German medical aircraft operator DRF Luftrettung has begun using tablet PCs in the cockpits of its air ambulance jets.
The operator uses tablet PCs that contain all route, approach and departure charts, documents and the paper-based flight manuals. Currently DRF uses a total of seven electronic flight bags (EFB) for three of its ambulance aircraft, and the company is pursuing a plan make its helicopter cockpits paperless in the future as well.
The EFBs have helped DRF’s air rescue operations to cut back on costs because of the reduced weight from paper flight manuals, the company said.
“If we extrapolate this to our annual average use, the tablets will save about 7,000 Euros per year in kerosene costs,” said Udo Kordeuter, fleet commander at DRF Luftrettung.
