How many pixels does it take to guide an aircraft? For us – over 47 billion pixels to navigate within the United States 

Before the era of electronic flight bags (EFBs) and digital charts, pilots had to lug around hundreds of pounds of physical materials in their flight bags. We’re talking about navigational items like aeronautical charts, flight plans, alternate route charts, supplements, logbooks, navigation aids, and the list goes on. On top of that, you had to calculate the weight and balance of every item, leaving no space for error. Oh, those were the days… 

Then, came along the magic of EFBs and modern avionics, replacing paper-based loads with digital systems. EFBs have dramatically reduced the weight and size of what pilots carry on their flights today. But have you ever wondered how much those digital materials actually “weigh” in an EFB? 

Well, EFBs aren’t measured in pounds anymore, they’re measured in storage size, processing power, data usage, and other technical computing terms. While the physical load is much lighter now, the digital load has its own “weight” in terms of resources. Let’s take a look at how this is measured, and to keep things simple, we’ll focus on aeronautical charts, such as Sectionals and Enroutes. 

Here’s a fun fact: Hilton Software processes over 47 billion pixels of charts every month. And that’s just Enroutes, Sectionals, and terminal charts alone. 

If we look at a physical material for comparison, a single flight operations manual used to weigh 2-5 lbs, depending on the size. And that’s just the beginning. There are still flight plans, weather briefings, supplemental documents, manuals, and a whole lot more to account for before a flight. Now, everything is aggregated into a single handheld device weighing around 1-2 lbs. Isn’t technology amazing? It’s not about technology taking over, it’s about making life easier and safer for our pilots. 

At Hilton Software, we are dedicated to improving the way pilots fly, we’ll keep pushing forward to making flight operations as efficient and enjoyable as possible.