The most basic stepping stones to be traversed by a student pilot going after a certificate involve figuring out where she or he wants the airplane to go and learning the monkey motion involved in causing it to go there. Weve gotten all sophisticated over the years and refer to that sort of thing as flight maneuvering tasks. Nevertheless, the process of
For the past few years, the Innovation Center at AirVenture is the place to visit if youre even slightly interested in electric mobility, flying cars and UAVs. Sure, its a place for dreamers but dreams spark reality, I suppose. This year while doing a video shoot there on the Workhorse SureFly helicopter/VTOL (vertical takeoff and landing) personal aircraft, it was obvious that some of the dream machines are getting bigger-as in big enough that people would actually fly in some of them. The majority in the steady crowd of onlookers waiting in the long line to climb into the sleek SureFly seemed like they would and thats a good sign for market acceptance.
For a moment, lets forget that the Cirrus SF50 Vision Jet is arguably the most technically advanced personal light aircraft weve ever flown. Or that Cirrus likely will achieve its goal of making it a safe step-up jet for qualified SR22 piston pilots. Moreover, its cabin and cockpit dwelling is perhaps the most satisfying weve experienced. But in our view, the most impressive thing about the Part 23-certified SF50 is that it even exists to talk about.
Great article on pulse oximeters in the September 2017 issue of Aviation Consumer. I have been using them for almost two decades and keep one in my turbocharged Bonanza and another in my glider. I routinely fly in the teens and I always insist that passengers use the pulse oximeter every half hour or so just as I do.
As promised, TruTrak showed up with an STC for the Vizion autopilot. The STC only covers the Cessna 172 Skyhawk and 177 Cardinal, but TruTrak says its getting busy with more approvals. Other than Dynons D10A, third-party EFIS compatibility is lacking, for now, which could put the brakes on for some buyers looking for a complete interface. TruTraks Andrew Barker told us to expect more announcements for third-party compatibility soon, which in our view has to include Garmins G5 flight instrument. Its become the dominant low-cost EFIS solution for the markets lower end.
As we go to press in early August, Lycoming, field shops and owners were struggling to clarify a service bulletin that requires inspection and possible replacement of connecting rod bushings in hundreds of Lycoming engines. The mandatory service bulletin-SB632-was announced on July 17, just ahead of AirVenture. Two weeks later, shops tell us they are still fielding calls from worried owners trying to understand the scope of the bushing issue.
In the early 2000s Cirrus learned that equipping an airplane with a parachute and gee-whiz avionics doesnt necessarily make it safe. As was proven more recently, favorable accident stats come from focused training. But as one Cirrus sales pro put it, its the Wild West when it comes to the market of used SR20s and SR22s because some buyers either get the wrong training or in some cases, no transition training at all. A get-in-and-go approach doesnt work we’ll in a Cirrus.
I read Larry Anglisanos First Word commentary about the shrinking ANR headset market in the August 2017 Aviation Consumer and was sur- prised that the $895 David Clark DC One-X, launched in March 2016, was not mentioned among the others in the premium headset category. In developing this headset, it was cer- tainly our intention to target the premium ANR headset market and the success of this product, as we’ll as the response from the pilot community, con rms that we hit the mark.
While all eyes were on TruTrak and Trio this past year (both were knee-deep in earning STCs for experimental autopilots), Garmin was quietly working on its own retrofit autopilot. Actually, the company already had two: the one thats integrated within the G3X experimental avionics suite, plus the impressive GFC700 thats built into the G1000 and G3000 integrated avionics.
Amongst the bumper crop of avionics at AirVenture was the surprise announcement from Dynon that its heretofore experimental-only Skyview HDX glass suite will be available for certified aircraft. Dynon is launching an entire product line called Dynon Certified to support the equipment.
If you own an Avidyne MLB700 or WSI AV300-series satellite weather receiver, you might look for a replacement. At the end of 2017, WSI-now branded The Weather Company, an IBM Business-is pulling the plug on its InFlight cockpit weather service that it delivers by SiriusXM satellites. Avidyne said it isn’t offering a replacement receiver because there’s more demand for ADS-B systems.
While I was recently shopping at BestBuy for a wireless music speaker, a salesperson who arbitrarily remarked that Bose was the best got me thinking about pilots shopping for premium aviation headsets, a market dominated by Bose and also Lightspeed for as long as I can remember. While Bose may be the most recognizable name in both the consumer audio and aviation headset markets, don’t forget that Lightspeed Aviation was a major force in shifting the market from passive to active noise cancelling headsets in the early 1990s.
