Date: 201410
Aircraft: B777 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operator: Air Carrier
Flight phase: Other N/A
Aircraft component: Electronic Flt Bag (EFB)
Component problem: Design
Reporter organization: Air Carrier
Reporter function: First Officer
Anomaly: Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe
Detector: Person Flight Crew
When detected: In-flight; Taxi
Result: General None Reported / Taken
Contributing factors: Aircraft
Primary problem: Aircraft

Narrative: I just finished my simulator checkride and had the opportunity to use and test our iPads mounted in the cockpit for both normal and emergency situations.  Just the three days of use have convinced me that safety is potentially compromised.The first incident was the tiller and nose-wheel steering.  We had both read the Bulletin and believed that the RAM mount was clear of the tiller visually.  In actual operation after a simulator landing and high speed taxiway exit with intent to taxi back to the gate; the RAM mount on the First Officer's side blocked the tiller.  Even when that was cleared and having my hand on the tiller; it was slightly blocked when actually using it again as the handle was in a horizontal position and would only clear my RAM mount when turned to a vertical position making taxiing more difficult.The second incident was the check ride itself.  I've noticed on operational flights the problems of the current iPad Flight Deck Pro application running very slow and not allowing selection from one view to the next (Example: STARs to the Approach plates). The program initially goes to the selected screen; but when you tap to make a selection nothing happens and it reverts back to the previous screen view.  This can happen numerous times until a selection can be made.  I think the processor is too slow; so the best technique is to make a selection; wait a few seconds; and then make another selection.  Making a selection (tapping it) as soon as it is displayed seems to cause the device to freeze or become unresponsive and after a few seconds it goes back to the previous selection.The third incident was the realization of the difficulty in having all information on the iPad itself limited to a single screen view.  Previously; arrival and approach charts were physically different and distinct from the Approach briefing plastic quick reference hard card.  This allowed you to view both the Approach plate you were briefing and the Approach Briefing card at the same time.  It enables you to compare and reference both physical products while doing the approach briefing.In our simulator session we were dealing with a single-engine approach into EGLL using a Cat III; Land 2 procedure. It became obvious that having to switch back and forth between the approach plate view (Jeppesen Flight Plan Pro application) and the Approach Briefing Card (now a PDF type viewable file on the Content Locker application) was time consuming and made it difficult since you could not compare the approach plate to the briefing card at the same time.  You had to go back and forth on what was displayed on the single screen.  Trying to reference the required CAT III /LAND2 visibility charts and approach plate with the slow processing time of the iPad was a real problem and much more time consuming.  It could become a safety factor in a real emergency compared to the paper approach plates with the hard plastic quick reference card that allowed you to quickly view and brief the approaches.




Synopsis: B777 pilot reported several operational difficulties in using the aircraft EFB iPad; stating it blocked the tiller while taxiing; and was slow to change page views.