iPads do not like sitting in the sun, it surely doesn’t help if they are running but being in the sunshine appears to be the main thing. On a hot day put them in a shaded place when you’re not operating the plane – I now have a shoe box reachable from the pilots seat for that purpose. My plan for startup in the desert is to put the iPad in the cradle first and turn on the fans as item number 1, then commence the normal startup procedure. The fans on X-Naut cradle are powered either batteries or external (aircraft) power so I can do that before turning on the master switch.
Anyone here using a Garmin Aera 760 as an alternative to ipad? It should be much more heat-resistent. At least if we believe the marketing department. (on the flip side of the coin, you get 2 ipads for the price of one Garmin…)
They will start up hot if left in the sun. I cover mine with a white cloth and avoid putting it on the glare shield or in direct sunlight. The battery is the critical heat issue with temperature, not the electronics.
Anyone here using a Garmin Aera 760 as an alternative to ipad?
I looked at it recently (actually at the more compact 660) but do not want to rely on Bluetooth to connect an ADS-B receiver – which in my current setup means a Stratus 2s to supply position and traffic etc data via Wi-Fi to my iPad, with internal iPad GPS as a backup. WiFi is more reliable IME, and I don’t like losing ADS-B traffic in many areas I fly.
I decided it was overall better as well as less expensive to add cooling for the iPad Mini. I also prefer using Foreflight than Garmin. I’ll see how it goes. More details in the next post.
How is the fan powered? And you know the next question. This is a completely crazy solution, especially at the price.
Responding to Peter’s and other’s posts earlier in the thread about powering the X-Naut (fans) and costs, I use one split cable to power both iPad and X-Naut fans from a single ~2.4 amp USB port. That cable is completely invisible in the cabin except for where it connects at each end, which took a bit of clever cable routing.
This means when the (2) fans are running and drawing 1 amp you’ve only got a little over 1 amp for the iPad, likely meaning a slow battery discharge over many hours. However the cooling fans are only needed in exceptional circumstances and have battery backup, so I don’t see it as an issue. Whenever I might turn on the fans, it’s very likely that the iPad is either fully charged (because it’s been charging for a while already) or not accepting a full charge rate (because that’s part of how an iPad responds to being hot). Also the X-Naut itself has batteries that last for hours so in a circumstance in which I didn’t want to restrict on board iPad charging there is generally no need to do so.
My latest upgraded VFR navigation setup with traffic, weather and backup AHRS setup with ‘reconditioned’ iPad Mini 5, X-Naut cradle, RAM mount, power cable and Stratus ADS-B/GPS receiver cost about $1200 plus ongoing $20/month Foreflight subscription cost. It could be done for less, but I like the relatively rugged Stratus receiver and its reliable Wi-Fi connection.
All of that stuff can be upgraded incrementally or in its entirely with my own fair hands at any time – which is the reason why the plane has dual band ADS-B OUT only, and everything else related to GPS navigation and ADS-B IN is portable.
It’s not really so crazy, quite the opposite for my purposes 
I also did a VOT check on my ancient VOR receiver last weekend and it’s within 2 degrees. If I get really desperate I could use that old thing too.
Today, my Ipad 5 mini didn’t shut down, and didn’t lose GPS.
Instead, it somehow turned itself back on before I packed up the plane, so it was totally dead for the next flight.
I think what may have happened is this:
I had a CTOT so had a bit of time so I plugged in a power pack, 2A or so, and this put in a few , on the ground, where I could chuck the Ipad out if it caught fire. Then in flight I plugged in the above mentioned weak charger, and the rest of the flight was done with the Ipad showing 2 or 3% 
It is the unexpected which bites you and this is why I have another tablet (an old Samsung T705 with 2013 Jepp VFR charts, etc) and I have printouts of plates for all planned stops. The T705 can also run the ADL app, as can my phone.
This idiotic Apple feature should be user-configurable.
@Peter mi mini2 works fine but it maybe the set up?
I run it with Location off, minimal Apps (basically Safari and ForeFlight) and receiving GPS and traffic from SkyEcho. Good internal battery life and no interruptions. Usually charge it between flights, my cigar lighter can also keep it charged.
Not a solution for everyone but my M.O. is to only set off to the aircraft with charged ipads.
Never charge inflight unless absolutely necessary.
I keep the brightness down as low as I possibly can.
I never leave the ipad in the cradle on the ground……always out of sight. Unless fueling or something where I don’t bother.
Never had a shutdown on any of 3 ipads (nearly always using 2 sat a time) in 7 years.
That implies carrying the tablet home with you. I don’t always want to do that because I don’t find tablets useful enough; only a laptop does the job of complicated route planning or re-planning.
Aso the battery lasts only a couple of hours, so for any longer flight you do have to charge. The charger I use is a dumb one i.e. limited to 0.5A (anything above that involves USB charge negotiation) on the basis that it doesn’t make the Ipad anywhere near as hot.
Probably a high wing plane has a lot less sunlight in the cockpit. I cannot explain the total dividing line we see in these posts in any other way. It must be that, and same with airliners otherwise no airline could uever use Ipads for anything nontrivial.
I get much more than two hours, it helps to turn off location and use wifi GPS or bluetooth eg Elf
