The time I dropped (the only, family, 7" Nexus) tablet on its corner onto a concrete hangar floor, wrecking its glass irreparably,
, it was
after a flight. For its identical replacement we bought a (scarlet! who cares ? actually, quite useful during rummage
) 'childproof' rubber surround (from the 'tech accessories' aisle in a supermarket, very cheap).
Only App used in flight routinely was SD, although other (free) ones were tried from time to time. Flight planning was on laptop at home using SD. Bought a CAA topo Memory Map disc once; never got the hang of it.
Later I flew with a 8" (now 'mine' rather than 'family'), still Android (Lenovo), still used for all other non-flying Apps as well. Both I mounted in portrait mode on my thigh: the 7" clipped into a kneeboard, the 8" (in a 'standard stationary store' folding cover, cheap) with wide elastic secured by a safety pin, with kneeboard on the other thigh.
Backup, apart from chinagraph route on a physical laminated chart, was an even older "hiker's" (ie, not 'aviation') pocket GPS, with planned route and waypoints entered by hand. It displayed (B&W) as a half-mile-wide 'highway' with a centreline. It was small enough to fit on the coaming, secured by adhesive velcro strips (unofficial 'minor mod' on the coaming
). This was powered from the 'cigar lighter' socket in the ancient shareoplanes; for the tablets, recharging fully overnight before the flight was always enough for my sort of flying the following day.
For my sort of day/VFR fairly local, bimbling these were quite adequate. The only time in the 'tablet era' when I even planned to 'go off' the South of England 1:500,000 chart (and so would be relying on SD on the tablet and the 'hiker' alone) was for the PP at Church Fenton .. which was frustrated by weather.
(mere guide at) Jet Age Museum, Gloucestershire Airport
http://www.jetagemuseum.org/TripAdvisor Excellence Award 2015
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction ... gland.html