Gray and rainy skies kept some pilots from flying to Hartford, Connecticut, in time for the start of AOPA Summit on Thursday, but those who filed IFR, flew by airline or drove were greeted by a busy agenda, a packed aircraft static display and an exhibit hall brimming with new aviation technologies.
Garmin drew a steady stream of visitors to its booth, where the company was showing off the new Aera 796 portable touchscreen navigator ($2,499 list price), featuring moving map, XM weather, terrain alerting, 3D synthetic vision and electronic charts and maps. The Garmin unit is intended to counter the inroads being made by Apple’s iPad, a pilot favorite for viewing charts, maps, checklists and just about anything else that previously was printed on paper. Judging by the sheer number of iPads and related apps we spotted at AOPA Summit, it will be a heated battle.
