New MyGoFlight screen protectors and mounts
The iPad’s screen is both its greatest strength and its greatest weakness. On the one hand, reading charts has never been easier with its large, high resolution screen. On the other, the tablet’s solid piece of glass is pretty good at reflecting sunlight in the cockpit. Since the iPad was first announced over four years ago, dozens of companies have offered screen protectors to prevent scratches and minimize glare. Some of these work pretty well; most are junk.
Now there’s a new entrant. MyGoFlight, a company focused on iPad accessories for pilots, has introduced a new line of screen protectors called ArmorGlas. While not a miracle cure for pilots, the product does take a different approach to the problem. Instead of using thin plastic film, ArmorGlas is made from tempered glass, a material very similar to the iPad’s own screen. It goes on with built-in adhesive, so it’s fast and easy to apply, and its semi-rigid construction makes it much less susceptible to air bubbles. As always, be sure your iPad screen is very clean before applying.
In our testing, ArmorGlas did a good job at preventing scratches and fingerprints (even dropping the iPad from desk height), but without affecting the feel and clarity of the iPad screen too much. It is much thicker than a traditional screen protector, so you know it’s there, but this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The screen was still very responsive and easy to read with the ArmorGlas on.
Does it reduce glare? Yes, but within reason. One a sunny day, the worst reflections were eliminated, making charts easier to read. But we suspect on a sunny day in a bubble canopy, the iPad screen will still be a little hard to read. A protective cover can only do so much.
ArmorGlas is available for the iPad Air 1 and 2, as well as the iPad Mini 1-3. At $49.99, it isn’t cheap, but it is a major step up in quality when compared to the typical grocery store products.
MyGoFlight has also introduced a new mounting option for pilots – the Flex Mount. This multi-arm setup is very flexible, with three independent joints that allow for quick repositioning of your iPad. The nice feature is that all three joints are controlled by a central knob, so it’s easy to make adjustments without loosening and tightening multiple screws. Simply loosen the knob, move your iPad until it’s in the right spot, and tighten the knob. In a busy cockpit, this is helpful.
The Flex Mount is available as a suction cup mount or a yoke mount (fits shafts from 5/8″ to 1 1/2″). Note that you must use MyGoFlight’s Sport Case for the mount to work, and these are sold separately. Again, at $79 plus the case, these mounts are not cheap. But for a pilot looking for a premium mounting solution, we can recommend these as a good option.
For a listing of all MyGoFlight products, click here.
I have the Armorglas non-reflective screen protectors on both my iPad Mini and my iPhone 5s. Both are great! They are easy to install as well.
I waited to install the stick on home button cover on the Mini, but found that multiple presses, such as are used to be able to close different open apps, just didn’t work very well, as the button well is too deep. So I put the button cover on yesterday, and it makes a big difference in that feature. Of course, that would prevent using the fingerprint security feature on a newer iPad. I left the button cover off on the 5s so that I could continue to use the fingerprint security feature, and it works fine.
I’m impressed with these screen protectors–they are both much better than the previous plastic protectors I had on them.