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Your list of electronic gadgets for travelling with

This seems to be an integral part of aviation in modern times I thought it would be interesting to hear what people use.

Samsung S7 phone
Samsung T705 tablet
Lenovo X230 laptop (6 years old; being upgraded to a Dell XPS13-9360) – carried on longer trips only
Lenovo T2 tablet – used in flight only; runs VFR charts, and topo maps for flying above terrain (the T705 is the backup for this)
Pentax K1 camera, 24-70 f2.8, 18mm Zeiss f2.8 manual lens

In flight, the S7 phone and the T705 tablet can both display data from the ADL150 satellite wx receiver.

At home we have an Ipad2 but the GPS never worked reliably in the TB20 so it stays at home.

The X230 was a top-spec laptop (quad core i7; bought secondhand in 2013) and nothing really beats it on speed even now, for stuff like video rendering. The latest and greatest are maybe 1.5x faster. But at 2kg it is quite heavy; the XPS13, just bought refurbished, is 1.2kg. The latest XPS13 is same weight but has no standard USB ports – the current irritating fashion

The K1 DSLR gets carried only on trips to special places. It gets super pics but is too damn big and heavy… I looked at mirrorless options extensively but the weight and size saving is minimal by the time you have a decent lens on it.

Administrator
Shoreham EGKA, United Kingdom

My list is shorter :
IPad Mini 1 for running SD (inflight and for planning on the ground)
Archos smartphone for taking pictures, backup GPS and reading EuroGA :)
Dual XGPS150 external GPS for the iPad.
Icom handheld radio (seldom used)

The iPad and the phone I always keep them with me when on the ground.
The Dual and the Icom stay in the plane.

It is already 3 batteries to keep charged, I don’t want more. I think the next IPad will have GPS, but I’ll keep mine as long as possible.

LFOU, France

Garmin AERA795, Garmin Glo, DUAL XGPS160, iPad Mini, Samsung S8, Garmin GDL39, Yaesu 550, GoPro H5 and Garmin VIRB XE plus 2 power banks – and probably more :(

EHLE / Lelystad, Netherlands, Netherlands

IPad 4 mini
IPhone 6 (personal)
IPhone 6 plus (business)

IPad runs all my nav apps and flight planning, back up is on the IPhone 6 plus. I’ve never had a problem with overheating or lack of GPS on any of them and they all just work seamlessly. If only my wife would move to Macbook from her beloved Lenovo I could get the entire family on Apple

Now retired from forums best wishes

For active navigation:
- ipad Pro for SkyDemon, Garmin PIlot depending on VFR/IFR) and Jeppesen Mobil FD for the offline non-databse charts and for the ADL Connect
-Garmin GLO GPS to feed the IPAD
- Iphone 8 for the inflight photos,
- GoPro for inflight filming (inside only)
In my bag I have my MacBookPro and lot of cables :)

Zsolt

Zsolt Szüle
LHTL, Hungary
  • My Nokia 8 for SkyDemon (nav App), phone, mail, etc
  • Nexus 7 for the same (when flying non tandem) and as backup.
  • HP Chromebook for IPPC (flight plan, weather) + all sorts of other stuff
  • Battery charger pack, at least one 9900 mAH that is permanently in my bag
  • cables
The elephant is the circulation
ENVA ENOP ENMO, Norway

Ipad Mini 4
Iphone X
Anker Powerbank

Not yet had any issues with overheating igadgets whilst airborne. Guess an aluminium, rather than perspex, roof helps a lot.

Nexus 7 – Skydemon

Moto G6 – but then that’s my everyday phone

iPad mini 4 with JeppFD or SD in flight, RR on ground
iPhone X to take pictures

No overheating problems with the iPad. If it gets direct sunlight for longer periods, I rotate it 90 around my thigh.

LPFR, Poland

Black iPad Mini 1 WiFi 16 GB – My first iPad, rarely used any more.
Black iPad Mini 2 LTE 32 GB – Mostly used in flight.
White iPad Mini 2 LTE 32 GB – Used in case one of the black iPads overheats, never happened.
OnePlus 5T 128 GB – My daily phone
Dual XGPS160 – Can be used will all iPads and phone simultaneously over Bluetooth. Never once lost GPS signal where the native iPad GPS does.
2x Garmin VIRB with intercom audio cable – For filming from inside the aircraft. Setup and forget. I call them the black-box.
Xiaomi Mi Powerbank 16000 mAh – Very high quality, can recharge an iPad 2.5 times.

All the lithium-powered electronics above are kept in a fire proof bag when not in use.

My latest acquisition is a Segway Ninebot ES2 with the extra battery, it fits nicely in the back of a Cessna, however I have not taken it to a trip yet as I am a bit afraid of the ginormous lithium batteries (10400 mAh * 36 V = 374.4 Wh), although they are made by a reputable brand and have a lot of security features. According to specs it should give 45 km range, but from own experience is more like 25 km. Still good enough for trips to and from a distant airport. Full charge in 7 hours.

Last Edited by Dimme at 19 Jun 11:50
ESME, ESMS
53 Posts
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