Ipad

[Brett327]

When they put a ruggedized laptop in the Prowler that interfaced with a box in the aircraft, the cable they came up with, which was essentially an Ethernet connection and a power cord, was this unwieldy inch thick monstrosity with a cannon plug at both ends. These things would get bent CP pins if you looked at them wrong. I'm sure they cost thousands of dollars. I completely understand that you just can't install a consumer grade USB/Ethernet outlet or a 12 volt power supply in an aircraft, but sometimes the NAVAIR solution can get a bit over the top.

 

[jmcquate]

you just can't install a consumer grade USB/Ethernet outlet or a 12 volt power supply in an aircraft

Why not?

 

[Gatordev]

Why not?

DoD-wide, IA is a huge concern/roadblock for progress. It doesn't matter if what you're doing doesn't actually cause any IA concerns, but the IA "rule book" makes anything you're trying to do that much harder.

While there's plenty of other frustrations with NAVAIR (see some other iPad ridiculousness), the IA issue is one thing that isn't completely their fault and causes things to move at an even more glacial pace than normal DoD operations.

 

[jmcquate]

Ya, I guess I knew the answer before I asked the question. A COTS solution that is no more than a plug connected to a battery would would raise a red flag by people who get paid to raise red flags.

 

[Brett327]

Aside from connecting untested stuff into the aircraft's electrical system, the DC system isn't 12 volts, or 5 volts required by the USB spec. Now we're getting into power supplies and step down xformers, etc, etc. So much for a plug connected to a battery (or bus). Now, I'm not an engineer or test guy, but I'd be very wary of going down that path just because it might meet the "common sense, it ought to work" test you're applying. Next, let's weigh the cost of issuing a TD for hundreds of airframes that will probably have to be done by someone other than O-level maint; man hours, materiel costs, etc, etc.

Compare that to the necessity of having this thing in the first place (very low, IMO), and you can see why NAVAIR would probably never consider doing it.

 

[jmcquate]

Well, there is that too.

 

[Jim123]

On the topic consumer grade power supplies- my old Garmin 396 GPS accepts 11-35VDC. You don't have to do anything special with then power plug, you just plug it in and it works. This is not complicated, expensive stuff (neither is WAAS, but we can't seem to get that in naval aircraft either...).

 

[Gatordev]

Aside from connecting untested stuff into the aircraft's electrical system, the DC system isn't 12 volts, or 5 volts required by the USB spec. Now we're getting into power supplies and step down xformers, etc, etc. So much for a plug connected to a battery (or bus). Now, I'm not an engineer or test guy, but I'd be very wary of going down that path just because it might meet the "common sense, it ought to work" test you're applying. Next, let's weigh the cost of issuing a TD for hundreds of airframes that will probably have to be done by someone other than O-level maint; man hours, materiel costs, etc, etc.

All understandable when you're trying to plug something into your 400hz aircraft, but when you're just trying to run something that already works off of it's own battery, and the rest of the professional aviation world already does it, it's a bit embarrassing.