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At $299, this traffic minder sees most of the traffic most of the time. But truly paranoid pilots may want more sophisticated performance.

Aviation apps for Palm and Windows Mobile systems abound. Heres a review and analysis of what we think are the top drawer picks.

Remember those dreadful Baby on Board placards plastered in the window of every other minivan a decade ago? Thankfully, theyve faded from fashion but they were emblematic of a marketers dream: the minivan arrived just as baby boomers were having kids of their own. Detroit stroked the demographic bubble with perfect timing.

An e-mail I got from reader Ron Gibson the other day makes me wonder if the emerging light sport industry may find a demographic sweet spot, too. In asking for editorial coverage of light sport airplanes, he wrote, I intend to sell my Skylane within the next couple of years and purchase a new LSA. Im sure there are many older pilots who are tired of sweating ou…

If you fly a six-seat turbine, the FAA says terrain gear is a must-have. The good news: the mandate means non-certified systems are capable and affordable.

[IMGCAP(1)]by Paul Bertorelli

When Bonanza owner Larry Hofmeister told us he had intended to ride out the vicious winds of Hurricane Charley in his hangar at Punta Gorda, Florida last August, we thought hed lost touch with reality. Were as fond of our airplane as the next guy but babysitting it through a Category 4 hurricane doesnt rise to the top of our to-do list.

Yet when Hofmeister arrived at the airport the day after, both his Bonanza and the hangar that housed it sat serene and intact amidst a scene of utter destruction elsewhere at Punta Gorda, with some 150 aircraft smashed to scrap metal by Charleys fierce 130-MPH-plus winds. The first question is glaringly obvious…

[IMGCAP(1)]If you want to go fast in an airplane and still grasp a thin straw of efficiency, you’ll also need to fly high. And to do that, you’ll have to make a choice: stick an oxygen hose in your nose or pay for the convenience of pressurization. Of course, if pressurization were easy and cheap, every airplane would have it. Few do and in the single-engine realm, there are only two choices: Cessnas P210 and the Piper Malibu.

Pressurizing anything, let alone a single, is fraught with difficulty. Part of it comes in the form of mechanical woes-the engines are short-lived, often don’t make it to TBO and they cost a lot to overhaul. Pressurization adds another complex system to maintain a…

For some owners, investing half the airplanes value in new radios might make sense. But you can still get more for less.

The market is flooded with decent KX155s. Dont overlook the value of using one for the number two slot.

Following a major claim or two, your insurer may decline to renew you. Heres how to improve your odds.

The new and improved Champion filters edge out of Kellys new offerings, in our estimation.

The normal rules of supply and demand don’t seem to apply to all things related to aviation. There’s an explanation for this and a couple of years ago, I heard Alan Klapmeier, CEO of Cirrus, summarize it: flying is so much fun that many of us are willing to pay anything to do it.

Perhaps that explains why aviation cottage industry businesses come and go like the weather and, ever the enthusiasts, we sometimes buy the products of these companies in the blind hope that theyll be around to support whatever dingbat gadget we thought was good idea when the VISA card was unsheathed.

Sadly, our hopes are occasionally dashed. This months poster child for a good-idea-gone-bad is the Aero Adva…

Headset Beefs
In your headset review in the May 2004 issue, you failed to mention one problem with the revised Bose X: The volume controls have no click stops. They move with the lightest of touches.

A general question for the headset manufacturers is why no one makes a unit with volume and balance rather than dual volume controls. If they must do dual volume controls, then give me markings so I can keep the settings the same.

-Paul Platt
Via e-mail

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Goodyear Landings
My experience of much greater durability with Goodyear Flight Custom III tires reflects UNDs results. My estimate was roughly 50 percent more landings per tire with Flight…