An Electronic Flight Bag, or EFB, is a tablet or installed computer system that helps pilots manage flight information in the cockpit. It replaces many paper items such as navigation charts, airport diagrams, aircraft manuals, checklists, and performance tables. This matters because pilots need accurate information quickly while working in a busy, changing environment.
A well designed EFB reduces cockpit clutter and helps crews make safer, more efficient decisions.
Key Facts
- An EFB replaces many paper charts, manuals, checklists, and performance tables with digital documents and tools.
- Moving maps combine aircraft position, route, terrain, airspace, and weather layers to improve situational awareness.
- Distance, speed, and time are related by d = vt, so flight time can be estimated with t = d / v.
- Fuel required can be estimated with fuel = burn rate x time, then adjusted for reserves, alternate airports, and conditions.
- Performance calculations may include takeoff distance, landing distance, climb limits, runway condition, wind, temperature, pressure altitude, and aircraft weight.
- EFBs must be kept updated, charged, secured in the cockpit, and checked against approved aviation data sources.
Vocabulary
- Electronic Flight Bag
- A digital cockpit device or system that stores flight documents and provides tools such as charts, calculations, and moving maps.
- Moving map
- A navigation display that shows the aircraft position changing in real time over a digital map.
- Performance calculation
- A calculation used to determine aircraft limits and requirements such as takeoff distance, landing distance, climb ability, or fuel needs.
- Aeronautical chart
- A specialized aviation map that shows information pilots need, including airports, routes, airspace, navigation aids, and terrain.
- Situational awareness
- A pilot's understanding of the aircraft position, environment, weather, traffic, and upcoming decisions.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Treating the EFB as the only source of truth is wrong because pilots must verify critical information with approved data, cockpit instruments, and crew procedures.
- Using outdated charts or databases is wrong because airports, procedures, frequencies, and airspace rules can change and make old information unsafe.
- Entering aircraft weight, wind, or runway condition incorrectly is wrong because performance results depend strongly on accurate input data.
- Letting the tablet battery, mount, or screen visibility become an afterthought is wrong because an EFB must remain usable during vibration, glare, turbulence, and long flights.
Practice Questions
- 1 A flight route shown on an EFB is 360 nautical miles long. If the aircraft groundspeed is 120 knots, how many hours will the trip take?
- 2 An aircraft burns 9 gallons of fuel per hour. If the planned flight time is 2.5 hours and the pilot wants 45 minutes of reserve fuel, how many total gallons should be planned?
- 3 A pilot's EFB moving map shows a route around a thunderstorm, but the cockpit weather radar shows the storm is moving faster than expected. Explain why the pilot should compare multiple information sources before choosing a route.