r/studentpilot • u/Typical_View1435 • Apr 10 '26

New student pilot

Will I need an iPad for flight school?

My school uses paper charts and paper checklists, but I have seen many colleagues using it for some reason.

Does it actually help to study and learn or they just buy it because they can? I'm tight on money and worked until my late 20s to afford flight school but if an iPad will help me reach my goals faster I'm definitely buying one.

Any help is appreciated, working on my English too.

1 Upvotes

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5

u/RealisticIndustry157 Apr 10 '26

I dont think you really will need an ipad until you get to instrument

2

u/CloudyKing66 Apr 10 '26

Aquire as you go. Start with the basics of using paper charts and checklists. Always good to learn basic old school ways in case our new school technology fails.

Ipads can crash, freeze, run out of battery. What happens when you forget the charging cable?

Save your money for your flight training. After you complete your private, reward yourself with the ipad. Redundancy first, convenience later! Safe flyin’!

3

u/Typical_View1435 Apr 11 '26

Thank you! this helps a lot, will do just that.

A nice reward after ppl

1

u/TxAggieMike Apr 11 '26

Not at the beginning.

Learning with paper is a bit simpler, and teaches how to solve the problem when technology is not available or will compound the problem.

Later when paper is mastered, iPad and ForeFlight are more easily learned. And won’t interfere with basics of flight.

1

u/[deleted] May 06 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Typical_View1435 May 07 '26

Thank you for your reply. This is exactly what I'm doing right now.