Avionics

Aspen Avionics and FreeFlight Systems have announced partnerships with the $1.5 billion NextGen Equipage Funds financing program to help general aviation aircraft owners obtain inexpensive financing to meet the ADS-B and other mandated avionics retrofits. With over 150,000 aircraft affected, the NextGen Fund will provide financing at competitive rates backed by loan guarantees and will […]

Looking over the glareshield at the future of GA, I dont get a good feeling about the FAAs NextGen program and the 2020 ADS-B mandate. Its not that I think the concept is flawed, although the agency seems to have done its best to complicate the deployment of this technology, which will eventually replace radar. […]

Letter of the Week:Overregulation to Blame Regarding the “Question of the Week”: GA was in decline long before the recession and will not recover to its glory days until the cost of aircraft ownership comes down. A new single-engine piston basic trainer currently costs the same as a Ferrari. This is due to a long-standing, […]

Now that iPads have become the dominant portable navigation device, there are more accessory options than ever to pick from, including remote GPS receivers. In this video, Aircraft Spruce’s Ryan Deck walks us through three popular solutions. view on YouTube

Tyson Weihs, co-founder and CEO of ForeFlight, has announced the release of version 5.6 of ForeFlights intelligent app for pilots. Highlights of the update include enhanced flight plan filing options-including ICAO flight plan form support-as well as complete worldwide coverage for military pilots. Significantly, ForeFlight now primarily files flight plans directly via the modernized Lockheed […]

Our Friday review of recent press releases uncovered an announcement that former AOPA President Craig Fuller has joined the board of directors of the Lightspeed Aviation Foundation. The Foundation was created to promote a vibrant and growing pilot community and annually awards grants to nonprofit aviation organizations through its Pilots Choice Awards. Craig Fuller brings […]

On Jan. 16 the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued its annual Most Wanted list of needed improvements in transportation safety. The aviation-related items are a need to identify and communicate hazardous weather conditions to pilots, address the unique characteristics of helicopter operations, strengthen occupant protection, improve fire safety and eliminate pilot distractions. At a […]

A private-public partnership administered by the Aircraft Electronics Association will provide loans to those who need money to upgrade their aircraft to meet the ADS-B mandate. AVweb’s Russ Niles spoke with AEA President Paula Derks on how the program works and how AEA hopes it will streamline the transition to NextGen. Duration: File Size: download […]

Letter of the Week:Affordable Avionics Garmin’s comments are just silly. They don’t want to use open standards because then they would have to admit there are things that might be better than what they have. A bunch of years ago, some large computer manufacturer said, “Don’t get locked into open systems,” and that large computer […]

What will it take to stimulate a flat avionics retrofit market? There are buyers, bythe way. Its just that fewer of them are willing to slap $40,000 on the counter at the avionics shop like they did 10 years ago. Today, $20,000 is the new sweet spot for a modest up- grade. For many, thats […]