The free JeppView app has been released.
Of course only the app is free, you still have to have a JeppView subscription, but for those of us outside the US it is a start.
I’m still downloading but it looks like it will be a chart viewer and…umm, that’s it. Not exactly cutting edge.
John on vacation
John,
Have you tried that ForeFlight program I been showing in the video thread? You get A LOT more bang for the buck then Jeppview and I really would call this program cutting edge of flight planning. 8)
I even think it has international stuff but didn’t poke into that aspect. Best part is it’s only (cheap by aviation standards!) $75 **per year **and you get all IFR, VFR charts, plates and weather. Grant you, the charts are NACO, but hey works for me.
You can even file flight plans through this ForeFlight program.
You can test drive it for 30 days. Only thing you cannot do is download charts during the test drive.
They just released a version called BYOP. Bring Your Own Plates. You download your plates locally on your computer pdf files, put it in a zipped file and import it into the program and viola, you have your plates viewable in an Ipad format. I have simplified this somewhat but that’s the gist I get since I haven’t tried this
One other quite useable upgrade is the ability to plan a flight by “touch” where you can touch on the screen and add it as a way point. I have not played with this yet as the upgrade came out a couple of days ago.
If you want me to run something through it to see if it will fit your needs, or want to see what screenshots look like, drop me a line.
Google Foreflight to get to their website.
Yes I have foreflight too. For use in the US it is much better but once you leave home and head out to the back 40 you have to deal with Jeppesen. I’m looking at BYOP but to do that every two weeks seems to be a lot of work. For a one time trip it would be great, but you still have to have access to the charts to begin with.
I think I will use the iPad JeppView as a backup and to get away from printing enroute diversion charts.
At least the iPad JeppView app doesn’t cost any more than the company is already paying.
I used foreflight in the car the other day, it showed us right on the freeway!!
Bottom line to all our flight equipment decisions 
Now if they could only change that icon to a car. At 65 mph, I kept wanting to say “lil back pressure” 
65?
My wife was driving, I think it was 65 KNOTS.
I was just holding on…
I’m pushing my DO to get us the Jeppesen eCharts for the FX8 e-reader. It cost more but it is chart sized, thin and looks like paper (similar to a kindle)
An update.
I turned on my ipad sitting on the ramp at the Stansted airport outside of London and to my amazement I had a wifi connection. I pulled up the foreflight app and zoomed in on our position using the non aviation mapquest style map which was being loaded automatically. Too bad this map is lost when you turn the unit off. Zoomed in, zoomed out no problem. Unfortunately sectional style maps are not available for these cheaper apps outside of the US since they are not free or low cost.
After the bags and pax were loaded I handed the ipad to our mechanic hoping the GPS would still work which it did. He started laughing at how fast it showed us turning with right up to date ground speeds. After clearing the London terminal area I took it and held it up in the window, no problem with the electric windshield. About an hour later the world ended, at least that was the end of the maps that had been automatically loaded while we were on the ground. The ground speed and altitude were still working but we were off the map so I turned it off.
Several hours later we were over Greece and bored so I turned it back on, no luck. The GPS would not find our position which is the same thing I have found on our mechanics iphone.
Over the last two days I was involved in a discussion on another forum and an app developer chimed in. Turns out that Apple has written the software so the GPS is last in line when the unit asks for position information. This is to save battery life. If the unit is already on and loses cell/wifi data the GPS will come on line. However during a cold start the GPS is not queried until cell or wifi are detected. This is not possible above about 10,000 ft. or over water or the Sahara Desert, a definite shortcoming for Apple and aviation or marine navigation use.
When you say cold boot John, do you mean just power down the unit or hold that circle in and turn on the unit.
My experiences was similar yet different then yours in of course the lower part of the atmosphere and in less remote parts of the world (Not by much in MS though!)
I had lost GPS signal when I had wifi on and went out of 3G service I turned off the unit and like you, no GPS tracking.
I then turned off 3G, turned off the unit and turn it back on and viloa, my gps tracking was re-surrected. Be sure to turn off the cell service and wifi in settings before turning off the unit and I think your experiences will be different when you power up.
One thing I do know is neither wifi or 3G service is required for GPS to work but the key is to be sure both are off in the settings so no assist is accessed.
I was dissapointed in an airliner though as I could not get any GPS tracking but I had figured the plane traveled too fast for the GPS to lock in or I just didn’t have enough sky for the iPad to see from seat 9F?
