Flight bags jammed with maps, performance logs, operations manuals and more are being replaced with tablet computers.Air Mobility Command is taking the lead on tablets, using a variety to help lighten the load of aircrews. No more heavy manuals for maintainers to lug around or mounds of paper for pilots to sift through. The Aeronautical Systems Center’s Engineering Avionics Division at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, tested the tablets in November for electromagnetic interference and cleared their use on all fixed-wing aircraft, according to contracting documents.Aside from its light weight and portability, the “electronic flight bag,” as AMC is calling its tablet program, has the potential to save millions of dollars, from reducing printing expenses to decreasing weight on flights. The computers could go forcewide if they continue to be as reliable and cost-effective as they have been in the early phases of testing.AMC’s program is the Air Force’s first instance of using tablets for official purposes, but countless airmen are buying tablets with their own money to make work a bit easier.Learn more from Air Force Times.
Air Crews Use Tablets Instead of Flight Bags
