Aircraft Stepups

Were awed at the precision with which the GFC700 flies-on all ends of the airframe spectrum. Its no easy task to make an autopilot fly just as we’ll in a Skyhawk as it does in a beefy 350 King Air. The G1000 NXi retrofit includes complete removal of the old autopilot system and many trash bins of old wiring. Got an old King Air with the primitive AC inverter system? That all comes out, simplifying the electrical bus and overall reliability. Depending on the aircraft, the user input for the autopilot is either on the PFD or on a dedicated GFC700 control panel.

Attitude information is displayed over a virtual blue sky and brown ground with a white horizon line, which is also part of the pitch scale. Pitch markings are spaced at 2.5-degree intervals and a yellow symbolic aircraft corresponds to the current pitch attitude. A slip/skid indicator is positioned at the bottom of the display, along with a magenta turn rate trend vector. Missing on the STCd G5, but standard on the version for experimental aircraft, is a flight director command bar presentation because autopilot input is excluded from the STC.

The big announcement last month from Cirrus is that it achieved FAA certification for its Vision personal jet. With a couple of deliveries expected by the end of 2016-and perhaps as many as 50 or so for 2017-you can bet all eyes at the Cirrus flight ops department will keep a close watch on early adopters. Just how these Williams FJ33-5A turbofan-equipped singles will fare in the hands of jet-world newbies is anyones guess, but I asked Matt Bergwall at Cirrus what the training department is doing before the sales department hands over the keys to proud new Vision jet jockeys.

The FAA turned a regulatory corner last year when it gave the green light to replace spinning attitude gyros (and vacuum systems) with TSOd standalone solid-state electronic attitude instruments. It wasnt long before Dynon-partnering with the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA)-announced an AML-STC to retrofit its experimental D10A EFIS into lower-end Part 23 aircraft. As expected, Garmin competitively and swiftly earned a more extensive AML-STC for its experimental G5 EFIS just a few months later.

The widespread availability, and use, of inexpensive pulse oximeters opened the eyes of many in the aviation community to what the aeromedical folks have been telling us for years: The FARs on oxygen give a false sense of security to pilots. Pilots who are in full compliance with the regs are often oxygen-deprived to a level that adversely affects their ability to operate the airplane. The good news is that there are a number of reasonably priced, high-quality portable oxygen systems to help protect yourself against hypoxia and make your flights safer and more comfortable.

When the Astore was rolled out at the European Aero show in 2013, we didnt pay much attention to either the price or the market intent. It looked like just another LSA in a swarm of LSAs. But while we werent looking, the Astore has become a best seller, at least for Tecnam, if not in the larger universe of light sport airplanes. Right out of the gate, the Astore-which means Goshawk in Italian-was to be pitched to the upper tier of the light sport spectrum and it sure enough is, with upscale avionics and an interior as luxe as buyers might wish.

In a market saturated with ADS-B gear, will the market tolerate another glareshield-mounted portable weather receiver and the monthly subscription that tags along? ForeFlight believes it will-partnering with SiriusXM with an interface for SXMs SXAR-1 receiver. Weve been flying with the setup for a few months. Heres an overview.

When action cams became popular for aviation five years ago, mounting them inside or outside the cockpit was a challenge unmet. Not anymore. The sports cam aftermarket has devised dozens of ways to mount cameras just about anywhere. We gathered up a gaggle of these mounts and put them to the test. While some are better than others, we found there’s a competent mount for every purpose.

At one time, a normally aspirated 200-HP Piper Arrow was our go-to aircraft for travel around the Northeast and occasional hauls from Connecticut to the Carolinas. While the Arrow lacked the excitement of a Mooney 201, it was stone simple to fly, had reasonable operating costs and most important to our mission-it delivered good dispatch reliability.

As the market saturates with panel-mouned ADS-B gear, were seeing portable ADS-B receivers hit the used market at bargain prices. This includes the popular current-gen Appareo Stratus 2S. Just prior to AirVenture 2015, the Stratus development team-Appareo handling hardware, ForeFlight for software and Sportys for sales and support-released two new models of its portable ADS-B receiver: the 1S targeted at VFR pilots and the 2S designed for IFR operations. The new models included additional features and addressed a history of hardware issues.

Irvine, California-based Masimo is the leading manufacturer of hospital pulse oximeters and the MightySat trickles down from high-end clinical instruments. Using patented technology it calls Signal Extraction Technology (SET), the MightySat fingertip device uses five parallel signal processing engines that Masimo says results in more accurate readings. This helps counteract undesirable sampling conditions pilots face in the cockpit-including hand movements (shaking and vibration) and low blood flow (low perfusion) when the fingers are cold.

Mooneys J-model is one of those rare ideal compromises between speed, economy and payload. Its not the fastest retrac on the block, but as complex aircraft go, its relatively affordable to own, plus its easy to fly and maintain. Mooney pumped out nearly 2200 201s between 1977 and 2008 and the current used market has plenty for the taking. There’s a lot to like, which makes it easy to overlook some of the aircrafts nits.