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We have tested Concorde and Gill aircraft batteries on multiple occasions looking for the longest battery life and best value. In our view, and in our opinions expressed in our reader polls, Concordes products are a better bet. Our gold standard has been the FAA capacity test as the core of that test methodology since it takes each batterys amp-hour rating into consideration during the test, so we are testing apples-to-apples, so to speak. Per FAR 23.1353(h), we look for 80-percent capacity at the one-hour discharge rate. This simulates the stress of an alternator-out situation where battery power alone keeps the essential electronics bus running for a minimum of 30 minutes. There is no established standard for the number of cycles a battery must undergo, and we were only checking to see if the battery passed or failed each test.

We pilots routinely kill ourselves. Not only is this a bummer for the people intimately involved in the wreck, its also bad for business. Cirrus Aircraft defined itself as a trend-setter in combatting this with certified aircraft when the first SR20s rolled off the line with whole-airframe parachutes in 1999. Better than just surviving a catastrophe at the expense of the airplane, however, would be recovering back to controlled flight. Cirrus again led the charge in light GA with “LVL” button as part of the Garmin Perspective avionics suite (a modified G1000) in 2008. More sophisticated than a simple rip-cord solution, the LVL (blue) button leverages the tumble-proof digital “gyros” to pitch and/or roll the aircraft back to level flight without overstressing anything. Avidyne came up with a similar feature called “Straight and Level” in its DFC 90/100 autopilots.

One of our jobs at Aviation Consumer-really the most important one-is to review products and make recommendations for our readers. In a nutshell, thats why we exist. The process to arrive at these recommendations is straightforward, if not always simple. We gather facts, examine and try the products, then make our recommendations based on disclosed fact.

Since Shells W100 Plus is probably the most logical alternative to the additives that you and Mike Busch praise from the same script in the additives review in your April issue, it would have been interesting to hear your observations, research and/or opinions as to its relative value. Busch says nearly equal but don’t use both, without clear definition of why. I have been running W100 Plus in an 1100-hour engine with recent new cylinders. Not flying it often enough. I purchased Camguard since you both think it is great. Not cheap.

Like a kid with a treehouse, a hangar is the ideal for most any aircraft owner. Not only are you and your ride protected from the elements, but there’s also room to store the miscellany accompanying aircraft ownership. The barriers to hangar heaven have always been availability and price. The former is often too scarce and the latter too high-at least on the surface. Many owners put their names on the waiting lists for a hangar, but when it comes time to put down the $400/month or more, the $50/month tie-down doesnt look so bad. More than one owner responded to our recent AVweb.com survey that even when you factor in the wear and tear on paint and other exterior items like tires, the tie-down can be cheaper. A net of $4200/year buys a lot of maintenance.

When you tell a fellow pilot what kind of airplane you fly, the list of responses that will elicit more than casual, feigned interest is short. But the Aerostar is on it. It has a deserved rep for being blazingly fast with good range. And unlike most piston twins, it has enough power to actually climb on a single engine. But bring a VISA with high limits. The airplanes Lycomings are somewhat thirsty and although its hardly a maintenance hog, the Aerostar fleet is aging and getting expensive to maintain. But for owners who can afford it, the model is hard to beat for getting from A to B faster than anything that doesnt burn Jet A. The Aerostar is the product of famed aircraft designer Ted Smith, whose name is attached to such classics as the A-20 twin-engine bomber and the Twin and Jet Commander lines.

While your number one tools for navigating icing conditions are gray matter and a good mental map of the weather, deicing equipment opens up a world of options. Flights that would be preemptively cancelled can be attempted and situations that would be emergencies turn into calm requests for a new altitude. Deicing options are largely set by the airframe, with only a few models having certification for both boots and the TKS weeping wing. In November 2008, we picked TKS as the better choice. We still think so, and in our recent survey, most owners agree. While not without drawbacks, most pilots are happy with the system and accept its tradeoffs.

What whirring sound coming from the depths of your instrument panel is the sound of your checkbook being spared expensive repair bills. Dont hear the soothing hum of an avionics blower motor? You might think of installing one. Todays avionics live in a harsh environment where high-end temperature is the destructive enemy. Part of the TSO process includes temperature threshold testing. Garmins popular GNS430 navigator and G1000 GDU displays reveal a published high-end operating temperature of 55 degrees C. These units meet the TSO spec without external cooling, yet Garmins technical advice is that reducing the operating temperature by 15-20 degrees C doubles the mean time between failures (MTBF). And thats for new avionics that produce less heat than some old gear.

The FAA private pilot written test often proves to be a daunting task for the student pilot, requiring hours of study that prove to be the undoing of many would-be pilots. Although the traditional ground school suffices for some, the established trend seems to be computer-based home-study programs, of which there are a handful of options. For this report, were examining multi-media options from five well-known suppliers, comparing both DVD-based and online-based offers.

Portable gadget freaks will love the idea of a handheld and battery-operated attitude display that you can plop on top of the glareshield. We hate portables for the cockpit and even we were intrigued by the $1495 Wingman EFIS. Former NASA engineer William Steele founded VirtualHUD in 2006 around his ForwardVU Virtual heads-up display (HUD). The ForwardVU projects heads-up flight data on the backside of the spinning propeller while eliminating the pricey optical gear required of high-end HUD systems. The Wingman was later engineered as a stand-alone EFIS to compliment the HUD system.

Good job on the research and info to rank this important pilot tool. I took a pair of G-15 frames and after having three pairs in a row of the glass lenses get damaged by my carelessness on the ramp, dropping off my face in 95-degree weather doing a fuel sump, or oil check for pre-flight or something, I went to a custom progressive polycarb prescription lenses, which I also needed to be legal to fly IFR approaches looking at approach plates. They are tops. Plastic is great. Frame size, optics with a green lens color are very good and the true test: I can wear them for my longest trips; 4.5 hours in a Malibu without any temple pain.

Back in the ebullient days of 2002, before the iPhone became the bright, shiny object du jour, our frenzy was focused on something else: The coming of the very light jet or VLJ whose speed, affordability and ease of access were going to revolutionize personal transportation in the same way the internet rewrote the rules of communication. It was to be, said a leading disciple of the cause, “disruptive technology.” Six years later, the lavishly promoted rock star of the VLJ-the Eclipse EA500-was at the bottom of a billion-and-half dollar smoking hole with a reputation so besmirched that only one serious bidder emerged to buy the companys bankrupted assets. From the ashes, the new Eclipse Aerospace hopes to be a green shoot, hitting the timing right and offering what many people in the industry still believe is a concept that ought to work: a highly automated, small, fast, economical jet that a single pilot can easily fly.