AirCell products require a box in the avionics ûbay or a panel-mount unit.

Although it sounds like a good idea, the companies pedaling airborne phone service to the small aircraft set may be discovering a dirty little secret. Some owners are merely using their standard terrestrial cellphones for the odd call and giving a dedicated airborne cell system a pass.

Ignoring the legality of this for a moment, it doesn’t bode well for the future of such companies as AirCell and even Iridium, which recently returned from the dead.

Nonetheless, if you need regular phone service in the cockpit and don’t want to bootleg with a standard phone, the choices are both expensive and limited. With datalink via satellite on the horizon, it’s not clear…