Accessories

It takes two to Tango (two batteries, that is). After reading your January 2106 report on the Lightspeed Tango wireless headset, it seems Lightspeed desperately needs a new charging system. I would like to add a footnote to the worthy Aircraft Appraisal article in the January 2016 issue of Aviation Consumer. One should be very careful of the aircraft appraiser when having a unique aircraft appraised such as warbird, antique and homebuilt aircraft. I agree with the gist of your recent aircraft appraisal article, but take issue with the conclusion that labor has no market value. As a decades-long Aviation Consumer subscriber, I hesitate to argue with the editors experience, but feel I must stand up for the enduring value of quality installations.

Looking for the best audio panel out there for your LSA? Aviation Consumer recommends the PS Engineering PDA360EX for unsurpassed audio quality. For VFR missions in a two-seat LSA, you don’t need some of the advanced features that tag along with TSOd systems, including marker beacon receiver, six-seat intercom, cabin PA and even speaker operation. But you probably want Bluetooth music capability and a wireless telephone interface, plus the ability to pipe in traffic and other warning systems. See the full report for competitor analysis.

Lightspeed Aviation’s Tango wireless headset nearly matches the esteemed Bose A20 in audio quality, and it costs only $800! Features on the Tango include a remote control module, transceiver, lithium ion batteries, boom microphone, LEMO interface, and much more. Read on for a full analysis of the headset.

Unless you fly a lot at night, the handful of lights you have stashed in the flight bag, glove box and map pockets are used infrequently. That makes selecting a model with decent quality important. In our experience, some models that sit for long periods while subjected to heat, cold and humidity don’t work that one time theyre needed.

Like in other lighting applications, LED flashlights came to market somewhat unannounced and in some ways, without appreciation. Frankly, we didnt give the LED-equipped flashlight a second thought until we used the bunch for this review, where we quickly recognized a handful of benefits compared to their nearly extinct incandescent predecessors.

In a recent policy statement, the FAA gave the regulatory green light to replace traditional vacuum-driven attitude instruments with electronically driven replacement indicators. This means you can remove the vacuum system from the aircraft, since the policy doesnt require a backup spinning gyro. In many cases, you wont need a backup at all.

Sometimes the clue bus arrives late to the airport, which is the case with the FAAs PS-ACE-23-08 policy statement for getting rid of vacuum attitude gyros, including the primitive system that drives them.

Trackers, intercoolers, and GPS- see what our readers have to say about last month’s featured topics.

That may be the case if your aircraft has wiring issues. While the cabin of a noisy piston-powered aircraft is perhaps the worst environment for listening to your favorite tunes, its often the aircraft wiring that makes the sound quality laughable by even the lowest standards. Bluetooth audio panels help because eliminating the patch cable that connects your music player to a music input jack can also eliminate noise. But they arent the cure-all for subpar music quality. Even with a flagship Bluetooth audio panel like Garmins GMA350C and PS Engineerings PM8000-series, music playback quality will only be as good as the wiring between the audio panel and headset jacks, the health of the ignition system, charging system, grounds and a slew of other variables.

For buyers willing to drop as much as $1100 for an aviation headset, the current market has no shortage of choices. Moreover, models in this high end of the market sport more advanced features than ever, while promising the best sound quality, comfort and build quality money can buy. To subjectively determine which model takes the top spot (not an easy task, considering the personal nature of selecting a headset), we spent the better part of a year flying with four models we think represent the best of the best. While our evaluation turned up an overall favorite, each model has its strengths and weaknesses and our takeaway is its hard to make a wrong choice.

If you fly one of the vast majority of general aviation aircraft, you can legally operate over any of the waters in and around the U.S. without any sort of flotation device aboard. The requirement to carry survival equipment for operations over water more than 50 miles from land set out in FAR 91.509 only applies to airplanes weighing over 12,500 pounds and turbojets. We bugsmasher operators don’t have to carry so much as a set of water wings.

If youre looking for Bluetooth connectivity for entertainment and tablet app interface, you don’t have to spend big on a major audio system upgrade. Consider that a full-up GMA350c audio panel interface could easily top $5000 for an average installation. Thats a hefty price to pay for Bluetooth connectivity. As an alternative, you might try connecting your devices through a Bluetooth headset, including the updated Bose A20. While the enhanced A20 isn’t a new model (it was introduced five years ago), the set now gets the Bluetooth capability the market expects-including wireless music streaming. The only way to listen to music with the previous version was to plug it in via stereo patch cable. Unchanged is the A20s 12-ounce top end, including its fit, finish, ANR audio performance and comfort. New to the A20 is a redesigned control module, which requires swapping the interface cord (also called the downcable.) The downcable also has a new microphone in favor of an improved and more adjustable one, which can be attached to either earcup.