Aircraft Accessories
What are pilots saying about the latest aircraft accessories? Our flight accessory and electronics reviews shed light on some of the latest electronics for pilots.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009 Beyerdynamic HS 600 DANR Headset
Advanced noise reduction from Germany
 There still are a few older pilots who fly without headsets—and most have hearing damage as a direct result. |
Tuesday, July 28, 2009 Qref Books & Checklists
Quick reference for your GPS
 For most general aviation pilots today, a GPS is standard equipment, whether it’s in the panel, on a yoke mount or in a flight bag as a backup device. |
Tuesday, July 7, 2009 VirtualHUD
Low-cost HUD–coming to a propeller near you
 William Steele was working on developing a low-cost HUD (Heads Up Display) product when a eureka moment transpired |
Tuesday, April 21, 2009 Avidyne Entegra Release 9 Integrated Flight Deck
The next-gen glass cockpit arrives
 For all their dazzling screen displays and computational wizardry, glass cockpits can be complex to learn and challenging to operate. Avidyne, which introduced the glass cockpit to general aviation in 2003, aims to change all that with its Entegra Release 9 Integrated Flight Deck, which is now nearing FAA certification.
|
|
Tuesday, April 7, 2009 The New Peltor 9500 Digital Headset
Peltor’s new headset aims for the cockpit
 Headsets are funny things. Even though there are scores of them on the market and their job is essentially the same, each headset has its own “personality” and unique feel. Among professional headsets, I’ve found that the “right” one is different for each individual wearer and is a matter of personal preference. It was with that fact in mind that I opened the package containing the brand-new Peltor ANR 9500 digital headset. |
Tuesday, February 24, 2009 Honeywell Bendix/King AV8OR
GPS and weather in your hands
 By now, almost every pilot has had some experience with a portable GPS unit, and the AV8OR does everything that you’ve come to expect from these devices, and more. Bendix/King’s new MFD integrates GPS, navigation database, graphical terrain and XM weather into a single portable device. The affordable unit’s list price is $799, and the XM WxWorx weather receiver add-on is available for an additional $523 (though, through the end of 2009, the AV8OR includes a $200 rebate coupon for the receiver). The AV8OR has a beautiful, bright 4.3-inch diagonal display with 480x272-pixel resolution. The touch-screen interface is easy to use and provides excellent tap and double-tap access to information. |
Tuesday, February 10, 2009 JH Audio Aerous VX-Series Headsets
In-the-ear sound for audiophile aviators
 For most pilots, aviation headsets are a necessary evil. They protect your hearing from long-term damage due to engine noise and make it easier to hear passengers, other pilots and ATC on the radio. But most do so by clamping down hard over your ears to block out sound; if worn for more than a few hours, they can give you a headache. I started with the generic passive headsets sold at my flight school, and when I started making long cross-country flights (up to 10 hours in a day), I upgraded to somewhat lighter and more comfortable automatic noise reduction (ANR) models. With those, the clamping pressure is less, the background noise is cut down, and it takes longer for me to get a headache—but I still get it.
|
|
Saturday, November 1, 2008 Tech Talk: Spot Satellite Personal Tracker
It could save your life
 My first exposure to the Spot Satellite Messenger came on a rainy March afternoon when air show pilot Gene Soucy arrived at the NAS Meridian Air Show in Meridian, Miss., where we were both performing. Gene got out of his Showcat biplane, shook my hand and said, “hello,” then pulled a little orange device out of his pocket and hit a button. He explained that he had just checked in with his coperformer, Theresa Stokes, by sending her a message that he had arrived safely. I asked the obvious question, and he said, “It’s a Spot, man, you need to get a Spot.” |
|
Tuesday, October 21, 2008 Tech Talk: Garmin G600 Glass Panel
Retrofit glass for steam-gauge six-packs
 Just a few years ago, state-of-the-art instrument panels for GA aircraft included a traditional “six-pack” of flight instruments connected to a panel-mounted moving-map GPS. Those panels look dated in comparison to modern glass panels, which replace all flight instruments with a single primary flight display (PFD), and provide moving-map and other functions on a companion multi-function display (MFD).
|
|
Wednesday, October 1, 2008 Control Vision Anywhere Map XP & ATC
Portable moving maps with weather
 For years now, Control Vision has offered GPS moving-map software on portable devices based on assorted versions of Microsoft Windows. When I first looked at Anywhere Map, it ran on a Pocket PC and required cable connection to an external GPS; the result was a nice (but small) color moving-map display. |
|
|
Get 11 Issues of Plane & Pilot for only $14.97! That's 77% off the cover price!
|
