“USMC aviators in Afghanistan are using iPads loaded up with maps of the southern regions of the country to reduce their workload in the cockpit,” Tony Osborne reports for Shephard Group.
“Since November last year, marine pilots have been using iPads and more recently iPad 2s with digital maps, which allow the crews to search out locations in the region at the tap of the screen rather than flicking through map packs that are heavy and take up room in the cramped cockpits of aircraft such as the AH-1W Cobra and the F/A-18 Hornet,” Osborne reports. “‘It’s a game changer,’ said Capt John Belsha, one of the sensor operators on the KC-130J Harvest Hawk, which is also making use of the iPads in the close air support role.”
Osborne reports, “Work is now ongoing to get the iPads equipped on aircraft based in the US, so they can be used in training. ‘It’s all about sharing situational awareness and using the iPad is much better than using a paper chart,’ Belsha said.
‘It takes five minutes to teach someone how to use the thing – it’s so intuitive and easy, you don’t really have to think about it.’”
Read more in the full article here.
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