Accessories

The SP-400 is ably manufactured by Japan Radio, but for the PJ2, Sporty’s found a new vendor called Rexon, a Taiwanese company with a modest line of portable radios, including a VHF aviation model. Because Sporty’s didn’t like the operating logic of Rexon’s off-the-shelf RHP-530, despite its $40 lower retail price, it commissioned Rexon to build a clean-sheet design for its new radio, says Sporty’s Doug Ranly. “No one knows about it [RHP-530] because it’s not very user friendly. That’s one reason we didn’t want to sell it because of complications in programming and using it,” Ranly says.

One important trait we’ve always favored is the Clarity’s durable build quality. Remember, the idea of an ITE model is to make the wearing experience a minimalist one. It’s all about freedom from the intrusive nature of circumaural or even supra-aural designs. But to succeed the set has to be lightweight, yet durable enough to survive the abuse a typical pilot asks of them. Bend them, sit on them, step on them and drop them. And those thin wires-they’re asking to break. We’ve tried all of the above and still can’t break the Clarity.

One otherwise clever feature that’s been dinged by some users is the ANR circuit’s tap control. Double-tapping a finger on either one of the earbuds puts the set in a talk-through mode, which works when the headset is in the medium or high noise-canceling profile. The idea is to enable better communications outside of the headset. Maybe it’s for talking with a flight attendant, gate agent or passengers, but the talk-through feature means you don’t have to take the buds out of the ear to talk with someone off the intercom. We’ve heard of (and experienced) some situations where the tap-through is activated uncommanded during landing and even on the takeoff roll on bumpy runways. Bose said the Series II has been tweaked so the mode is more accurate and more responsive.

When I started flying in 1994, there certainly wasn’t the need for accessory power in the cabin. These days it’s an entirely different story and the number of portable devices I carry grows by the month. Who thought you would have to charge your sunglasses? That’s why the market is being bombarded with panel USB charging ports. These are generally FAA-certified devices that mount either on the instrument panel or in interior components, and connect with the aircraft’s electrical bus for voltage.

If you plan to use ForeFlight for backup flight instruments the Mini probably isn’t the device for you because it doesn’t have the AHRS sensor to feed the app. It does, however, support the full range of FIS-B weather and data, including animated NEXRAD, METARs, TAFs, AIRMETs/SIGMETs, PIREPs, winds and temps aloft, TFRs, NOTAMs, SUA information, turbulence, lightning, cloud tops and center weather advisories.

Magnetos always fire the spark plugs at the same point-on the order of 25 degrees before top dead center (TDC)-and rely on the combustion event to carry on by itself to reach maximum pressure by the time the piston reaches 11 to 17 degrees past TDC. Mags put out a spark of on the order of 12,000 volts. The downside: At 500 hours it’s time to pull mags for inspection and repair or replacement. That’s not cheap.

The AV-20 fits into a standard 2.25-inch clock hole. This instrument is available in two versions, the AV-20 at $499 and the AV-20-S at $895. The difference? The AV-20-S has pitot/static input so it can display real airspeed, not GPS-derived groundspeed and it also functions as a capable attitude gyro. The entry-level AV-20 lacks the plumbing input and has no gyro, but it has multilevel clock and timer functions. Both are approved for installation under the FAA’s NORSEE rule-non-required safety enhancing equipment. Technically, that means it can’t replace a panel clock if the airplane requires one, nor can it provide a legal attitude source backup if one of those is needed.

We asked uAvionix about this and were told that it released a skyBeacon firmware field update in March 2019 and the company has been shipping new units with that updated firmware in place since the February 2019 timeframe. There isn’t firmware specific for 24-volt aircraft, but the updated firmware resolves a compatibility issue uAvionix observed when installed on 24-volt aircraft. The company also issued a service bulletin for the requirement and posted it on the company website.

To understand the significance of the J-3 Cub look all the way back to Piper’s Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, heyday, where William T. Piper was rightly seen as a visionary. But no one could have imagined how enduring that vision would be, to the extent that over 80 years later, several companies are building brand-new Cub clones that clearly trade on the mystique of the old yellow classic. Two that are front and center in the market are Legend Aircraft and CubCrafters. We think both companies nail the quality and support.

Admit it. You’ve made the statement loud and clear on more than one of those flights where you are following the magenta line in good weather and waiting for your destination to appear over the horizon. Sure, every once in a while, you’ll do a steep turn or wander off course a bit to look at something interesting-but, deep inside, you know that’s not enough. You live in the third dimension-there’s got to be more to getting from one place to another in an airplane than droning along waiting . . . and waiting. Flying is supposed to be fun.

A variety of upgrades and accessories are available, which quickly grow the price. There’s a rolling backpack ($89.95), dual spring leather seat with LED taillight ($44.95), universal cross grip smart- phone mount ($24.95), LED front light ($44.95) and the Accessory Pack. It includes a backpack, leather seat, front LED light and a smartphone mount ($179.95). The seat upgrade, which has dual springs, is much wider and softer than the standard seat and is we’ll worth the money, in my view.

Recall that German-based Flight Design had its own four-place airplane, the C4, in the works until it ran into financial trouble. At Aero, the reorganized company announced a rethink of the CTLS line and a new four-place project called the F4. The latter will be a CS 23-certified aircraft that’s essentially a stretched version of the CTLS. Predictably, the powerplant will be Rotax’s new 915 iS. Gross weight is set at 2420 pounds with performance in the 150- to 160-knot range. The price target is under $300,000.