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Sep 27, 2010 12:00AM

Survival Systems: Unforgettable Training

Denial can be a useful thing when it comes to getting the job done. I’ve done my fair share of flying overwater and out of gliding distance to land, and just rationalized that the odds were slim of ditching and I’d figure it out when it happened. The reality was that I didn’t have a clue what being immersed in an aircraft would be like. I had no plan, and that meant that if the aircraft did anything other than stop upright and floating, I probably was going to the bottom wearing a 3000-pound aluminum suit.The point of egress training like we sampled at Survival Systems Inc. is to give you that plan.

Sep 27, 2010 12:00AM

Aircraft Diesels: Still No Slam Dunk

When Continental announced in May that it planned to develop a diesel engine for the light aircraft market, it was boldly going where many have gone before. Unfortunately, the many have had their diesel entries ground to a bloody pulp by a fickle market more interested in speed than economy and unconvinced that diesel’s supposed longevity is worth the higher purchase price. A historical fact: Depending on how you define commercial success, there has never been a commercially successful diesel engine for aircraft. The Thielert/Centurion line launched in 2005 comes closest, but the company went belly-up and although it’s building engines again, it remains insolvent

Sep 27, 2010 12:00AM

GPSS Retrofits: Automation to the Max

Nearly every proposal for a new autopilot installations—which these days means S-TEC upgrades—should include a GPSS option. And optional is the key word because unless you buy a flagship S-TEC 55X autopilot, GPSS won’t be included with the base system. For most customers looking to upgrade GPS and autopilot equipment, GPSS hardware is grossly misunderstood. Although hardly a major system, GPSS is considered an accessory that plays a huge part in total autopilot automation. Impressively, it emulates the tight performance found with big-airplane inertial navigational systems.

Sep 27, 2010 12:00AM

Avidyne’s DFC90: One Smart Autopilot

Cirrus Aircraft’s installation of the Avidyne Entegra PFD in 2003 was really the turning point for glass cockpits in GA. But at the time, there was no attitude-based autopilot on the market capable of using the digital gyros (AHRS) from the PFD to fly the aircraft. That meant that Cirrus (as well as Columbia, Piper and anyone else who used the Avidyne system) hid an electric turn coordinator behind the panel and used it to drive the S-Tec 55X rate-based autopilot. We’ve always seen the S-Tec 55X as an acceptable, but not stellar performer. Its weaknesses are most pronounced on coupled ILS approaches in strong, gusty winds where it will often hunt left and right to try and find a heading that keeps the needles centered.

Sep 27, 2010 12:00AM

New Premium Headsets: Bose Comes Back Strong

Bose has always held a place at the top end of noise-canceling headsets, with a history dating back to 1989. The company has been virtually silent in the aviation arena for the past 12 years, resting on the continuing strong sales of their Headset X. But even the Bose devotees have been getting restless due to the lack of auxiliary music input and a Bluetooth connectivity for phones (to be used, uh, on the ground only, of course). All the while, Lightspeed Aviation’s Zulu has been steadily increasing its dominance in the premium headset market by offering active noise reduction (ANR) on par or exceeding that of the Bose, along with music and phone connectivity.