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| Today's Exclusive Feature | back to top |  | ||
THE
COMING SOCIALFLIGHT REVOLUTION? The fresh bloom of interactive applications available on portable devices today is changing how pilots fly, but if SocialFlight.com has its way it may also be changing why you fly -- and for all the right reasons. SocialFlight's creators have lofty goals. They aim to improve your business connections, your social life, your flying life, and ultimately drive sustainability if not growth in the statistically shrinking GA segment, all free of charge. It's sunshine and roses level stuff. But here's the twist: according to Jason Clemens, vice president of marketing for Where2 Interactive (SocialFlight's developer), "between summer 2012 and January 2013, we got 12,000 pilots signed up." And if the business provides those users with what it intends to provide, SocialFlight could deliver real gains for GA. Even more important, because of its business model, the effort may not have to become profitable for its developers, or anyone else, to still grow and provide a sustained and increasingly useful service for pilots and the GA community as a whole. So What Is It? Clemens' answer drew a line from the poetic to the practical, which further defines the driving principles behind SocialFlight. "Passion is the reason for existence. Most people have one -- anything from motorcycles, to skiing, to cars, to collecting … whatever. But whether it's the pace of life or the economy, it's harder and harder for people to immerse themselves in their passions. So, how can we make it easier? That's what we're about -- making it easy." At its core, SocialFlight it's an event aggregator … a database. It actively seeks out, collects and retains information regarding every pilot-oriented event about which it is informed, or that its employees can find through active search. It creates and presents (online, via email, and through its app) organized collections of those events. The events can be displayed in list form, or on a map, and might include everything from a local individual's public invitation to stop by for hangar talk, to FAA organized TRACON tours, to safety seminars, to EAA Chapter pancake breakfasts … even a manufacturer's invitation to fly their latest model. Essentially, SocialFlight aims to collect any aviation-relevant event that pilots are passionate about and present them in a simple straightforward way to its members. To make that potential barrage of information more useful, it also provides users with tools to keep the events organized and make sure they're relevant to the user's interests. Members can set parameters that triage and sort the events by date, distance from a location, type of event, and a group of other user-specified parameters. By the start of 2013, SocialFlight had collected and presented some 4,000 upcoming aviation events for its 12,000 members. But its creators see more purpose to the free product, they aim to make money, and both of those things could actually help you. Click here to read the full article. More... |
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| From the Pages of Aviation Consumer Magazine | back to top | | ||
ANGLE
OF ATTACK: NOW AVAILABLE FOR EVERYONE As long as you don't require flap-position sensing, an AoA system is a minor alteration. But the FAA may relent on more integrated systems soon. We're told that somewhere there's an Israeli air tactics manual that contains the line, "Speed is life." Good thinking for fighter pilots, but down here in the more mundane world of GA, it's probably more appropriate to say, "Angle of attack is life." AoA sensors in GA airplanes are as rare as $4 avgas, so we use airspeed as a proxy to get the right angle for approach and landing. One problem with airspeed is that most of us only know the right airspeed for gross weight at sea level on a standard day. If we're light, we tend to come in fast and curse the floating landing that ensues. The other end of the problem is getting too slow, or pulling the plane into a high-g-loading stall far above the wings-level stalling speed. The result when at low altitude can be grisly. Oddly, there have been at least four companies offering reasonably priced AoA detectors for over 15 years. They're flying in experimental aircraft and plenty of certified birds. Some new interest from the FAA in the safety payoff of AoA indicators may shake things up, even though there hasn't been a policy change yet. Click here to read the full article. More... |
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| Today's Exclusive AVweb Podcast | back to top | | ||
PODCAST:
2012 -- THE YEAR THAT WASN'T; WHAT OF 2013? |
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| Names Behind the News | back to top | | ||
AVwebFlash is a twice-weekly summary of the latest news, articles, products, features, and events featured on AVweb, the world's premier independent aviation news resource. The AVwebFlash team is:
Have a product or service to advertise on AVweb? Your advertising can reach over 225,000 loyal AVwebFlash, AVwebBiz, and AVweb home page readers every week. Over 80% of our readers are active pilots and aircraft owners. That's why our advertisers grow with us, year after year. For ad rates and scheduling, click here or contact Tom Bliss, via e-mail or via telephone [(480) 525-7481]. Click here to send a letter to the editor. (Please let us know if your letter is not intended for publication.) Comments or questions about the news should be sent here. If you're having trouble reading this newsletter in its HTML-rich format (or if you'd prefer a lighter, simpler format for your phone or handheld device), there's also a text-only version of AVwebFlash. For complete instructions on making the switch, click here. Aviate. Navigate. Communicate. More... |
