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New Products Pilots and Owners Will Want
by Dale Smith |
| Whether flying a light-sport aircraft or a Falcon
X, most pilots share one thing in common: the love of all things
new. Which is the reason single-engine airplanes rarely are
flown beyond the range of a $100 (now $150) hamburger but still
are loaded with the latest avionics. The owner just had to have
it — all of it. (more) |
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Audio Panel Systems Buyer's Guide
by Paul Novacek |
| The audio panel is a pilot’s interface link
to all that is sound. It’s a central point of communications
control, both to the external world and fellow crew or passengers.
The old days had pilots flipping switches scattered around the
panel and yelling to fellow crew who were only a foot away.
(more) |
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Cockpit Portables: Becoming an Informed
Buyer
by Joseph E. (Jeb) Burnside |
| When aircraft owners consider an avionics upgrade,
they usually think in terms of installing new panel- and/or
remote-mounted equipment. That’s as it should be: The reliability
and accuracy of an FAA-approved avionics installation not only
enhances an aircraft’s utility, it can transform it from a local-only
flier into a crosscountry traveling machine, capable of dealing
with most weather and airspace. (more) |
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Flight Instruments: They Deserve Attention
by Joseph E. (Jeb) Burnside |
| No matter how old or new your aircraft is, you’re
probably staring at a few examples of something called a “flight
instrument” when you fly. Even if you’re lucky enough to be
in a certified aircraft with a glass panel displaying computer-generated
versions of conventional gauges, you still have a set of backup
instruments to help get you home if all the “magic” fails. (more) |
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The Glass Menagerie: Getting Comfortable
with Integrated Display Technology
by James Wynbrandt |
Like a modern Cinderella story, general aviation
aircraft panels are going from dowdy to dazzling thanks to glass
— not glass slippers, but glass-display technology.
“We’re starting to see glass everywhere,” said Jessica Myers,
spokesperson for Garmin International, the Olathe, Kan.- based
avionics manufacturer. “Now, there’s a way for everybody who
wants a glass cockpit to get one.” (more) |
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What Role Should Avionics Play in Your
Aircraft Purchasing Decision?
by Dale Smith |
| Congratulations! You’re finally going to achieve
every pilot’s dream: buying your own airplane. Choosing which
model, type and year to buy is the fun part, so we won’t interfere
with those decisions. However, when you start to get serious about a particular airplane,
there are three major elements to consider when deciding
if it’s a “deal or no deal.” (more) |
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Financing a Panel Makeover
by Dave Higdon |
If you’re like many pilots, you find yourself
frustrated by the gap between the panel you want and your ability
to pay the tab.
Of course, one guaranteed way to the panel of your dreams is
to swap that old airplane for a new — or newer — one. But if
you love the plane you’re with, a panel makeover can close the
gap for far fewer funds than the cost of new wings, and it can
give you equal — or near-equal — performance to a new bird.
(more) |
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10 Questions to Ask Before Selecting
an Avionics Shop
by Dave Higdon |
Different consumers act, well, differently —
there’s little doubt about that. Where one might comparison
shop looking for every penny of advantage, some show only casual
interest in the most common question: How much?
But even price-centric buyers often fail to ask other questions
with the potential for importance equal to or greater than the
dollar signs on the invoice. (more) |
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Avionics Looking Forward...Far, Far Forward
by Gary Picou |
In this 50th year of the Aircraft Electronics
Association, it’s natural to pause and look back to see where
we came from. It’s also fun to look forward — trying to imagine
what the next 25 years might bring.
In this article, we let imagination take flight as we piece
together the past progress, current research and future possibilities.
(more) |
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Transponders Buyer's Guide
by Paul Novacek |
| The venerable transponder originally was developed
in the 1940s for the wartime need of identifying friendly aircraft
from adversaries. Then called an IFF (identify friend or foe),
the transponder has evolved into a vital part of our air traffic
control system. Without transponders, ground controllers wouldn’t
know where anyone was, and the chaos soon would result in aluminum
rain. (more) |
