Jason Miller, one of the ForeFlight co-founders and principal developer on ForeFlight HD, prepared a video report of his overall impressions of iPad 3G and GPS performance after a series of test flights recently conducted in ForeFlight One, our SR22 GTS and test-bed platform.
During this flight, Jason took the SR22 up to 11,500′ and monitored iPad 3G GPS performance during climb, cruise, and descent, comparing the iPad’s readings to those displayed by the 430s and a Garmin GPSMap 296 mounted on the co-pilot’s window. Jason -as is the case for just about everything he does – has done an excellent job comparing and contrasting iPad 3G performance.
As a result of our testing, we’ve drawn some conclusions for the time being: we do not want to show GPS position on plates, as we’ve seen accuracy drop to as low as 50M. That’s nearly 200′ of deviation – the difference between being shown as positioned on the taxiway when you’re actually on the runway, and vice-versa. We see the most deviation during descents and climbs – phases of flight where accuracy of your avionics is important, especially in IMC. But, the GPS, during our tests, worked well during cruise. Your mileage may vary.
[vimeo vimeo.com/11812842]
On your iPad? Go here to view the video using HTML5. Debuting in the video are some yet-to-be-seen features that will land on your iPad shortly!