askM
Stop searching. Start asking. On-device AI answers from your own aviation manuals — with the source page right beside them.
- Ask a plain-language question — get a direct answer with citations, and the cited manual page opens right beside it
- v2.1 follows links between manuals (CDL to MMEL, MMEL to FCOM…) and opens each manual on its own table of contents, in the publisher's order
- Runs entirely on your iPad or Mac — no cloud, no account, no telemetry
Aviation professionals spend significant time searching through manuals for specific information. askM replaces that search with a question — and puts the original page right next to the answer, entirely on your own device.
How it works
You sync your technical documents from your company’s document server, or import them as ZIP packages. askM parses every document unit, reads the text inside figures, and builds a local hybrid search index — semantic vectors fused with full-text search. Ask a question in plain language — “Can we dispatch with one pack inoperative?” — and an on-device language model answers from the retrieved passages, with numbered citations.
As soon as the search finishes, the cited page of your manual opens beside the answer, with the passage marked in soft green, so you can check it while the answer is still being written. If the answer is not in your documents, askM says so.
New in 2.1
- Each manual in its own order. The Library opens every manual on its own table of contents, exactly as its publisher defines it: the lists of effective documentary units and of modifications and the summary of highlights first, then the chapters in ATA order — 00, 21, 22, 23… Sections that don’t apply to your aircraft are not listed.
- Links between manuals. A reference from the CDL to the MMEL, or from the MMEL to the FCOM, opens that page. Back returns, and the page header always names the manual and section you are reading.
- Pictures full size. Tap a chart to open it full screen, pinch to zoom, and rotate the ones drawn sideways.
- Cleaner front matter. The lists of documentary units, modifications and highlights use the full width and show only the rows for your aircraft.
- Update check. Settings tells you whether a newer askM is on the App Store.
New in 2.0
- A cockpit-style interface. True black, thin lines and the B612 typeface drawn for cockpit displays. Each colour has one meaning: cyan for what you can act on, green for what comes from the manual, magenta for AI-generated text, amber for caution. Text follows your Dynamic Type size; touch targets are large.
- The answer and its source, side by side in landscape, stacked in portrait, with previous / next to step through every source.
- The Library. Read any manual from its table of contents, or search every section with AND, OR, NOT, “exact phrase”, word*, title: and NEAR — matches are marked in the page.
- Question history kept on the device, manual scope to limit a question to FCOM, FCTM or MMEL, and the aircraft switch one tap away.
- On iPhone, the Library — search, contents and reader.
Built for aviation
- Registration-based manual filtering — and a guard that never silently answers from another aircraft’s documentation
- Supports FCOM, FCTM, MMEL, CDL, QRH, AFM, APD, WBM and similar structured manuals
- Original manual pages with detail levels, day and night appearance, find in page and PDF export
- Sync, import and indexing that keep running in the background, with each manual’s index state visible
Private by architecture
The language model runs on-device. Your documents, your questions and the answers never leave your iPad or Mac. There is no account, no cloud service and no telemetry — privacy is not a policy, it is the architecture.
askM is a personal study aid. It is not certified or intended for operational, maintenance, dispatch or any safety-critical use. You provide the documents and are responsible for having the rights to use them.
Frequently asked questions
What kind of documents does askM work with?
askM is designed for aviation operational documentation — FCOM, FCTM, MMEL, CDL, QRH, AFM and similar structured technical manuals. You sync them from your company's document server or import them as ZIP packages; askM parses, chunks and indexes them locally. You must have the rights to use the documents you load.
Does askM send my documents to external servers?
No. The language model, the search index and your documents all live on your device, and your questions and answers never leave it. There is no cloud service and no analytics or telemetry. askM goes online only to sync your manuals, to download optional models (once; they stay on your device) and, when you open Settings, to check the App Store for a newer version.
How do I check an answer?
Every answer carries numbered citations, and the cited page of your manual opens next to it (below it in portrait) with the passage marked. Step through the sources without leaving the answer. Citations exactly match what the AI read — no more, no less.
Can I search the manuals without asking a question?
Yes. The Library searches every section with the usual search syntax — AND, OR, NOT (or -word), "exact phrase", word*, parentheses, a section-title filter and NEAR — shows the exact number of matching sections, and marks the matches in the page. Each manual also opens on its own table of contents, in the order its publisher defines.
Do links between manuals work?
Yes, since version 2.1. A reference from one manual to another — a CDL item pointing to the MMEL, an MMEL procedure pointing to the FCOM — opens that page in the other manual, as long as it is installed. Back returns to where you were. A link to a manual you don't have says so.
What is Enhanced Search?
An optional on-device search model (about 350 MB, downloaded in Settings) that upgrades retrieval. In our internal evaluation on a real MMEL, the correct passage appeared in the top five results 91% of the time with Enhanced Search versus 68% without it.
Can askM answer for the wrong aircraft?
Not silently. If nothing matches your selected aircraft, askM says so instead of quietly answering from another aircraft's manuals. An optional setting can widen the search to all installed manuals — and any answer that used it carries a clear warning.
What hardware do I need?
For AI answers, an iPad with Apple Silicon (iPad Pro M1 or newer, iPad Air M2 or newer) on iPadOS 26, or any Apple Silicon Mac on macOS 26. On iPhone (iOS 26), askM offers the Library — search, contents and reader — without AI answers, because the language model does not fit the iPhone's memory.
Can askM replace reading the full manual?
No — and it is not designed to. askM is a personal study aid that gets you to the right section faster. Always defer to the authoritative published manuals and your operator's procedures.