A method of transferring aircraft data from an aircraft to a portable electronic device entails receiving at the portable electronic device the aircraft data from a data connection with an aircraft data source without writing data back to the aircraft or from a user interface while being capable of receiving aircraft data via the data connection and executing an application on the portable electronic device using the aircraft data to present new information about the aircraft or its operating environment that is not available for display on a cockpit display but which is displayable on the portable electronic device based on the aircraft data received by the portable electronic device.