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 high-altitude training, an airplane cleaning kit, an extremely lightweight headset and much more.

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

AvShop Illuminaviator Flashlight

The Illuminaviator TF-31 flashlight offers two light sources and a complete array of included accessories. Three red LED bulbs provide illumination in a dark cockpit without disrupting night-vision adaptation. A simple click of the push button on top of the light clicks on the red LEDs. The highly efficient and durable LED bulbs will burn for dozens of hours on one set of batteries and are rated for 100,000 overall hours of use, according to the manufacturer.

For preflight inspections or other activities where additional candlepower is needed, a bright, white, Xenon bulb throws a powerful beam. To prevent actuation of the white Xenon bulb in the cockpit, which would disrupt dark adaptation, the controls for the Xenon bulb are on a separate switch, manipulated using the tailcap of the light. Pressing on the tailcap turns on the Xenon bulb momentarily. Twisting the tailcap clockwise turns on the Xenon light. Twisting the tailcap counter-clockwise past the "momentary" setting locks out the Xenon bulb.

In addition to a set of batteries and a spare Xenon bulb, a nylon wrist lanyard is included in the package, all for less than $40. For more information, visit the AvShop Web site.

Sporty's Airplane Cleaning Kit

Sporty's has assembled an Airplane Cleaning Kit that is safe to use on any airplane and will make short work of this big task. The Kit contains one gallon each of three solutions that can be diluted (20:1) to create enough solution to last an entire season.

Carbon-X Stain Remover de-bugs and de-greases. It removes exhaust deposits, fuel stains, oil and grease from the underside of the fuselage, engine cowlings and wheel wells. According to Sporty's, Carbon-X leaves no oily film or residue and is safe to use on all aircraft finishes including exotic metals and composites.

Fleet Wash is for washing the overall plane. It contains a blend of detergents that minimize spotting and the need to hand-dry. This high-foaming, water-soluble detergent is designed to be safe for use on all aircraft finishes, rubber and Plexiglas.

Poly-Glide Polish protects your aircraft's exterior finish and may even reduce drag. It will not streak or discolor, and will make future cleaning easier. The protective coating it provides is supposedly not affected by weather.

The Airplane Cleaning Kit is available for under $55 from Sporty's Web site.

King Schools High-Altitude Training

PICs flying a pressurized airplane capable of flight above 25,000 feet are required to have a high-altitude endorsement … but all pilots flying at high altitude should get this training. King Schools has created an online course to fulfill the ground training requirements of the high-altitude endorsement.

The High-Altitude Endorsement Ground Training from King Schools:

• Takes about two hours to complete;
• Available anywhere just by connecting to the Internet ;
• Meets FAA ground training requirements in 61.31(g)(1);
• Personalized certificates for the FAA;
• Downloadable cockpit reference card with oxygen requirements and practical tips on radar use for high-altitude flight; and
• Available for review up to 90 days after course completion

Content of the program includes high-altitude aerodynamics, high-altitude meteorology, respiration and hypoxia, using supplemental oxygen, pressurization and FAA oxygen requirements

The online high-altitude course costs about $250. For more information and to order the program, visit the King Schools Web site.

LightSPEED Mach 1 Headset

LightSPEED Aviation has released their newest ultra-light aviation headset product. The Mach 1 is in-the-ear (ITE) communication technology combined with up to 40 dB of passive hearing protection at certain frequencies.

Packaged in a silver metallic case, the magnesium alloy headset with a light-weight gooseneck-boom and noise-canceling electret mic weighs in at around one ounce. Specially designed ear plugs block noise before it has an opportunity to enter the ear canal and miniature, high-fidelity speakers inside the plug deliver voice and stereo music. A multi-pack of disposable ear tips -- including an exclusive, patented foam design -- is offered to ensure optimal fit, comfort and performance.

The streamlined magnesium-alloy control box secures with a belt-clip and provides cell/satellite phone and music interface, stereo/mono options and volume control. A newly added LightSPEED feature, only available on this model, is a patented, automatic "Pilot Isolate" for conversation privacy when the phone feature is engaged. Audio priority is given to incoming radio communications from ATC.

