Usually the iPad is praised as a useful tool for pilots and doctors nowadays, but now there’s room for one more slate in the cockpit: the Microsoft Surface 2. The FAA has allowed this device for pilot use, probably after some strong lobby from Microsoft’s convincing men.
Airline operators are more and more interested in adopting new technology, so tablets are an obvious choice instead of hundreds of pages of paper manuals. There’s also the flight schedules, special apps, communication apps and probably some relaxing games as well. The Surface tablets have achieved Feral Aviation Administration authorization for Class 1 or 2 EFB needs for all phases of flight.
Popular flight software FliteDeck Pro is available for Windows 8.1, for example, which is one more reason to adopt the slates. Of course, there’s always that chance you may get a blue screen on the device when you need it the most, but no device is perfect, is it?
