What's New -- Products and Services

This month, AVweb's survey of the latest products and services for pilots, mechanics and aircraft owners brings you an autopilot, headset, oxygen system and more.

If you know of a new product or service other AVweb readers should hear about, please send us a note.

Chelton AP-3C Autopilot

Chelton Avionics has developed a new TSO'd autopilot for small aircraft.

The AP-3C TSO autopilot uses attitude-based automatic pitch trim as a standard feature. While some autopilots offer GPS roll steering, Chelton is the first to go a step further and provide general aviation pilots with vertical nav steering or VNAV. Since their altitude holding is based on an attitude gyro instead of responding to deviation over a period of time, the Chelton unit is claimed to respond much more quickly to turbulence.

With an Arnic 429 digital interface, the AP-3C will follow any flight plan programmed into a GPS, including altitude changes, and can be easily modified as new directions are put into the GPS unit. There are no menu layers to work through.

The two servos in a Chelton autopilot are of all-metal construction. A magnetic friction clutch on Cheton’s servos renders the units maintenance-free.

Chelton says the AP-3C is nearly $5,000 less expensive than competing autopilots, incorporating many features as standard equipment instead of as optional upgrades. Chelton also allows dealers to do limited maintenance instead of shipping every problem back to the factory.

The Chelton AP-3C autopilot is available for $12,995. A number of popular single- and twin-engine aircraft have already been STC’d and Chelton claims the list is growing at the rate of about two aircraft types per month.

For more information visit Chelton's Web site.

AvShop Design A450 ANR Headset

Hot on the heels of the A400 headset released last year comes an update from AvShop Design called the A450. In addition to all the features of the A400, this new model includes a plug to attach a mobile phone and an auto-shutoff feature to save the batteries.

With passive noise reduction of 25 dba and an additional 10-12 dba reduction using active noise reduction (ANR) technology, the A450 is a less-expensive alternative to more popular ANR headsets. The A450 has high-fidelity stereo speakers in the earcups and a premium electret mic on the flexible mic boom. The boom itself reverses for left or right side operation, and the adjustable gain pre-amp lets you boost or reduce the sensitivity of the mic in the field.

A semi-rigid, low-profile headpad has a smooth leatherette surface on the interior radius. Upgraded earseals accommodate larger ears, conform around glasses or sunglasses and remain cool and stable under all conditions thanks to perspiration-fighting non-slip surface properties. Total weight is 14 oz.

Current FCC rules prohibit using a regular mobile phone in flight, but it comes in handy when you find yourself out of radio contact when trying to close your flight plan on the ground at an out-of-the-way airfield. Alternatively, the auxiliary audio input can be used with MP3 players, a laptop, DVD players or even with audible checklists on a PDA.

The A450 is available from the AvShop Web site and is advertised for $269.

Mountain High EDS-D1a Pulse-Demand Oxygen System

Mountain High of Redmond, Oreg., introduces the EDS-D1a pulse-demand oxygen delivery system. The EDS-D1a system provides oxygen to the general aviation pilot for flight operations at pressure altitudes up to 30,000 feet with safety and comfort.

Different from the standard constant-flow systems, the EDS-D1a wastes no oxygen during the two-thirds of the breathing cycle (exhaling and pausing before inhaling again) when oxygen is not being delivered to the lungs. Studies show that 90% of the oxygen supplied by the EDS-D1a is transferred to the blood. Mountain High has noted savings up to 10 times, but claims the average user will enjoy a conservative consumption drop of 4-6 times compared to the constant-flow systems. The system operates for up to 50 hours on the single 9-volt alkaline battery.

The EDS-D1a reduces oxygen-related cockpit workload because there are no flow indicators to watch or valves to manually adjust due to altitude changes. Two push buttons cycle the EDS-D1a through the various modes that automatically deliver the required supplemental oxygen pulses for various altitudes.

The complete basic system consists of a an aluminum main oxygen cylinder (buyer has a choice of sizes), primary reducing regulator, low pressure service line, the EDS-D1a unit, breathing cannula, face mask, tote bag and a cylinder carry bag. The complete single place system sells for under a thousand dollars and a two-place system for $1449.

Options include extremely lightweight composite cylinders in a number of sizes, regulators, adaptors, in-panel systems, brackets, connectors, masks and service lines to name a few. Check out the Mountain High Web site for more details.

WX2ME -- Weather On Your Mobile Phone

You can now get METARs and TAFs sent straight to your cell phone using text messaging.

The WX2ME system is simple in its execution: You send a text message on your cell phone asking for weather reports and forecasts for one or more airports (using the four-digit airport identifiers); a few seconds later, a message comes back with the report (in standard METAR and TAF abbreviations, not plain English translation).

Sure, you could just call FSS on that cell phone, but unless you have unlimited minutes, it usually burns up a lot of your time to finally get what you want from the specialist (especially after wading through those menus and sitting through the security messages). For the cost of a text message (sometimes free, but usually 5 or 10 cents on most cell phone plans) plus $5/month subscription to WX2ME you can get unlimited weather reports.

The system works anywhere your cell phone does; there are no passwords or phone-browser systems to navigate (your cell phone number is associated with the subscription); and you can save the text message for reference later. If you do not know the airport identifier code, you can search by name. If more than one code matches the name entered, WX2ME will send you the matching names and codes so you can request the weather report in which you are interested.

A free demo and more information is available from the WX2ME Web site.