Suggested retail price is $525. The factory is accepting orders on their Web site.

VFLITE Garmin GNS 530/430 Training

Pegasus Interactive has produced a new series of advanced, computer-based training (CBT) programs for users of the Garmin GNS 530 & 430. Volume 1 of the new VFLITE GNS 530/430 Advanced Training Series builds on their scenario-based, guided simulation programs for GPS, and complements their original VFLITE GNS 530/430 Interactive Guide.

Developed with input from Garmin, the FAA and CFII's, the new program uses the VFLITE training methodology to teach tasks on the GNS 530 & 430. The program builds confidence on a variety of complicated IFR procedures and includes the new CheckFlite module, assessing GNS operational knowledge thoroughly. Over 30 topics are covered, including:

• Approaches & Missed Procedures
• OBS Mode Changes
• Undefined DP's
• Amended Routings
• Intercepting Radials
• Unpublished Holds
• Changing Transitions

Volume 1 of the VFLITE GNS 530/430 Advanced Training Series is distributed on Windows and Macintosh compatible CD-ROM for about $100. More information, including free demos from the program, can be found at the VFLITE Web site.

"Artful FLYING" Book

Michael Maya Charles, a long-time columnist for AVweb, has released Artful Flying, a book that reveals new secrets about becoming a better pilot.

The book shows the unique connection that many of the best athletes, sculptors, painters, musicians, poets and even some pilots share: They simply view what they do as an artful process. And whether creating their masterpiece on canvas, CD or in the cockpit, this artful process has the potential to forever change the way we think about our flying.

Using stories about pilots in a variety of aircraft types, Artful FLYING leads the reader through this pursuit of the possible, with special emphasis on seeing what’s really going on in our cockpits and experiencing each moment of flight with the awareness of a child and the discipline and long-term commitment of a fine artist.

There are many deeper levels of engagement beyond safely getting the airplane from point A to point B, and Artful Flying shows you how to fully experience those levels. This book opens doors to a whole new dimension of discovery, a richly rewarding world that will make your flying safer, more challenging and, ultimately, deeply satisfying.

You can order your copy of Artful FLYING for about $35 direct from the publisher.

"Flying the Legendary DC-3" DVD

Reviewed by AVweb's Kevin Lane-Cummings

When you tour an aviation museum or watch an airshow, some of the most popular airplanes are the WWII fighters -- lovingly restored and impressive to see. But the military has long since moved away from fighters pulled by props, and we're used to seeing them only in those recreational pursuits.

So it was a great surprise when I read about this DVD -- or, more specifically, the airplane highlighted in this DVD. In Australia there is an airline that flies paying passengers using DC-3s originally built in the 1940s.

The DVD takes viewers to Mudgee in outback Australia, about an hour's flying time from Sydney. While the passengers tour Mudgee's vineyards, Dakota National Air Captain Jack Curtis and his co-pilot Chris Lin take us on a preflight walk-around and cockpit tour, followed by a brief training flight over Mudgee and its beautiful surroundings.

Using several cameras -- including one on the instrument panel pointed right at Captain Jack -- we follow the two pilots through a textbook example of two-pilot cockpit resource management. Jack is a straight-forward presenter, but once in a while a comment escapes him revealing a dry wit that would be fun to share a cockpit with.

I imagine that viewers who are not pilots or who don't love all things aviation would be a bit bored by the slow pace in the cockpit and the minutiae of going through every checklist. I, however, was fascinated -- comparing the similarities and differences to the piston planes I usually drive. The producers designed it to be a "pilot's-eye view," not a lightweight documentary for the masses that invariably gets the details wrong.

In the cockpit, sound was recorded off the pilots' headset microphones, which made for realistic but sometimes unintelligible comments, especially when ATC cut in; I found myself wishing I could turn on some subtitles, especially when they would use some Australian idiom. But I definitely could keep up with everything, and I wished I could take Chris' place for a day and learn from an experienced pilot like Jack in a classic airplane like the DC-3.

Flying the Legendary DC- 3 is available for about US$30 (and similar prices elsewhere) in both NTSC and PAL versions direct from the producer.