Train Like You Fly / Fly Like You Train

So I realized it has been a while since I made a post here for Real World Flying, and that is in part due to recent glass cockpit training thanks to my joining Civil Air Patrol, Squadron 57 in San Diego, as well as a lot of recent development and flying work on FSX.

I recently was able to combine both FSX and Real World Flying in a fun and value-added way and that is the subject of today’s post.

As I have written about previously, I have an Acer Iconia A500 Android Tablet that I have used as an Electronic Flight Bag, but my flying opportunities where using the Iconia would be a good idea have been limited – nearly all of my flying last year was aerobatic, and we simply don’t use something like an EFB (read that deadly flying debris if it breaks loose during maneuvers) during hard acro.

In reviewing the manual that Avilution produces for their excellent Aviation Maps app (my personal moving map choice), I recently found that it can use mock GPS data via Bluetooth.  That is a fancy way of saying that if you can provide a bluetooth serial signal of GPS data, say from Flight Simulator X as an example, you can use it to drive the location and the moving map data for AvMaps.  In other words, you can drive the AvMaps app from FSX and use it in scenario-based or simply Free Flight missions to engrain the procedures and usage of the app when ‘flying’ the sim.

I went to my local Fry’s Electronics and picked up a bluetooth adaptor (~$18), and I finally purchased Peter Dowson’s excellent FSUIPC add-on for FSX that allows, among other things, the export of FSX GPS data for use just like driving an external application.  I also downloaded Googoo Android’s Bluetooth GPS app (freeware)  from the Google Play Market which is needed to override the Iconia’s built-in GPS chipset.  As a bonus, I can also use this app to select my RAZR HD’s GPS source (it performs better than the Acer’s built-in chipset) for use anywhere.

After about 10-15 minutes of experimentation and finally following the directions, I had this set up on my simulation desktop and on my Tablet and I can report it is near seamless and truly provides great experience in a Train Like You Fly / Fly Like You Train approach.

Clearly, there are missing elements when using a desktop simulator such as FSX or X-Plane, but my intent was to see just how well I could use the EFB as kneeboard in a ‘flying’ environment.  There is a reason that military aviators, airline and professional pilots, and operators of most complex aircraft utilize simulation for training, and that is in terms of learning the ins and outs, and specifically for developing the flow/procedures training – used properly simulators save time and money.

Put another way, it is far better to learn how to operate your EFB on the ground, and to get comfortable with it BEFORE you really need it, especially if in hard IMC or at night.  The EFB, like any other system or piece of equipment, should be there to help you fly/operate/ and make decisions better, not to distract you.  To that end, I believe the key is to use it, and use it a lot. By combining it with a desktop simulator, you can try it under benign to adverse conditions, with no real danger, and with no fuel, maintenance or other expenses beyond the bluetooth adaptor, FSUIPC software, and AvMaps data subscription.

In the videos, I can be seen using an iPad leg strap (by Tiet), I have actually used this in flight (not aerobatics) and it works great.  It will hold the tablet in either landscape or portrait mode (portrait is best in my opinion).

I still owe the blog a full review of the Aviation Maps app but I wanted to toss in a photo and a couple quick videos showing the app in use while ‘flying’ the excellent A2A Simulations Civilian P-51D Mustang.  The user interface is good although I wish the enroute/nav data in the bottom of the display were larger.  I recently asked if Avilutions was working on geo-referenced approach plates and airport diagrams (yes, due imminently) and also if they were going to integrate a document viewer for quick access to Flight Manual’s, etc. (also yes).  AvMaps continues to develop into an amazing and useful application.

I will get to a full review of AvMaps, I promise.

‘Gimp