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Dear Seattle Avionics customer,
Every day, our Sales and Support folks get asked about how we support the iPad. This isn't an easy question to answer so I wanted to go into depth about all the iPad products that use our ChartDatatm. At the same time, often in the same sentence as the iPad question, we get asked how our SkyPad compares to the iPad. Consequently, I'm going to describe how the SkyPad works in considerable detail. Since we support both the iPad and the SkyPad, we're not really biased one way or the other (well, maybe a little) but the differences are real and you need real info, not just hype, to make an informed decision.
Before we even get started, I need to point out that our forthcoming Black Friday sale (this Friday) includes an incredible, never-seen-before offer for our iPad ChartData subscriptions and a deal on the new SkyPad2 that goes well beyond anything we've ever offered.
Both of these offers are quantity-limited (because we're not entirely crazy!) so we very strongly suggest you sign-up to follow us on Twitter so you'll be the first to know. And check your email very early Friday morning.
Click here to sign-up to follow us on Twitter.
 iPad Overview
The Apple iPad is a terrific device in many ways. I love mine and use it frequently. My family also loves it for playing games, reading eBooks, and watching movies during long trips. It's quite popular for aviation, but, like all other electronic solutions (including our SkyPad), it's not perfect.
The iPad is a 9.7 inch display in a somewhat more "square" form-factor that most tablet PCs (1024 x 768 pixels). It weighs about 1.6 lbs and is 1/2 an inch thick. It comes in both "Wi-Fi only" and "Wi-Fi + 3G" versions but only the more expensive "Wi-Fi + 3G" models include a GPS.
The iPad has a standard laptop LCD screen (unlike the Kindle and other eBook readers) with great touch capabilities. And, of course, there are a wide variety of apps available for it, including many good ones for aviation.
In other words, it's light, thin, and easy to use -- great things for cockpit use. But it's clear that the iPad wasn't designed specifically for in-flight use:
- It's a little "wide" relative to most tablet PCs. That makes it hard to fit in a yoke mount on many planes. Not impossible and RAM makes mounts but check the width carefully.
- The GPS is not WAAS-enabled and, honestly, much better at finding the nearest Starbucks than the nearest approach fix. You also need the higher-end models (the "Wi-Fi + 3G" versions) to even get a GPS. Some 3rd party external GPS units are just becoming available but not all are WAAS-enabled and some are quite expensive.
- We've heard that it can overheat in bright sunlight as it has no fan. When it overheats, it shuts itself down. Obviously this is more of an issue in some areas of the country than others.
- Cannot connect to an XM receiver for in-flight weather.
 ChartData
One of the best things about the iPad is the ability to "test-drive" many different applications, often for little or no charge. But no one wants to buy data for one application then, when you try another application, have to buy the same data again. Here's where our ChartData subscription comes in. With iPad ChartData, a subscription for one supported app also works on other supported apps so your investment in ChartData is safe.
There are a few caveats. All of these apps use our IFR ChartData ($99 / year) but only one currently uses our VFR ChartData. The apps that don't use our VFR ChartData, typically require purchase of application-specific data packages (the app vendors do have to stay in business, too). There is also the chance that, in the future, other apps will incorporate our ChartData but not allow portability.
Many of you have asked if a Voyager ChartData subscription (especially our Lifetime subscription) is portable to the iPad. Unfortunately, the answer is no. iPad data is formatted differently than what Voyager uses. Moreover, as you might imagine, we share the revenue from selling iPad ChartData with the iPad application vendors. We do, however, offer substantial discounts when you purchase a combined subscription to both Voyager (normally for flight planning) and an iPad application.
Best of all, our upcoming Black Friday specials include a spectacular one-day-only offer on iPad ChartData subscriptions. If you own an iPad or are thinking about buying one soon, you won't want to miss the special. Sign-up to follow us on Twitter to be the first to know since we're only offering the special to a very limited number of customers.
