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United Airlines Deploying 11,000 iPads to Pilots as Electronic Flight Bags

Sofabutt said:
I call ********. iPads aren't saving on fuel by cutting weight.

Complete ********.

Not only that, but everyone knows that you always have to have a hard copy of whatever you are trying to use for an electronic device. So the maps are there on the plane weather an iPad is or not.
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Ummm, I am a pilot for a major US carrier (not United) and I can assure every single point of yours is wrong. Saving even a few pounds of weight can save a huge amount of fuel multiplied over a year and a fleet saving millions of dollars (the real reason the airlines like it) while reducing emissions and saving trees (which is why they say they like it.)

Also having a hard copy is NOT required, having multiple sources is. The onboard Flight Management Computer has the full database of approaches and routes combined with two redundant iPads will and has been certified as sole sources. Their are many airplanes flying world wide with full electronic flight bags (of different tablet style, not iPads) that don't have a bit of paper or hard copy on the flight deck.
 
Constable Odo said:
The iPad is a totally useless device. No USB port or Flash support. How could an airline pilot possibly use a device without those two basic components? I'm keeping watch to see if there is a sudden increase of commercial airline crashes that will be caused directly by use of the iPad. EVERYONE knows that Apple products are nothing but overpriced "toys" and they're not to be entrusted to protecting human lives.

Word has it that the iPad is just being used as a temporary placeholder for the coming Windows 8 tablet which will do everything better than the iPad and the pilots will be able switch back and forth between Microsoft Office and Flash videos on those long international flights to keep them entertained. Let's see the iPad do that. :rolleyes:

/s
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Apple haters are so tiring. How many million have to be sold and how much of the market does Apple have to dominate before you give up the ghost on USB/Flash. HTML5 will soon supplant flash and by the sales numbers it would appear that no USB isn't much of an issue either.

Your Envy is palpable dude!
 
This is great, but I don't understand how these save on fuel.

A 737 can weigh up to 70 tons. How does shaving off 38 pounds help? I must be overlooking something. Can someone please explain? :)
 
seahawk1a said:
Apple haters are so tiring. How many million have to be sold and how much of the market does Apple have to dominate before you give up the ghost on USB/Flash. HTML5 will soon supplant flash and by the sales numbers it would appear that no USB isn't much of an issue either.

Your Envy is palpable dude!
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It has USB, actually, but not in the normal form. There are plenty of accessories that attach to it.

----------
acslater017 said:
This is great, but I don't understand how these save on fuel.

A 737 can weigh up to 70 tons. How does shaving off 38 pounds help? I must be overlooking something. Can someone please explain? :)
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Well the iPad would certainly be easier to read than the 38 lb books.
 
Good Grief!

Tundraboy said:
This is complete **** ****!!!!!!! One would have to be a complete moron to navigate without the use of paper charts and as far as saving fuel you gotta be kidding me!!!!!! I wouldn't step foot on a plane if I knew they were only relying on an iPad!!!!!!
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Do you really think your pilot is sitting up in the front of the plane with a paper chart giving directions? Good grief, this isn't 1940. They've all been electronic for many many decades.

BTW, checklists aren't used for navigation. Like, DUH!
 
canyonblue737 said:
Ummm, I am a pilot for a major US carrier (not United) and I can assure every single point of yours is wrong. Saving even a few pounds of weight can save a huge amount of fuel multiplied over a year and a fleet saving millions of dollars (the real reason the airlines like it) while reducing emissions and saving trees (which is why they say they like it.)

Also having a hard copy is NOT required, having multiple sources is. The onboard Flight Management Computer has the full database of approaches and routes combined with two redundant iPads will and has been certified as sole sources. Their are many airplanes flying world wide with full electronic flight bags (of different tablet style, not iPads) that don't have a bit of paper or hard copy on the flight deck.
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Aren't the paper copies a LOT harder to flip through? The iPad seems way quicker to look at.
 
If I remember...

Oats said:
reducing each flight by 80 lbs is probably less than 0.01% of the total weight including the plane, fuel, passengers, etc.

if that saves 326,000 gallons of jet fuel a year, they are still using over 3,000,000,000 gallons of jet fuel a year. the savings probably cover the cost of the ipads. if it's not greenwashing, it's at least green-meh.
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It is 0.1 gallons per pound per 1000 miles. So saving 80 lbs would save 8 gallons of fuel every 1000 miles flown. If UA flies its 360 aircraft about 100,000,000 files, that will result in about 100,000,000 * 80 / 1000 = 8,000,000 gallons of fuel (or about 30-40 million $$$) per year.
 
seahawk1a said:
Apple haters are so tiring. How many million have to be sold and how much of the market does Apple have to dominate before you give up the ghost on USB/Flash. HTML5 will soon supplant flash and by the sales numbers it would appear that no USB isn't much of an issue either.

Your Envy is palpable dude!
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nice 'miss' of the sarcasm
 
GQB said:
I love the idea, but certainly hope that both the pilot and co-pilot are each carrying one. Anything electronic can fail.
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...and ...and paper gets wet, ...and you know, accidents happen with paper bags, ...and the dog may eat the last updated chart... and now with iPads pilots are happier, and less prone to have herniated disks, ...and... we have more trees to enjoy, all of us, including our children and grandchildren...
 
