Gear

At the Avidyne press conference on Tuesday, company founder and CEO Dan Schwinn said that he hasn’t heard any customers complain that the new Avidyne R9 lacked features-it is, in fact, loaded with new capabilities-but he said that he had heard a few potential customers wishing that it cost less. With this mind, Schwinn formally […]

If you’re here at EAA AirVenture, chances are you’ve been tempted by some cutting edge device you’ve seen in the display booths. There’s also a good chance you’ve expanded the budget envelope and you’re bringing one of them home with you. Normally, you’d open the box, lay out all the accessories in their plastic bags […]

While much of the aviation industry remains in a holding pattern given the tough economic times, Garmin opened AirVenture with announcements of several new products and product enhancements designed to give pilots new options and to put the pressure on competitors in nearly every facet of general aviation. • The GTS 800 series is a […]

On the first day of AirVenture Cessna announced that its 162 SkyCatcher LSA had achieved ASTM certification. It’s equipped with a 100-hp Continental engine and the Garmin G300 integrated flat-panel avionics platform. The airplane will be assembled in China of U.S.-made components and then shipped back the United States for final assembly and delivery. Cessna […]

Even though I fly a Technologically Challenged Airplane, I do have a Garmin 396 with datalinked XM Weather. My trip to Oshkosh last Friday would not have worked without it. I filed IFR from home base, Somerset Airport in New Jersey, to my fuel stop at Sandusky, Ohio. With the headwinds forecast by fltplan.com, I […]

Piper made its first appearance at AirVenture under new ownership and under the stewardship of new CEO Kevin Gould and President John Becker. Now owned by Imprimis, Piper unveiled sweeping plans to expand its product line globally and moved to “reintroduce” two of its training airplanes, the Warrior and the Seminole, in support of the […]

Most pilots believe that it’s easier to fly IFR with a big flat-glass primary flight display (PFD) instead of the six-pack of mechanical instruments. Until recently I wasn’t convinced. I don’t know of any controlled studies that have compared the pilot workload, or the precision of basic attitude, altitude, heading and airspeed control, when flying […]

Hartzell announced it has earned FAA approval to install its new high-performance scimitar three-blade “Top Props” on all naturally aspirated models of the Beech Baron 58s. Previously the new propellers had been approved only for Barons with electrothermal prop ice protection, but now airplanes with fluid anti-ice, or those with no ice protection, are included. […]

There is no question that avionics systems like the Garmin GNS 530 have captured the fancy of many pilots. I have flown some of the other systems and found them quite capable, but the 530 is what resides in my avionics stack, so it is the most familiar. Other systems can be used in the […]