 Apps
Perhaps the best thing about the iPhone and the iPad is how Apple has worked to make thousands of applications (called "apps") easily and inexpensively available. Apple says that more than 250,000 apps are now available that were either designed specifically for the iPad or work fine on the iPad (that is, were designed for the iPhone). That's an impressive number. But, just to keep things in perspective, there are millions of Windows applications. A quick look at the Apple App Store is even more telling: 23 of the top 25 paid-for apps are games. The other two are for music and cooking.
Of course, we're not here to talk about games or cooking. We'll focus on the aviation apps that use our ChartData, listed in alphabetical order.
 Beacon
Beacon is a new moving map application designed specifically for the iPad. The developer, Zivosity Software, put a tremendous amount of effort into making it work ideally in the cockpit, even sometimes not following standard Apple user interface guidelines where they didn't feel they worked well in the cockpit (for example, you can "pinch to zoom" in the normal way but panning (scrolling) the map takes a three finger gesture so as not to confuse an inadvertent tap with a pan).
Beacon uses all of our ChartData so one subscription from us provides everything you need (unlike the other two apps listed here which require a "base" subscription from the app vendor plus our ChartData subscription). With a VFR subscription ($99), you get digital airport/navaid/etc. data and our seamless Sectional charts (effectively one gigantic Sectional chart, exactly as the FAA lays it out, that goes seamlessly from Seattle to Miami). With the VFR + IFR subscription ($199), you get all of that plus geo-referenced approach plates and airport diagrams for all 50 states and seamless IFR Low and High altitude charts that cover all 50 states plus most of Mexico and all of the Caribbean and Central America.
Like most iPad aviation apps, Beacon has one display area. Using buttons at the top of the screen (similar to Voyager), you can quickly toggle between digital charts, seamless Sectionals, seamless IFR Low, etc. You can add TAWS (terrain coloring that tells you when you're below the nearby terrain) by using the Settings button at the bottom of the screen. Uniquely for iPad apps, you can also choose between 2D and 3D charts (3D terrain only, not true Highway in the Sky).
Weather and TFR info is automatically downloaded from the Internet and stored for use during flight. Nexrad radar can be displayed semi-transparently over any chart. There is no capability to get live, in-cockpit weather as you cannot connect an XM receiver to the iPad.
Perhaps because it was made solely for in-flight use, Beacon has some unique and helpful in-flight features. These include a flight timers, an Emergency button that brings up a CDI and emergency info, alerts for fuel pumps and landing gears, etc.
Like all the apps here that use our ChartData, Beacon can show approach procedures and airport diagrams and display your aircraft's position over them as you fly. This is called "geo-referencing." This feature and the seamless IFR charts require the VFR + IFR ChartData subscription level.
Beacon is extremely customizable. You can select which "layers" appear on the charts (the Map Items button), change the info fields at the top of the screen (Voyager's Gauges), set custom times to switch the tanks, etc. A demo mode, akin to Voyager's GPS Simulator, is available to practice using the app before an actual flight.
>> More info about Beacon ChartData subscriptions
>> More info from iTunes
>> More info from the Zivosity Software Web site
 SkyRadar
SkyRadar, from Radenna Software, is aviation moving map software with a huge, unique feature: it can retrieve and display live weather information while flying. It can also warn you of traffic in real time.
It accomplishes these seemingly impossible tasks by bypassing the current XM weather standard and jumping directly into the world of ADS-B. In case you haven't kept up on the latest in aviation acronyms, ADS-B stands for Automatic Dependent Surveillance - Broadcast. This is a new technology currently being implemented by the FAA across the US that allows pilots in the cockpit and air traffic controllers on the ground to "see" aircraft traffic with much more precision than has been possible before. ADS-B also broadcasts real-time weather information to pilots. Best of all, access to ADS-B data is provided free of charge. Just purchase an ADS-B receiver, such as the SkyRadar Receiver (more info), and you're good to go with no monthly subscription charges.
 
In addition to live weather in the cockpit, SkyRadar can also download weather from the Internet, similar to most other apps.
