Portable Nav/Comm

Consumer technologies that use GPS to track aircraft in flight are adding features all the time, and this week one of the more popular vendors, Spidertracks, of New Zealand, announced new capabilities in its latest device, the Spider S5. The new unit retains the small footprint of the earlier models, but adds integrated Bluetooth communications […]

The apps market is a young, fast-paced, booming, and rapidly evolving segment of the aviation industry that isn’t just transforming how pilots get information, it’s starting to affect how manufacturers build their products. Some of today’s most popular apps include Garmin Pilot, WingX Pro, and ForeFlight, which produces popular flight planning and in-flight support apps […]

Lightspeed Aviation’s FlightLink is a free iPhone/iPad app for folks with a Zulu 2 headset that records all intercom and ATC communications as you fly. You can scroll back and replay any part of the recording, and search a library of recordings from previous days. The iPad version also has a scratchpad for writing notes. […]

Mapmaker DeLorme’s inReach messenger/tracker uses the Iridium satellite network to send position reports and text messages from almost anywhere on earth. The handheld device can send pre-determined text messages with an up-to-date position included. Pairing it via Bluetooth with an iPhone or Android device allows for custom text messages or short emails. It can also […]

Garmin has joined the portable ADS-B parade with their GDL 39. The receiver sits on the glareshield, receives both free weather and ADS-B traffic targets, and displays the data in Garmin’s Pilot App for the iPad or on the aera 796 portable navigator. It’s about the size of a sardine can, which makes it bigger […]