Now that it’s winding down, we can say it definitively: 2019 had some blockbuster stories, the top ten of which we’ve recognized here. As is always the case in aviation, where nothing except the planes themselves go very fast, many of the stories are high, or low, points in long-running tales while others are encapsulations of movements that have been hinted at before and that arrived fully formed in the past year. All of them, it’s safe to say, have roots in the past along and will surely continue to affect GA, some of them for years or decades to come.
1. Affordable Avionics
With the prices for new aircraft putting them out of the reach of most would be owners and existing older planes lacking quality avionics, there were few if any choices for many pilots looking to buy a good plane. But the introduction by Garmin, Dynon and others of high-quality digital avionics for installation in light planes, has reinvigorated the market. Unsurprisingly, Garmin dominated the news, with several new products for planes in this segment, including the revolutionary G5 primary flight instrument, the full featured GFC-500 digital autopilot and the brand new GPS 175 and GNX-375 navigators.