SkyRadar displays crucial situational awareness information towards the bottom of the screen (groundspeed, altitude, etc.) and lets you select which layers to display on the chart. Charts can be displayed in either Track Up or North Up orientation.
Using a Seattle Avionics ChartData subscription, SkyRadar displays your ship's position on approach plates and airport diagrams.
>> More info about SkyRadar ChartData subscriptions
>> More info from iTunes
>> More info from the Radenna Software Web site
 WingXWingX, from Hilton Software, was one of the first iPad aviation applications available. This isn't surprising since WingX has been around for several years on the iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, and even Windows Mobile. Over the years, WingX has considerably expanded in capabilities and been refined many times over.
WingX is often called the "Swiss army knife" of aviation because it includes a wide variety of tools and services including a moving map (more on that below), full airport info, approach plates (geo-referenced with a Seattle Avionics ChartData subscription), basic route planning, weather downloaded from the Internet, FAR documents, and a variety of E6B-type calculators.
Unique among iPad apps, WingX can display either a single full-screen map or a split-screen that shows a map and an approach plate/airport diagram.
The map display is controlled in a unique way. On the bottom of the screen are buttons labeled Takeoff, Climb, Cruise, Descent, Approach, Landed. These determine, while in split-screen mode, what is shown in half of the screen. For example, Takeoff and Landed display the map plus an airport diagram (if available), Climb shows the map plus a departure procedure, Cruise shows just the map, Approach shows the map plus a geo-referenced approach plate, etc. Your flight plan (called a Route in WingX) is toggled on or off the screen with the Route button. The Screen button toggles between single and split screens.
WingX uses digital maps, rather than true FAA scanned Sectional and IFR charts. However, according to Hilton Software, it will "soon" use Seattle Avionics scanned charts for true Sectionals and IFR charts. While software developers sometimes underestimate how long new versions will take, Hilton actually demonstrated our seamless Sectional and Low Altitude charts within WingX during AOPA a week or so ago. Take it from me -- they look great. Perhaps best of all, existing WingX ChartData subscribers get the IFR Low and High scanned charts for no additional charge because these are elements of our standard IFR ChartData subscription (there will be an additional charge for the Sectionals as they are not part of the IFR subscription). The next release of WingX also uses the standard iPad "pinch to zoom" metaphor rather than the current Zoom button.
>> More info about WingX ChartData subscriptions
>> More info from iTunes
>> More info from the Hilton Software Web site
SkyPad2 Slate
The iPad is a good choice for aviation use but, like everything, has limitations. Luckily our world is filled with choices so Seattle Avionics offers a Windows 7 tablet, called the SkyPad2, that incorporates everything we've learned in eight years of making aviation safer, easier, and more affordable.
First, a little history. Back in the Dark Ages of aviation (before 2009), you could buy aviation applications for your laptop, add a GPS, and you had a poor-man's moving map. Problem was, it was a bit hodgepodge and took more geek-work than some people like (those of you with actual lives). While we sold our Voyager software for such brave souls, we found our tech support lines were sometimes overloaded, mostly with basic Windows questions. Fact is, it wasn't so much a Windows issue but problems caused by the myriad of junk (let's call a spade a spade) that most PC vendors kindly pre-install for you (they were paid by the application makers to add them). And how about all those toolbars and "helpers" that came along for the ride when you installed something useful?
Our solution in mid-2009 was the SkyPad, a solid tablet PC that we carefully tuned to run Voyager well. That means we started from a clean Windows configuration (not the version that came on the machine), added just the pieces we needed, and made everything run smoother and start faster. The result was immediate. While I won't say this magically solved every issue, our technical support lines suddenly became much, much quieter.
During 2010, we took a look at the shortcomings of the original SkyPad and came out with the SkyPad2 based on faster hardware, improved software, and a newer version of Windows. The SkyPad2 sold even faster than the original SkyPad.
