Product Reviews

iPad and iPhone Aviation Apps for Pilots and Airline Passengers

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After the weekend iPad frenzy, people seem evenly split: 50% of online comments are positive while the other half question the need to carry around yet another electronic device. Yet posts by pilots are all positive if not exuberant. The beauty for pilots is that about 350 aviation iPhone applications already exist. Most of the existing apps will run either in their native iPhone 320 x 480 pixel size, or can be doubled to display larger on the iPad. App developers can rework their applications so that they are optimized to display on the iPad’s larger display. About a half dozen aviation applications have been optimized for the iPad and others are in process.

Product Review: Garmin Aera 560 Portable GPS

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The entry-level unit, the Aera 500 lists for $799, giving Garmin a product with a price point close to the Bendix/King AV8OR, which also features a touch screen. Users can also switch between aviation and automotive functions with a single touch screen key, a major improvement over older units. The primary differences among the other units are whether they offer XM Weather or include the AOPA Directory and SafeTaxi diagrams. For pilots interested in receiving XM Satellite weather—a service any serious pilot should have in the cockpit—the new Aera line lowers the cost of getting an XM-capable GPS.

Product Review: SPOT 2 Satellite GPS Messenger

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SPOT is an innovative, satellite-based system popular with hikers, boaters and pilots that lets others track your position via the Internet. A SPOT user can send two or three (depending upon the model) different pre-programmed messages via a commercial satellite that triggers emails or text messages to up to ten friends’ cell phones. For people who travel in remote areas out of cell phone coverage, SPOT provides a low-cost lifeline to reassure loved ones or to get help in an emergency.

Product Review: Husky A-1C and Garmin G500 and G600

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Extensive Photos. The Husky is a good-looking airplane that can turn heads on any ramp. The Garmin G500 was announced in July at AirVenture as a slimmed down version of the Garmin G600. If you’re flying a single or twin-engine piston aircraft weighing less than 6,000 pounds, you can save a bundle by choosing the G500; aircraft over 6,000 pounds require the more expensive G600.

Amazon Kindle Survey of Pilot Aviation Uses for this E-book Reader

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JP Morgan estimates that some 10 million Americans either own one of these Amazon e-book readers or plan to get one soon. I’ve read about a few aviation uses of the Amazon Kindle for pilots but wondered which were being used the most. Therefore, I put together a short survey that’s intended for all pilots, whether they currently own an Amazon Kindle or not.

Instrument Flying with GPS—What Your Flight Instructor Didn’t Teach You

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Here’s a sample from my new Max Trescott’s GPS & WAAS Instrument Flying Handbook.
Three Ways to Fly an Approach
“Most instrument approaches can be flown in either of two ways: via own navigation, also called pilot navigation, which often involves a procedure turn and via radar vectors from ATC. In addition, many GPS approaches can be flown a third way, which involves being cleared directly to the intermediate fix of the approach. We’ll discuss that third option in detail in Chapter 10.

“Own navigation is used in the real world when aircraft are below radar coverage and ATC can neither see nor vector the aircraft. In that case, aircraft can safely fly the approach on their own, provided they fly the instrument approach exactly as published. This is usually more work than flying an approach via vectors and often includes flying away from the airport before turning around using a procedure turn to fly inbound to the airport. Own navigation is also used heavily in training, so that pilots become familiar with its intricacies.