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and the us wonders y they r all fat ... 2 lazy to carry some piece of paper :p jk or am i?
 
Mr. Gates said:
The primary use for an iPad is entertainment. It IS a toy in 90% of peoples minds.

Flying an Airplane is a serious thing. You have countless lives in your care.

Yes I know you think it's cool and are hypnotized by the big touch screen.

But I don't care, I don't want my pilot distracted by a stupid toy!
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The iPad will show charts and manuals nothing more or less. Just like a piece of paper. There will be no installation of Angry Birds. If you think your pilots aren't professionals and can be that easily distracted then removing the iPads won't save you. Comments about professions you know nothing about are just plain insulting.
 
kas23 said:
That's the problem. It is a proven fact that "going electronic" does not cut down on paper use, it actually increases it. Most important documents that exist electronically always have a hard copy somewhere. I really can't see pilots not having a hard copy on board, it's too contrary to being safe.
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As has been pointed out (about a dozen times) already in this thread, the *plane* has a minimal copy of documents being discussed. The copies which are being replaced are the more complete copies which each pilot and co-pilot carry inside their flight bags. So, rather than 1/plane + 1/pilot + 1/co-pilot, they'll now just have the 1/plane.

Explain to me how that doesn't cut down on paper use?
 
erzhik said:
So I guess electronic devices don't really interfere with aircraft's computers..



Isn't that the whole problem? Let's say during an small emergency or computer glitch, pilot recognizes that the iPad is causing a problem, he turns it off, and then what? He no longer has paper manual to get tips from. How the **** is he going to solve the problem when his electronic manual is causing the problem.
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Airplane mode will not disable the iPad and will make interference impossible.
 
faroZ06 said:
I know, it doesn't interfere. In fact, there is wifi onboard. It's BS.
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The WiFi onboard is very low power and tested per aircraft submodel to make sure it doesn't interfere (see my previous post in another thread about Boeing finding that WiFi could blank a cockpit display in one 737 model.)

Also, they say portable TVs are not allowed, but they do not transmit but receive signals ALREADY IN THE AIR. :rolleyes:
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This is a very common misunderstanding.

Almost every piece of electronics gear transmits, because of internal oscillators used for tuning or computing.

That is why such devices are called "unintentional transmitters" and are required to be off below 10,000 feet. (Intentional transmitters must always be off, except in the case of an aircraft tested for onboard WiFi / cell.)
 
acslater017 said:
This is great, but I don't understand how these save on fuel.

A 737 can weigh up to 70 tons. How does shaving off 38 pounds help? I must be overlooking something. Can someone please explain? :)
Click to expand...

Simple really... Do your homework and find the answers... There.
 
kdarling said:
The WiFi onboard is very low power and tested per aircraft submodel to make sure it doesn't interfere (see my previous post in another thread about Boeing finding that WiFi could blank a cockpit display in one 737 model.)



This is a very common misunderstanding.

Almost every piece of electronics gear transmits, because of clocks and other accidental noise generators used for reception or computing.

That is why such devices are called "unintentional transmitters" and are required to be off below 10,000 feet. (Intentional transmitters must always be off, except in the case of an aircraft tested for onboard WiFi / cell.)
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But the unintentional transmitters are more powerful than the onboard wifi and stray EM radiation?
 
GQB said:
Um, you do realize that cockpits have electricity generated by the ENORMOUS TURBINES strapped to their backs, right?
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Yeah, but the airlines can't be bothered to route any of that electricity to us chumps back in coach! :rolleyes:
 
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JHankwitz said:
Tundraboy said:
This is complete **** ****!!!!!!! One would have to be a complete moron to navigate without the use of paper charts and as far as saving fuel you gotta be kidding me!!!!!! I wouldn't step foot on a plane if I knew they were only relying on an iPad!!!!!!
Click to expand...

Do you really think your pilot is sitting up in the front of the plane with a paper chart giving directions? Good grief, this isn't 1940. They've all been electronic for many many decades.

BTW, checklists aren't used for navigation. Like, DUH!
Click to expand...

Sheldon says: "sarcasm"
 
Captain- My iPad says we're going North.
Co-Pilot- My iPad says we're going South!
Flight attendant- Why don't you both just look outside and see where we are!


All kidding aside though, you people need to just let the pilots fly the planes and shut up. The app that they will be using (JeppTC) doesn't have the ability to support GPS, they will be using it so they don't have to go through thousands of pieces of paper and can quickly reference materials. They've gone through YEARS and YEARS of training to know how to fly a plane, they don't need an iPad for that. This will replace the nearly 12,000 pieces of paper that a pilot carries around with them, which does indeed add up and save on fuel consumption. Cutting 16 million sheets of paper = saving 326,000 gallons of jet fuel a year. And yes, you still need to have a little respect for pilots and turn off your precious electronics for take-off and landing OR YOU WILL DEEPLY REGRET IT.
 
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