Gear

Extra Aircraft has received approval form the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) for the Avidyne Entegra Release 9 integrated flight deck in the German-built Extra EA-500 single-engine turboprop. The certification allows IFR day and night operations in EA-500s fitted with the Entegra Release 9 upgrade. The EA-500 is a turboprop version of the Extra 400 […]

(July 2011) Now that summer is in full swing, Sporty’s has a solution to hot cockpit syndrome. The company offers eight Arctic Air portable air-conditioning systems of varying sizes and prices. Since the units are portable, no STC is required for use in airplanes. The air-conditioning units are electrically operated through a 12- or 24-volt […]

Climbing into a Cirrus SR22 equipped with Avidyne’s Entegra Release 9 avionics system after spending three hours flying in the left seat of a Diamond DA40 fitted with Garmin’s G1000 cockpit felt like stepping onto the surface of another planet. Arrayed before me in the Cirrus were two large flat-panel displays presenting all the usual […]

Rockwell Collins said this week that it will bring synthetic-vision capability to its Pro Line 21 avionics suite next year, an announcement that was sure to be warmly embraced by OEM customers as well as the pilots who fly with the popular bizav cockpit. The SVS upgrade will be offered for both forward-fit and retrofit, […]

Rockwell Collins’ Pro Line Fusion next-gen avionics system has earned FAA TSO approval, the first and biggest step toward putting it in the cockpits of new bizjets. The system represents a huge leap for Collins, which has in Fusion created a scalable, fully digital upgradable suite that is certain to be the basis for numerous […]

At the Corporate Aviation Safety Seminar presented by the NBAA and Flight Safety Foundation, Rockwell Collins introduced a new head-up guidance system, the HGS-3500, which is intended for light to midsize business airplanes equipped with the company’s Pro Line Fusion flight deck. It’s the first time that a head-up guidance system will be available to […]

(April 2011) SINCE ITS INTRODUCTION in 1998, Garmin’s remarkable GNS 430 navigator and its larger GNS 530 companion have become the de facto standard in aftermarket aircraft avionics. And no wonder: In the various iterations, the multifunction panel-mount units serve as a moving map, a navigation receiver, a communications transceiver, a GPS (and, later, WAAS) […]

(April 2011) InspecTech Aero Service’s electrically dimmable iShade uses a light-control film that is laminated between structural aircraft windows and dust covers to manage the amount of light coming into the passenger cabin of turboprops, business jets, helicopters and transport category aircraft. Various degrees of tint, from zero to 99.96 percent of light blockage, can […]

(April 2011) WHILE APPLICATIONS FOR handheld devices have been an intriguing development for some time, the introduction of the iPad has absolutely changed the competitive marketplace in aviation. Dozens of apps, including capable suites from ForeFlight and X-Wing, have made the 10-inch portable from Apple into a must-have pilot pal. Sporty’s Pilot Shop, which helped […]

Safety product manufacturer AmSafe has introduced a next-generation seatbelt airbag that is lighter and has a longer service life than the company’s current airbag restraint, which has been in production for 10 years and is installed in more than 7,000 general aviation aircraft. The new AmSafe seatbelt is narrower and features an optional lightweight buckle, […]