Had a chance to fly with my iPad and the WingX app this morning. In a word. . . Fantastic. I see no reason to give Garmin any more of my money. I used the app to circumnavigate under and around the complex DFW Class B, and it was great to be able to see EXACTLY where I was on the "sectional" sitting on my leg. I really don't see a need to mount the iPad, as it seems to take up the least room sitting on my knee. The iPad's built in GPS (first generation unit) did a fine job. The most error I saw was 31'. I just don't think an external GPS module is going to be needed.

BTW, I figured out "rubber-banding" the course line. You simply touch the screen where you want to create the new waypoint and the course lines jumps to it. The point is automatically added in the correct position to your route.

I'm going to try out ForeFlight, but really, I don't see how it can get any better than this. Okay, one thing. I want to be able to switch to "Track Up", where the sectional is oriented in the direction I'm going. Currently, it's "North Up". Their reasoning may be that the chart is always readable, but it would be nice to switch back and forth and not have to rotate the iPad.

In the end, I think this package is a bargain. Sure you have to buy an iPad, but that's a no-brainer. If you don't own one, you should. You'll wonder how you ever did without it. At $100 a year it would take about six years to equal the cost of a stand alone unit, and that's not to mention the cost of map updates. Who knows what they'll come up with six years from now!