The recent trip to Oklahoma and back to pick up Bob Kirkby’s Starduster biplane was unique for me in one particular aspect: the use of technology. On this trip I didn’t so much as glance at a paper map, and that was really cool.

Here’s how I did it. I have a Garmin 496 GPS panel-mounted in its own dock. It sits a bit low in the centre of my panel, and isn’t the easiest thing to see. The 496 uses Garmin’s proprietary aviation maps.

Right in front of me is a large-screen Android-powered, Asus cell phone. Like nearly any smart phone these days it has a built-in GPS. I don’t use it as a phone, though. I acquired it expressly for nav in the Cav.

I loaded the Asus with Fltplan.go, an absolutely free app that runs on both Android and iOS. It uses the phone’s GPS to give a complete moving map display of current position on both Canadian and American standard aviation charts. I also have my regular Samsung cell phone on my belt all loaded up and ready should the Asus fail. I can swap them in seconds.

I brought an iPad mini with me, too. The iPad also has Fltplan.go and serves largely as a back-up for maps and as a CFS/airport facilities directory. It doesn’t have a GPS, but should the need arise I can slave it to either the Asus or the Samsung to use their GPS signals. And of course, it replaces (at a fraction of the weight) a laptop computer when I’m on the ground.

When there’s wifi available the iPad is more useful for flight planning with its larger screen and keypad. Cell phones are no slouches for that, but the bigger screen is just easier to see.

In the Cruiser on the southbound flight, Keith and Bob used an iPad with Foreflight, a very highly regarded paid subscription app. They had full data access in flight so when cell service was available, they could access weather info and more. At one point in the trip Keith booked us hotel rooms and a rental car without leaving the comfort of the Cruiser at 1500′ AGL.

Naturally, Bob and Keith have cell phones. When we were near Billings, Montana, Bob took some photos and videos of the Cav and then zapped them to me right then and there. In turn, I zapped them to my wife and to Gary Abel.

The Starduster came with an ancient Garmin GPS/comm unit with only an alphanumeric display – no map. Kirkby brought along his much, much newer Garmin 695 GPS. He rigged a method to strap it to his left leg. It has push button and joystick controls, so operation in turbulence (and in an open cockpit) is easier for him.

His other primary nav aid while flying the Starduster was simply me. It was much easier for me to look after the nav and radio chores in the Cav’s comfortable closed cockpit than for Bob to try to wrestle with maps and books in the ‘Duster’s open rear pit.

One last item of technology that we each used was a Spot satellite locator. It sends a location signal every ten minutes, or whenever we press a “Here I am!” button, and overlays our position to Google maps on the company’s website. Our wives love this feature. We’ve added it to our Nav Canada flight planning profiles so that in an emergency first responders can much more easily zero in on our location.

We spent more than 24 hours flying 2500 miles in six days, and all the tech worked flawlessly. That’s pretty cool stuff in simple planes made of wood, steel and fabric, on designs that come from more than fifty years ago.

Oh, and even though I didn’t look at a paper chart, I still had some with me. After all, I’ve never had a map run out of batteries.