And now, we introduce the SkyPad2 Slate. The hardware is very similar to the original SkyPad2 (which we still offer, now renamed the SkyPad2 Convertible) with one very large difference -- it's sleeker because it has no keyboard, similar to an iPad. While calling it a "Windows 7 iPad" isn't really doing justice to the iPad, the new SkyPad2 Slate hardware is pretty impressive in its own right and can run all the business apps, like Microsoft Office, you need.
 Voyager - the Heart of the SkyPad2
Aviation vendors often focus on the hardware. It's easy to do since you can measure hardware in terms of megabytes, pixels, and gigahertz. But it's really not the key issue. Day in, day out, it's the software you're using. Providing the hardware and operating system can run the software, the features and ease of use of the software are the important parts. And, in the case of the SkyPad2, that's good because the heart of the SkyPad2 is our award-winning Voyager.
Every aviation application in the world shows a moving map. What differentiates the SkyPad2, because of its Voyager software, is that it turns the little computer into something more akin to an entire glass cockpit with a moving map, an FMS, sophisticated weather analysis, wind-optimized flight planning and more. And yet, it's easy to use. It is helpful if you spend a little time getting to know the system (for example, by watching this video) but, once you get the hang of it, you'll find that it's incredibly efficient to get the information you need. With fewer screen clicks, you have more time to actually fly the plane, according to Aviation Consumer.
Widgets. It's a funny word with serious power. The Voyager screen is broken into one or more regions that contain what are essentially different flight instruments. Just one click moves between them. In some screen layouts, you can see more than one widget at a time. These include the Chart (map), Airport Info, Wind Optimizer, NavLog, the Scratchpad, and more. Combined, the widgets are the core of Voyager.
 Chart
The Chart is the most obvious element of a moving map application. The SkyPad2 lets you quickly pick the chart you want, digital or "scanned." Click the Chart button at the bottom of the screen and, in just one more click, instantly select your choice of digital charts, true seamless Sectionals, seamless IFR Low Altitude or seamless
High Altitude charts.
Want to modify the chart? No clunky menus or dialog boxes. Tap the ChartBar to add or remove the layers you want. Simple.
 Single Screen or Split Screen
Sometimes you want to focus on a single, large map. Sometimes, you want to see an approach plate and a map at the same time. Or perhaps two maps, one with a seamless IFR chart and one with a wide-view of the upcoming weather. With the SkyPad2, click the Layout button and, with one more click, select the screen configuration that works best for you. Advanced users can pick from several layouts.
 2D and 3D
While flying is fundamentally 3D, it's ironic that aviation moving maps are generally 2D. The advanced DirectX-based charting engine we designed for the SkyPad2 is equally at home in 2D or 3D mode. And our 3D mode is much closer to a true HITS (Highway In The Sky) than anything we've seen on the iPad. That means 3D terrain, 3D airspace, TAWS, and a "fly through the boxes" representation of your flight plan. Just click the 3D button to toggle between 2D and 3D.
 Airport Info
Generally speaking, you fly to and from airports, so getting the airport information quickly can make the difference between a fun flight and a tedious one. The SkyPad2 Airport Info widget means it only takes a click or two to get to the information you need (in fact, as you fly, Voyager automatically flips to the nearest airport without even a click). Not only does that mean quick access to weather and geo-referenced approach plates, it also means some unexpected but useful touches such as a surface-wind indicator (the green arrow) and a super-simple way to have the computer calculate the ideal runway given the winds. It even generates a perfect VFR or synthetic ILS approach and adds it to your flight plan!
 Wind Optimizer
I just think this is flat-out cool. The Wind Optimizer widget uses simple green and red indicator bars to tell you how much headwind or tailwind to expect at any altitude. In other words, mid-flight it tells you what altitude is best.
Nearest
All GPS systems have a Nearest button or Nearest page. The SkyPad2 goes further by having a Nearest widget that is constantly updated to show you the nearest airports and navaids. More than a simple list, it also shows key information about each such as runway length, airspace class, weather conditions, and even fuel prices. Want more info about an airport? Just tap.