Good morning Allen.
I meant just turning the unit off then on. What happens when you hold in the little circle and turn it on?
I will try what you say about turning 3G and wifi off before shutting down, didn’t know that. I didn’t sign up for a cellular plan since I was leaving the US in a few days, but I will turn it off anyway.
John
If you hold the circle and turn it on, it forces a “hard reboot”. I think you do this on shut down, not start up like I indicated earlier.
ehow.com/how_6208340_restart-apple-ipad.html may better explain it.
OK, good to know. I haven’t had to do this yet. 
FYI, turning the unit “off” doesn’t actually power it down, it’s in a “sleep” state primarily composed of just turning off the display. If you’re not going to be using it for awhile and don’t want the battery to go flat, turn off the Bluetooth, WiFi and 3G services before supposedly powering down.
Same goes for the iPhone and iTouch.
Ohhh, good to know, explains “instant on / sleep mode” vs reboot that we know and love outside the Apple world.
Soooo, Apple doesn’t have it all when compared to IBM based computers, there is a reboot process when all is said and done. I thought I was turning the durn thing off.
Also, in essence if I understand you correctly, you still can be tracked via triangulation with the display off as the unit still phones home to cell towers and blue tooth features still could work with the display off?
Yep! Leave the WiFi on and it will continue to monitor updates for your apps from the store as well as your mail and Facebook messages.
An update.
I’m waiting to hear back on whether or not this will work with the ipad 3G with Apples wonderful 
GPS chip.
And here is the answer:
Hello! Thanks for contacting us.
The Bad Elf GPS works great with the iPad 3G. The iOS device will automatically use the best data from the location sources available, it’s all transparent to the apps.
Many pilots (including the folks at ForeFlight) have reported issues with the internal GPS in the iPad 3G - such as the inability to get/maintain a GPS lock in the cockpit, usually at high speeds and/or when it cannot use 3G tower triangulation and assisted GPS. The Bad Elf GPS does not have these problems. A number of GA and corporate jet pilots are doing real-world testing so we should have a blog post on this topic soon.
Best regards,
-Brett
John/Allen,
I am interested in the Bad Elf GPS, and I see their comment that it doesn’t have issues locking in to satellites, but i’m skeptical since I have used a 396 several times in a cockpit and noticed a decrease in signal when not on the dash. Thoughts?
Adding to that, I am interested in the My Go Flight Pro C kneeboard to use and it has cut outs in the case to allow all the ports and buttons to be accessed, but if the GPS is plugged into it while it’s strapped to my knee, I want to ensure that i will have good reception.
I ordered the Bad Elf GPS but don’t have it yet. What I do see with the iPad is the altitude is way off. At FL 400 it is always reading several thousand feet high, whether this is just inaccurate because of being on the glare shield or because it is behind an electrically heated windshield I don’t know. What you would have to assume is if it is that far off in altitude it may be off that much horizontally too. On the ground with the heat off it is quite accurate, but it is also receiving the assisted signal too.
No personal PIREP, but reviews I have read have been good and very reliable performance with regards to holding GPS signal… Some reviews in the aviation boards I frequent (something like your concern) were concerned about durability of chip as it’s placed at the bottom of the Ipad which of course is subject to more being bumped should you use a kneeboard. I guess test of time will tell whether it becomes an issue.
I will say, I can’t stress enough in my experiences, WIFI and cell data must be turned off (NOT airplane mode!). I have not lost GPS signal in a GA plane when I have done this. Like your experiences, my 296, if I don’t have it seeing the sky (I.E too close to the passenger door), I lose GPS signal but I have yet to have this problem with the iPad.
John,
Could it be the GPS altitude is off due to AGL vs MSL? At my errrrr, high altitudes of a booming FL7, I notice a larger error then lets say when I am at the practice area at 2000 feet. It’s about a 200 foot difference. Though, my error is the otherway, I may be at 7000 but the iPad reports about 6500 to 6600 on average, and in the practice area, it does seem more accurate as it reports about 300 less then my indicated altitude.
Also, that 10K operating limit, could that be a factor or affect accuracy. Random thoughts on maybe why accuracy issues in the stratosphere?
Good points Allen, but our cabin pressure altitude is less than 7000ft.
Regarding the mounting of the Bad Elf I would rather see it at the end of a cable but at least you can turn the iPad upside down so the little elf is at the top!