Electronic Flight Bags

[TRBojet]

Our company has just purchased a new airplane and has not gotten a Jepp subscription yet; I've mentioned the idea of an EFB, and they said they might be interested in one.

I've done a search on here and found a little info about them. I found one called a NavAero T-800 that sells for around $1300. Compare that to some others that cost around $6000, and I'm wondering why this one is so inexpensive. I doubt our one-plane company would consider paying $6000 for one. Has anyone had use with this model, or any model, and can give me some positive/negative feedback for them. I also wonder if buying a cheaper tablet PC would suffice for organizing your Jepps. We would only be using it for the Jepp subscription as we are Part 91.

Any thougts or comments would be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[2000flyer]

If you have access to the NBAA message boards, check them out. There has been a long going excellent discussion on this topic.

Personally, like most things aviation, this might not be one time to skimp on price. If an EFB is your only access to charts, it would sure be a pain (to say the least) to have the thing go Tango Uniform and have to paper backup.

I wish I had more information on specific models. Hopefully someone here will have the info first hand, otherwise, check out NBAA.

2000Flyer

 

[Lead Sled]

I flew a G-200 that had a EFB and as far as I'm concerned it was a waste of space. Personally, I believe that anything short of displaying the charts on the MFDs is really not worth the bother. Right now, we are using printed JeppView charts with NOS charts carried on board for the unexpected deversion. Using the JeppView/NOS combination you have almost zero revisions to perform - just toss the old ones out when you're finished with them.

 

[jeb]

We currently use the Fujitsu 3600 in our Citation V, and we still carry the Jepps for the time being. Our purpose for getting the EFB was two fold, to eliminate the Jepps and to get the WSI. We have a portable printer on board, and my laptop also has the the Jepp View installed. We have been having some problems with the WSI since coming out of maintenance. One of the problems we see with the EFB we have is seeing the screen in bright sun light. I believe right now you are required to have a back up sysem in case you EFB goes TU. If I had to to over again I don't know if I would invest in the system, just my opion.

 

[TRBojet]

Thanks for everyone's opinions. I think from what I've found out and from what you all have said, we're going to start out with the paper subscription and wait until they're more usable and affordable.

Thanks.

 

[skyking1976]

EFB info...

http://www.jeppesen.com/wlcs/index.jsp?section=about&content=product_efb.jsp

These will get more affordable as competition between EFB manufacturers increases.

SK