Reader poll – iPhone 6 Plus

1 min read

The iPhone 6 Plus was introduced in late September 2014, and has since proven to be a popular phone around the world – including among pilots. Some pilots are even considering the “phablet” to be a replacement for an iPad. Its 5.5″ screen isn’t too much smaller that the iPad Mini’s 7.9″ screen, and is easy to mount in the cockpit. Other pilots consider it too small to be a real tablet replacement.

We want to know what you think. Is the iPhone 6 Plus an attractive option for pilots? Or is the iPad still the way to go? Vote below, then add a comment.

[polldaddy poll=”8534317″]

15 replies
  1. John Phillips
    John Phillips says:

    I’ve sold my iPad and now use my iPhone 6+ exclusively in the cockpit. It does not block the panel when mounted on the yoke of our club 172 or Archer and it is not so large or heavy on the yoke that it is a nuisance. Having it mounted directly in front of me like that makes it natural to include in my scan and the screen is large enough for even my old eyes.

  2. Rick Stevens
    Rick Stevens says:

    I flew several 172s, etc., using my iPad “3” as primary and my iPhone 5 as back-up. Have to admit, it was tough to see the little screen on the phone, particularly when it was bumpy. The iPhone 6 Plus’ screen size and the high definition image quality works much better! I still prefer to use the relatively large screen iPad as primary but the iPhone 6 Plus is an excellent back-up!

  3. Gene Woods
    Gene Woods says:

    I used to fly with an Anywhere Map Quadra, which has a smaller screen than my iPhone 6 regular. I now use an iPad mini in the plane and it still seems to be the perfect size. Not too big or too small. I considered getting the iPhone 6+, but settled for the regular 6. I’m content with that for a back up to my iPad mini.

  4. Kristoffer
    Kristoffer says:

    I use the 6 Plus and love it. In fact that was one of the main reasons I bought the 6+ over the 6. I was using the Ipad but had to mount it on the CoPilot side to keep from blocking my view. I thought about buying a Mini but this works perfect and for a change I saved some money. My Ipad is now my backup ;-). While the screen is smaller, since it sits so close to me it is not an issue. The only draw back is that I wish the iPhone app for the 6+ worked like the Ipad app. Its close just not quite the same. Hopefully that will change very soon.

  5. Cary Alburn
    Cary Alburn says:

    I have an iPad Mini which is mounted on the yoke of my P172D. It is pretty close to the perfect size, a compromise between being too small to see and being too big and cumbersome for yoke mounting. Approach plates are standard size. Coincidentally, it is the same size as my previous yoke board. I use my iPhone 5s as my backup, both for charts and for the Stratus Horizon ap.

    I have looked at the iPhone 6 and 6+ at the store–I don’t think I’d be happy with anything smaller than the Mini for my primary, although the 6+ would be a better backup than my 5s.

  6. PatrickWelburn
    PatrickWelburn says:

    I am a student pilot and bought an iPhone 6+ in September hoping to get used to it so that I can use it for aviation applications. I’d like to know what aviation apps are available for the iPhone 6+ and what apps are most helpful. I’d like to know about the synthetic vision apps and others of maps and airport approaches.

    What apps do Sporty’s offer?

    Pat Welburn

  7. John Phillips
    John Phillips says:

    Pat – I am not a CFI but do suggest you check with yours on this. That being said ForeFlight runs very well on the 6 Plus (I use it). You may also want to look at other apps like BaroAltimeter, Checklist, AeroWeather, Sporty’s E6B and CSC Duats. There are many many more available but these are a good start. I am not affiliated with Sporty’s or any other aviation entity so these comments are my own.

  8. Tim Welter
    Tim Welter says:

    I bought the iPhone 6+ with the idea of replacing my iPad for a number of applications. I now use this for my primary flight planning. It works very well however I do miss some of the features of ForeFlight that I can find in the iPad version but not the iPhone version. I’ve written to ForeFlight and have asked them to upgrade the iPhone version to the iPad version. Hopefully this will happen in the near future if enough people ask for it.

  9. Ed Riley
    Ed Riley says:

    I have iPad 3 and Stratus. Recently got iPhone 6+ and flew with each on recent cross country in my Mooney M20E. I experimented with different configurations and may still change my mind – but I found my iPad superior for flight planning and keep it on co-pilot yoke (angled toward pilot) and used the 6+ to look up things in flight so I could keep my iPad for my primary. This allowed me to keep my Foreflight Maps and “HUD” features with AHRS up full time. The iPhone 6+ allowed me to look for emergency fields and weather conditions that I would normally have had to share this time on iPad. Love both, but for different reasons…

  10. DK Gorrell
    DK Gorrell says:

    I liked the iPhone 6+ display size and ease of mounting. The OS difference between the iPad and iPhone is noticeable and bit annoying, but the ease of mounting and use overcome that, in my mind. My problem was that I didn’t like it as a phone. And as a standalone device it is not price competitive with the iPad mini, so I traded it for the iPhone 6 – which has a better Foreflight display than my previous 4S, but does not substitute for an iPad.

  11. PatrickWelburn
    PatrickWelburn says:

    Sporty’s, thank you for running this poll. It is very helpful to me to setup my iPhone 6+.

    Pat

  12. Harald
    Harald says:

    I still think the iPhone family is only suitable as backup, not as prime navigation moving map, at least with internal GPS – by a very simple reason: you can not switch off the mobile networking while using the internal GPS. At the iPad you can switch off Bluetooth and WLAN and the device is virtually silent on electromagnetic radiation, but at the iPhone the emergency call function will always try to find mobile net towers and disturbs the EMG environment. In a rough&easy it might not be a problem, but in sensible planes it is.

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