How many AMUs did you spend on your last piece of flying gear?

Flying isn’t cheap. There’s a reason pilots joke that $1,000 equals one AMU (Aviation Monetary Unit).

But pilot gear doesn’t have to be expensive to change the way you fly. One of my favorite cockpit tools is something that I only paid a measly $35 for. (That’s only 0.035 AMUs!)

I’m talking about the Flyboys Kneeboard.

Image from FlyBoys.com

I really love this kneeboard — in fact, I’ve helped sell a lot of them. It seems like every friend I fly with has picked one up after seeing how easy it is to juggle checklists, approach plates, and clearances with this thing.

(Postscript: The FlyBoys kneeboard can also take an attachment for the company’s equally awesome PIVOT Case iPad mount.)

The thing that sets this kneeboard apart is the fact that you can use rings to clip important documents to the top of it. I use it for checklists. When I don’t need the checklist, I can just flip it over my leg and out of the way of my note pad. When I do need it, I can get access to any page without fumbling around.

Three pens clip on the side of your leg, and charts have a see-through strap to keep them in place. A clipboard holds everything else where you want it. And there’s room for small extras in a couple of pockets.

It’s a simple solution to cockpit organization.

So simple, in fact, that I don’t need to spend any more time writing about it…