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EARTHDATE: July 31, 2011

Official News page 4


REAL LIFE NEWS: IPADS TO REPLACE FLIGHT MANUALS

by Hazed

I haven't got an iPad. I tell myself it's because I have no use for one, that it's just a trendy item with no real use. There's nothing I could do with one that I can't do with my computer at home, or my smartphone when I am out and about.

But in truth, if I could afford the outrageous price, I would buy one like a shot. I'm still a gadget freak at heart.

The Fondleslab (as TheRegister website rudely but accurately calls it) is becoming more common - and as it does, it's becoming more functional and less of a fashion item.

Now the Federal Aviation Administration has got into the act, and has said that airline pilots can use iPads instead of carrying around paper manuals.

There's an awful lot of information that pilots have to lug with them every time they fly - in all, it weighs about 40 pounds. Things like the aircraft's operating manual, safety checklists, navigation charts, weather information, airport diagrams, and logbooks in which they enter airplane performance data.

They're lucky if there's room in the bag for a change of underwear!

Now the FAA has authorized a small number of commercial and charter carriers to leave behind some of those dead trees, and take the information on an iPad. They can cut about 25 pounds of paper from each flight bag by using e-manuals for the systems and performance data.

This has a number of advantages. The e-manuals include hyperlinks and color graphics to help pilots find the information they need quickly and easily. They can be updated by automatic download so pilots don't have to take out old pages to replace them with new ones. And, of course, it reduces the weight of the bags pilots have to haul around - which will reduce health care costs and absenteeism from shoulder and back injuries caused by those heavy bags.

Sounds great - so long as the pilots remember to keep the iPad batteries charged up!

Read more about how the iPad is making pilots lives easier here: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/05/business/05pilots.html?_r=2&partner=rss&emc=rss.


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