Downloading Data
Every aviation application needs to download new data at least once a month. Some items, like fuel prices and TFRs, need to be downloaded at least daily. This is a major difference between the SkyPad2 and all iPad apps. To download data to an iPad app, you need to open the app and click buttons to select and download the data you need. Then you have to wait while it does it because most iPad apps can't download data while doing anything else.
The SkyPad2, by contrast, uses our exclusive Data Manager applet that always runs quietly in the background of the SkyPad2 to monitor for and download new info as it becomes available. So long as you leave your SkyPad2 connected to the Internet, that means it downloads all the new monthly data overnight on the day it comes out. When you wake up, you'll find that the SkyPad2 is already loaded with the new data and ready to fly. Once downloaded, it's ready for use in-flight while you have no Internet connection.
 XM Weather
Aviation is far from a static experience. Weather has a nasty tendency to change during flight. Luckily, an inexpensive XM weather receiver can be added to the SkyPad2 to download weather while flying.
There is currently no way to attach an XM receiver to an iPad although that may change over time. SkyRadar offers real-time weather in the cockpit, but it does require a receiver that is roughly twice as expensive as an XM receiver. Moreover, while the XM service has the non-trivial downside of being a monthly expense, XM does provide full coverage across the country. One day, ADS-B will have that same coverage, but not today. And, by that time, Apple will have the iPad 4 and we'll have the SkyPad 5.
Aviation-Grade WAAS-enabled GPS
The iPad, depending on which model you buy, may have a built-in GPS. That's good because it's one less thing to carry around. But it's bad for two reasons. First, it simply isn't a good GPS. Not only does it lack WAAS so can't be very precise, it seems to rely on assistance from cell-phone triangulation and Wi-Fi lookups for optimal performance. Since these don't apply when you're at 10,000 ft., it just won't be as accurate as an aviation-grade, WAAS-enabled GPS. And, honestly, the GPS in the iPad sometimes just doesn't work at all in flight. Recently, on our way from Seattle to Long Beach for the AOPA Summit, we used both an iPad and a SkyPad2 Slate on a Cessna 414. For whatever reason, the iPad simply could not get a GPS lock at all, let alone an accurate one, until we were about to land. We tried every aviation app we had, even a hiking GPS program, but nothing worked so I don't think it was a software issue. The SkyPad2, by contrast, acquired and held the GPS lock the whole flight.
In addition, having a separate GPS, while a slight pain, means you can position the GPS itself for optimal reception on the windscreen (often with Velcro) while the tablet remains on your knee or in your yoke.
The GPS that we include with every SkyPad2 is a hard-core, time-tested, WAAS-enabled Bluetooth receiver made by GlobalSat. We've been selling it for your years and it never lets us down.
GPS Simulator
We think it's best to learn how to use a GPS while sitting at home. Therefore, we put a powerful GPS simulator into the SkyPad2. You can load a flight plan into it and "fly" the mission, testing every feature as you go. Don't have six hours for the flight in real-time? Use the "warp-speed" feature to travel as much as 10 times faster than normal.
Flight PlanningVoyager consistently wins the Aviation Consumer award for best flight planner, most recently winning just a few months ago. Wind-optimized routing, routing that automatically optimizes to get you the lowest fuel bill, and much more. This is where Seattle Avionics began. More Info / Technical Details
>> Watch a quick video of using the SkyPad>> General info (click the Technical Info link on that page for the specs)
>> FAQ
 Conclusion
Hopefully this article gives you some insight into the relative merits of the iPad versus the SkyPad2. Which is best? That's up to you and depends on your needs and your desires.
The good news is that it doesn't matter this Friday. This Friday, Black Friday, we're offering truly spectacular prices on both the SkyPad2 (both Slate and Convertible) and our iPad ChartData. These are definitely one-day only sales with limited quantities of each available. Sign-up with Twitter to ensure you don't get left behind. There is a lot of new aviation technology this year. I hope this note has helped explain some of it.
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