WHO'S WORKING AGAINST YOUR FAVORITE APPS

The app revolution has changed more than the cockpit, it's displacing dedicated handheld gps units, giving panel mount avionics a run for their capability (at a deeply discounted price), and challenging the FAA's chart distribution systems. In other words, relative to the still slow economy, it's a booming industry that's changing how a segment of the aviation economy functions. It's not just bringing more capability into more cockpits, it's challenging the way some big entities make money -- and that might soon be changing things for you.

For this article, we spoke with one of the biggest names in the business, Hilton Goldstein, of Hilton Software LLC (maker of the WingX app) to find out what makes a winning app and the very big forces that could soon challenge them all. According to Goldsteing, those challenges could cost developers time and money, stifle development and generate new costs for users.

In-cockpit apps supported by personal electronic devices like iPads, iPhones and Android-based tablets and phones have evolved over a handful of years from simple weight and balance calculators to powerful comprehensive flight planning and flight management tools. Today, apps can deliver weather, navigation, data libraries including fuel pricing, EFIS, terrain, synthetic vision, ADS-B traffic and weather, and more. For many users, the "How did we get along with out this?" factor has become compelling. The popularity of the apps is changing how pilots spend their money and get their information. That means other segments of the market are being affected. And that has consequences.

Click here to read the full article.

WINTERIZING YOUR SECURITY -- LOCKS

In the Northern Hemisphere many of our airplanes hibernate in their hangars sometime between November and March, maybe even longer depending on how far north we live. Oh, we probably pay them a monthly visit and run the engines a bit so we keep them at least minimally lubricated. But our faithful aerial steeds typically remain stabled more when the weather is cloudy and cold than clear and warm.

Having inspected many aircraft hangars for security for nearly a decade, I can report that the most common device keeping the outsides world away from our airplanes is a keyed lock. We turn the key in that door knob and figure that our airplane—our investment in fun and transportation—is secured against those who want it, the radios inside it, or anything else having to do with our flying machine. Or perhaps we close the hasp and attach a beefy looking padlock, figuring that the metal body of the lock will discourage sufficiently those who want what's inside.

My grandfather once told me that locks are only good for keeping honest people honest. Let me tell you why his country farmer's wisdom continues to be true today.

Click here to read the full article.

PODCAST: RUNNING OUT OF FUEL
When a perfectly good airplane ends up in the trees because it ran out of fuel, most pilots shake their heads in disbelief, but they also wonder -- could that happen to me? Bruce Landsberg, president of the AOPA Foundation and the Air Safety Institute, says it happens more often than you might think -- on average, about twice a week in the U.S. (Click here for for his recent analysis and a map.) AVweb's Mary Grady talks with Landsberg to find out why these preventable accidents continue to happen and learns about some successful strategies that are helping to reduce the numbers.

This podcast is brought to you by Bose Corporation. More...

VIDEO: PARDO'S PUSH -- MCDONNELL F4 PHANTOM
"Pardo's push" of March 10, 1967 was preceded by a similar event. In 1952, fighter ace Robbie Risner pushed fellow flyer Joe Logan 60 miles. The two men were flying F-86 Sabre jets and successfully cleared hostile territory, but Logan bailed out over water, was tangled in his canopy lines, and drowned. Risner was deemed a hero, but by Pardo's account, pilots were not encouraged to partake in similar activities. More...

MEET THE AVWEBFLASH TEAM

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:

Publisher
Tom Bliss

Editorial Director, Aviation Publications
Paul Bertorelli

Editor-in-Chief
Russ Niles

Webmaster
Scott Simmons

Contributing Editors
Mary Grady
Glenn Pew

Contributors
Kevin Lane-Cummings

Ad Coordinator
Karen Lund

Avionics Editor
Larry Anglisano

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