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Are you flippin kidding me? Thats the family-safe version of my response when a shop wouldnt install a Whelen PAR36 Parmetheus drop-in LED in a readers airplane without first lobbying FAA field approval. The aircraft, a first-gen Cirrus SR22, has a traditional incandescent landing/taxi lamp mounted in the nose bowl. Replacing it with the Whelen drop-in is a matter of accessing the lamp, unscrewing it from the mount, pulling off the connector and installing the new LED lamp in reverse order. Even a caveman could do that.

Anyone perusing the lighting aisle at the local Home Depot will have noticed that the lowly incandescent bulb is an endangered species, having been displaced by LEDs and CFLs. The burgeoning LED market has spilled over into aviation in the form of landing, taxi and recognition lights. (Thankfully, weve been spared the CFLs.)Add to this the availability of another light technology, HIDs, and owners have more choice than ever in upgrading over the ancient GE tractor bulb thats illuminated runways for decades. Never mind that this new technology costs 10 to 100 times more than an off-the-shelf GE 4509, how does it perform?Well get to that in this article, but first note that the lighting market has expanded since we last examined the topic six years ago. There are more choices in HID and LED and more approved systems. In some cases, prices appear to have decreased, a welcome exception to everything else in aviation.

In keeping with its cutting-edge ethos, Pipistrel has two ambitious electric-flight projects in the works. We covered the Panthera electric/hybrid project in the July 2014 Aviation Consumer and last fall, the company announced an electric version of the Alpha.

The notion that a basic training aircraft should be light, cheap and small has been dented by the advent of the 400 kilobuck Cessna 172, which is none of those things. But one of the companies that hasnt abandoned the minimalist trainer idea is Pipistrel, the innovative Slovenian aircraft maker that continues to plumb the bleeding edge of aero tech with new designs, one of which is the Alpha Trainer we’ll look at in this review. An electric version may appear this year.

If your avionics retrofit project has you paying the hefty price and dealing with the long downtime for a custom instrument panel, its worth considering an electronic engine instrument display. For one thing, it can save sizable amounts of panel space, while placing critical engine data in a convenient location, compared to mechanical gauges that might be scattered about the panel. Plus, it will eliminate empty holes in the panel should you upgrade later on.

The iFly GPS app from Adventure Pilot was born from the iFly 700-series GPS navigator, an intuitive tablet-based EFB that is being redesigned to include a better display and internal power supply.What got our attention is the iFly apps flexibility to run on both the iPad and Android devices, a rare and welcomed option in the world of aviation apps.After flying with iFly GPS on both platforms, we like its simple flight planning and data entry process, shallow menu structure and useful graphics.

The good news is that newer design starters don’t need any preventive maintenance. If the starter has permanent magnets, as do all lightweight starters, there’s no requirement or even recommendation for preventive maintenance. Rich Chaffee, general manager of Sky-Tec, put it bluntly, Just use it.

Master switch-on. Mixture-rich. Fuel pump-on until pressure registers, then off. Ignition key-start. Silence. Fortunately that result is rare. Almost invariably, when we turn the ignition key to start or hit a starter button on a piston-engine airplane, the starter engages and the prop swings with vigor. Over the past 20 years, new technology has made aircraft starters remarkably reliable-the newer ones should last beyond the engines TBO, if not abused. So, when there’s a big silence on hitting the start switch, the chances are that the problem is not with the starter itself. Nevertheless, the time does come when the starter slips its mortal coil and must either be replaced, rebuilt or overhauled. Well talk about how to make your starter last, a little about troubleshooting problems and what options are available when it gives up the ghost.

Simple as they are, vintage taildraggers are equally simple to maintain. And even though the original Cubs are 77 years old, parts and support of various kinds are widely available.Its probably the only airplane you can build today from the combination of three catalogs: Univair, Wag-Aero and an engine shop. You can buy everything to build one, says Cub Clubs Steve Krog. And that includes major parts, such as control surfaces, wing parts, gear components and so forth.

I extensively tested the Brightline Bags second-generation FLEX System for a couple months. Bottom line: I bought one. So did my wife.Most standard bags start with a few specific compartments for a headset, GPS or such, and have a large center section for everything else. And, thats the problem; everything else gets dumped in that main compartment. Finding what you need can be a challenge.

A pilot with a flight bag? What a clich. For me, a large and we’ll constructed backpack works just fine, thank you. Plus, a backpack works the best for my short motorcycle commute to the airport and is easy to deal with in the cabin. But a recent run to the airfield made me consider using the Sportys Navigator bag thats been a permanent ficture on my office floor.

Flight bags become a part of our aviation lives. We somehow become attached to those glorified grocery bags we use to schlep our flight gear around-so spending a little time making a selection is worth the effort. Chances are youre going to have it for a long time. There is a bewildering selection of bags-we quit counting at 70 different offerings. However, before even looking at a flight bag, we believe that the selection process should begin with a thoughtful assessment of the type of flying you do, followed by consideration as to what you truly need to have with you in an airplane and how you want it organized. A good flight bag is all about organization and convenience for you as pilot in command.