I do not have a whizzy all sing all dancing phone/smart phone/iPhone just a simple Nokia 206 and as you probably have guessed not IT literate/knowledgeable
Thank you
Hi Jude,
I think it is enough to run SkyDemon – remember that is really only storage and is more driven by how much music/movies you want to put on it. Only thing you may need to consider is whether you want a 3G enabled one for looking things up on the road. You may also need some sort of mount and depending on the aircraft you may need an external GPS. Mine works fine with the inbuilt one.
QuoteOnly thing you may need to consider is whether you want a 3G enabled one for looking things up on the road. You may also need some sort of mount and depending on the aircraft you may need an external GPS.
Only the 3G enabled iPad mini has a built in GPS.
This means that if you want to use the iPad mini for navigation (both looking up things on the road AND using it for in-flight navigation) you need either the 3G-enabled version or you need to buy an external GPS device that you can hook to the iPad mini.
If you get a non-3G iPad mini (marketed as “WiFi”-only) without an external GPS device, you can still use SkyDemon for flight planning, but you will not be able to navigate in-flight.
Agreed with Jason that 16 GB should be enough. The premium Apple charges for versions with more memory is ridiculous, anyway.
Thank you Jason and Rhino.
Looks like the 3G version 
That is what I have and now Rhino mentions it, I got it for the internal GPS – I don’t actually use the 3G side. I had forgotten that point.
Now you’ve confused me Jason….thought 3G meant it had internal GPS!
Dare I ask what the 3G actually is, lol.
Hope you’re well.
3G is an internal mobile data module. So you can buy a sim card and surf the web over the mobile network. It actually has nothing to with the GPS – just that apple only enabled an internal GPS in the 3G version.
All well thanks.
Jude, if you are serious about it, then buy an external GNS2000 Bluetooth GPS which will make the location serice much more precise. Other than that: Buy a TWIN USB to 12 V adater to charge both the GPS unit AND the iPad in flight.
I am using iPads and iPhones in the cockpit for years now, so if you have any questions, just met me know.
“3G” (like “E” or “GPRS” or “4G”) is the technology used for data transfer. A new iPad mini can do all of those, depending on your contract/provider. While it’s nice to have 4G (or “LTE” as it is also called) you don’t need it for flying. If you have the Bluetooth GPS you don’t even need an iPad with a SIM CARD. But it is nice for reading your eMails after you landed and the restaurant doesnÄt have Wifi …
In some planes, the Ipad GPS works fine. In my TB20, it isn’t reliable so I got the XGPS150 bluetooth one which works great.
I tested my Ipad2 in an SR20 and it was fine.
It may be worth a test.
This is also fun. I wonder if the Ipad GPS works better with a SIM card in it which is inactive. I don’t see any easy way to test that though.
In some planes, the Ipad GPS works fine. In my TB20, it isn’t reliable so I got the XGPS150 bluetooth one which works great.
Different here, I have used it in the Pa28, Pa44 and different Citations and it works perfectly well. Absolutely no need for an external GPS receiver, even back in the passenger cabin. JeppView indicates a position accuracy of 5m most of the time.
But personally, I would not take the iPad mini, but a full size iPad. Maybe it’s my age (51), but on the iPad, I can read approach plates well. whereas on an iPad mini I would require reading glasses.
