U.S. Air Force Will Save $50M With iPad Electronic Flight Bags

Save weight, save money

Pilots typically carry 30-40 pounds of paper documents in their flight bags and there is another 90 pounds or so of documentation on the aircraft. With 10 crewmembers on a C-5 Galaxy transport this could add up 490 pounds per plane. This, in turn, leads to significant savings in fuel consumption.

This follows a Pentagon decision, announced earlier this month, to clear Apple devices for use on its networks.

This is the latest step in a trend towards allowing iPads and other electronic devices in the cockpit to reduce paperwork, cut weight and the cost of updating documents manually. For example, American Airlines announced their plans to use iPads recently.

Not your kid’s iPad

Companies like SOTI make it possible to lock iPads and other mobile devices so that users can’t play Angry Birds or install their own software. This makes them more secure and more manageable – an important concern if you have 18,000 devices to keep track of.

Instead of using regular iPad apps, electronic flight bags need specialist aviation map software. For example, Boeing subsidiary Jeppesen makes a product called FlightDeck Pro that combines airways charts, approach plates and FAA-approved moving maps of airports (very handy in big, unfamiliar places, especially at night).

This Air Force video shows the iPad electronic flight bags in operation, both in planning and mounted in the cockpit of a C-130 Hercules.

(Hat tip: 9To5Mac)

Matthew Stibbe is CEO of Turbine and Articulate. More on Twitter, Facebook and Google+.

31 May 19:47 - corrected a typo in the opening paragraph. Of course, it's the Air Force that's buying the iPads not Apple. Sorry.