Equipment Reviews

Aircraft audio system pioneer PS Engineering is doing what a good avionics manufacturer should do to survive in the current chip-shortage supply chain, and that’s tweak an already good product to save component supply. The way we see it, the PMA450C—priced $300 less than the flagship PMA450B—is a win for dealers and customers. In an […]

A deterrent for using supplemental oxygen—especially in tight cabins—is having to deal with the hardware, including the bottle and oxygen lines strung every which way. Aithre, which has been cranking out decent portable solutions, has developed a hard-mounted system called the AVI C. I took a look at the system at AirVenture 2022 where it was […]

As we’ve reported, thanks to space-saving, small-supply oxygen systems from Aerox and Aithre, more pilots and their passengers may be using O2 in the cabin who otherwise wouldn’t. But we’re also hearing about the challenges of getting these little cylinders filled. Some FBOs and maintenance shops unfamiliar with these new bottles (some as small as […]

This article originally appeared in Aviation Consumer magazine, Oct. 2007. The emerging Light Sport Aircraft market has ignited new interest in airplanes at the $100,000 price point and below. Most of these airplanes are composites, but buyers not interested in spending that much are looking hard at older LSA-compliant taildraggers — Cubs and Champs, for […]

This article originally appeared in Aviation Consumer magazine, Nov. 2006. It’s never a good time for an inflight fire. Stoked by fuel or an electrical short, this nasty brand of emergency is near the top of most pilots’ list of nightmares. But a cabin fire’s consequences can be mitigated by using a smoke hood, which […]

This article originally appeared in Kitplanes magazine, Feb. 2008. It’s almost a given that the Bose Headset X is at or near the top of every pilot’s wish list, in large part because the $1000 noise-canceler is comfortable, quiet and sleek. Now comes the LightSPEED Zulu, a clear shot across the Bose bow. So here’s […]

This article originally appeared in Aviation Consumer magazine, Oct. 2005. Sometime during the short but glorious history of general aviation gadgets, the notion that mounting some sort of accessory on the control yoke became accepted as a good idea. It wasn’t, it isn’t and it never will be. Festooning controls with wire-bound junk is at […]

Last year at Oshkosh, Garmin dropped the weather bomb on pilot nerds with the GPSMAP396, the first integrated, portable navigator with XM weather and music capabilities. Built on the 296 platform, it was faster, more capable and so feature rich that you might get through War and Peace before finishing the user’s manual. Now comes […]

Like most single-engine aircraft owners, I find myself drooling over photos of the latest all-glass panel hardware, and even wondering if I’d be qualified to use it. For those of us who fly virtual airplanes based on Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004, there’s now an opportunity to find out: In conjunction with their 2005 sweepstakes, the […]

As we head off to Oshkosh this week, the Garmin GPSMAP 396 appears likely to be the hottest product at the show. As you’ve probably heard, it combines GPS navigation, datalink weather and XM audio all in the same size package as the popular GPSMAP 296. Our sister publication, Aviation Consumer, recently evaluated the product […]