Five tips for flying with the iPad at night

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The days of holding a mini-Maglite in your mouth and shining it down on a paper sectional are gone thanks to the iPad's backlit screen. But just because the iPad solves part of the night lighting equation doesn't mean you can just hop in the airplane and start using it the same way you do during the day. Here are five things to consider the next time you go flying at night with your iPad.

Guide to filing an IFR flight plan in ForeFlight

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After setting up some initial data in ForeFlight for you and your aircraft, filing an IFR flight plan takes just a few minutes. Here we'll walk through the process step-by-step to show you where to enter the data and send the flight plan through to ATC.

Keep your head up with iPad audio alerts

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The iPad is an engaging visual tool, but many pilots forget about its many audio uses. Especially for those pilots who worry about spending too much "heads-down" time with the iPad, it's worth understanding how apps use audio to make flying more efficient and safe. Let's look at some of the options, and how to set up an audio connection to your headset.

ForeFlight Pack — more than just charts

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Most pilots know how to use ForeFlight's Pack feature to verify chart downloads before a flight, but it can do much more.

How to set up Stolen Device Protection in iOS 17.3

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Apple added a new security feature called Stolen Device Protection for your iPhone in the most recent iOS 17.3 update. When this feature is enabled, some features and actions require additional security steps beyond entering the numeric passcode when your iPhone is away from familiar locations such as home or work.

Using your iPad on a Caribbean flying trip

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Today you can confidently navigate the islands with everything you need right on your iPad, including geo-referenced VFR and IFR en route charts, airport and airspace databases, synthetic vision and even ADS-B weather in certain spots. Here we're going to take a closer look at ForeFlight Mobile and Garmin Pilot, since they offer the most comprehensive resources for Caribbean-bound pilots.

How to share your location from an iPhone via satellite

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We're entering an exciting new era of communications thanks to recent developments in satellite connectivity. Here we'll take a look at the satellite connectivity feature included with iPhone 14 and 15 models and how you can share your location on a cross-country flight from any altitude.

How to set up aircraft profiles and equipment codes to file VFR/IFR flight plans

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Filing a VFR or IFR flight plan today is a breeze with today's aviation iPad apps, but entering all the required aircraft data to meet the ICAO requirements of the form can be a bit confusing. Here we'll break it down in plain English to help you understand each requirement.

Weather flying with ForeFlight (webinar recording)

ForeFlight's preflight and datalink weather features can make your flying safer and more comfortable - but only if you know how to use it properly. Join Sporty's Senior Flight Instructor Bret Koebbe for an in-depth look at how to go about the self-weather briefing process in ForeFlight and how to use ADS-B datalink weather en route to stay up with the changes.
GPS outage

GPS outages—how ADS-B receivers can protect against jamming

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Portable ADS-B receivers like Sentry are must-have devices for many pilots, delivering subscription-free weather that helps make better in-flight decisions. Beyond datalink weather, many pilots have also discovered the value of having a portable ADS-B receiver as a backup. There's another level of redundancy that most pilots don't consider, though: GPS failure.

Get more out of your iPad’s battery with Apple’s built-in utility

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Pilots tend to focus more on optimizing the iPad's battery life than the average iPad user, since this is critical to keeping the device functioning in the airplane over the course of a flight. Fortunately, there's a dedicated utility in the main iPad settings to help shed some light on which apps are using the most power, possibly while running in the background.

How to use the ADS-B datalink weather features with Sentry and ForeFlight (video tip)

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Portable ADS-B receivers provide subscription-free weather and traffic information to pilots, displayed on mobile devices like iPad or iPhones. Here, we’ll take a look at how to use the ADS-B datalink weather features when flying with a Sentry portable ADS-B receiver and ForeFlight.