With increasing disenchantment with Apples market dominance and high-cost accessories, some pilots have been asking the $500 question: Is Samsungs mid-sized Galaxy Tab S 8.4 good enough to ditch the iPad once and for all? In evaluating new navigation apps for Android we were impressed with the Galaxy tablet, and the more we used it in a variety of cockpits, the more we preferred it over the original iPad mini.
The chassis dimensions speak for themselves. The Galaxy Tab S, right, is slightly longer, narrower and thinner than the iPad mini 3, left. That makes the iPad slightly better for viewing approach plates, in our view. Notice the fewer main menu icons on the Galaxy thats running Garmins Pilot mobile app? Thats because Garmins Android version of the app doesnt support synthetic vision, terrain/obstacle alerting and static maps. It wont display traffic alerts, but it will display ADS-B traffic targets. Also missing is chart annotation capability-thats where you can scribble notes and draw on a georeferenced approach chart.
I just read with much interest your review of the Beech 35 series in the November 2014 issue of Aviation Consumer. My family and I owned an A35 for 10 years (thats it in the lower photo), having sold it for upgrade to an A36. I tend to agree with most of your points, with a few exceptions and critical points you left out.
Although there was some pushback when AOPA offered its fee-based tablet navigation app, FlyQ EFB, there was enough to like, including an intuitive and shallow feature set and large onscreen characters. While Seattle Avionics owned all of the rights to the FlyQ EFB, AOPA was criticized for competing in the crowded app market.
Navigation apps require reliable GPS position input for georeferencing, which is the ownship data that’s displayed on electronic charts and maps. The built-in GPS on many tablets might not be reliable enough without cell phone tower assist, especially in the cabin at higher altitudes. That’s why a wireless GPS receiver remains an integral component for cockpit tablet use.
Last winter we reported on the CIES digital fuel sender retrofit for earlier Cirrus models. To recap, the modification is intended to better the accuracy of the original analog float-type fuel quantity senders used in first and second generation SR20 and SR22 aircraft.
Given today’s avionics and RNAV approaches, do you really need a timer? Truth is, many of the devices in our panels and on our portable gadgets already have a timer built in. Using that timer, however, can be a challenge as the sequence of commands to access it in the Garmin G1000, for instance, might not be something you’re going to always remember or find sufficiently convenient. So, we think a dedicated, standalone timer is still useful. Sure, you could use the timer function in your smartphone, on the Pebble Smart watch or the one in Garmin’s D2 pilot watch, but we think timers are best placed within the instrument scan.
The Guardian Aero455 panel oximeter might not have been invented if company founder Ash Vij didn’t find himself crossing the Rockies in his Cessna 206 without a pulse oximeter. He knew the status of his oxygen supply, but was pretty interested to know his blood saturation. Vij is convinced that his panel oximeter is the cure-all for misplaced portables.
On the heels of the suspected decompression and hypoxia-related TBM900 crash that took the life of Larry Glazer, the president of the TBM Owners and Pilots Association, and his wife Jane Glazer, a non-pilot physician asked if there are onboard systems that monitor the health of a pilot’s body during flight. That got me thinking. With all of the available avionics integration, why not include body health monitoring in the interface? You know, important stuff like blood pressure, heart rate, pulse and of course oxygen saturation levels.
I have a single-screen Aspen Avionics EFD1000Pro installed in my Piper Arrow since July of 2012 and it is amazing. Unfortunately, I learned that if the system loses pitot input (if it’s clogged, for example), you completely lose most all critical data, even non-pitot-sourced data. This results in a black screen with two red Xs covering the upper and lower halves. This means no attitude, airspeed, altitude, heading, HSI or GPS overlay from an external navigator, like a Garmin GNS530 or 430.
It’s been nearly three years since BendixKing announced its commitment to revitalize the brand name that once stood for quality, value and industry-leading innovation. At the time, the announcement hinted there would be a repeat of an era when King Radio was king of the avionics market.
Back in the day, King’s KX99 handheld transceiver ruled the roost. It was a big, heavy and solid performer. Today, portable transceivers are far more advanced, but their purpose hasn’t changed.
