Simple SD Card Storage

If you are like me, you probably have a desk full of various sizes and ages of SD cards. If you have several airplanes or EFISes, you probably have trouble keeping straight which cards hold software and databases for which aircraft. That means you probably want to keep them in the aircraft, but the little buggers keep getting lost somewhere in the debris.

The simple solution? Stick a dot of hook and loop fastener on an SD card case and place it out of the way. For a tandem airplane, the bulkhead behind the throttle never gets touched during normal flight. Then all you have to do is remember where you stuck the darn little thing when you need it!

A pair of hook-and-loop is perfect for attaching the small case.
Paul Dye
Paul Dyehttps://ironflight.com
Paul Dye retired as a Lead Flight Director for NASA’s Human Space Flight program, with 50 years of aerospace experience on everything from Cubs to the Space Shuttle. An avid homebuilder, he began flying and working on airplanes as a teen and has experience with a wide range of construction techniques and materials. He has built and flown an RV-8, Subsonex jet, and an F1 Rocket - in addition to the RV-3, Dream Tundra, and electric Xenos motorglider he built along with his pilot wife. His next project is a highly modified RV-3. A commercially licensed pilot, he has logged over 6000 hours in many different types of aircraft and is an A&P, FAA DAR, EAA Tech Counselor and Flight Advisor; he was formerly a member of the Homebuilder’s Council and is now on the EAA Safety Committee. He is also a member of SETP and consults on flight testing projects.

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NWade
NWade
1 month ago

As a slight tweak on this suggestion:

I keep an inexpensive USB card-reader, such as this one**, in my aircraft at all times.

As soon as I park the airplane, I plug the USB stick into my iPad/iPhone and transfer the appropriate files off of each SD Card in the panel. The somewhat-new iOS “Files” app is great for doing this.

Each SD card is removed from its avionics device just long enough to download the file(s), then it is re-mounted into its device.

The iPad “Files” app allows you to save the files to your chosen cloud storage system. It will queue the files for synchronization even if it doesn’t have an internet connection when you download the files! So you can do this whole process in the cockpit, and as soon as the iPad gets a connection (wifi or cellular data), the files will sync to the cloud.

The result is that your SD Card files will be available to you on any computer/device, and you never have to ferry those SD cards anywhere! The SD cards and the USB reader never leave the cockpit, so they never have a chance to get lost or be left out of the airplane.

–Noel
P.S. Android devices can follow this same procedure, but will need to use their appropriate file-transfer app/tool.

**(not an endorsement, just one I’ve had success with)

NWade
NWade
Reply to  NWade
1 month ago

…and as a corollary to this: You can keep your important Database, terrain, airspace, and other files in the cloud storage system of your choice. Whenever you want to transfer them to your avionics devices, simply follow the reverse of the process in my previous comment.

  1. Make sure your iPad/iPhone has a data connection
  2. Download the appropriate file(s) to your tablet/phone
  3. Go to your cockpit and plug in the USB reader
  4. Plug the appropriate SD card to your tablet/phone
  5. Use the Files app to transfer the file(s) to the SD card
  6. Plug the SD card back into the avionics device
  7. Repeat steps 4 – 6 for any additional avionics devices.
  8. Return the USB reader to its storage location in your cockpit.
roger anderson
roger anderson
Reply to  NWade
1 month ago

Flying used to be so simple. But I used to be not so old.