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 weather briefing cards, a Rotax engine DVD, the 2008 FAR/AIM, suction cup lights for your panel and much more.

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

Sporty's Weather Briefing Cards

To help organize the information you receive during a telephone weather briefings, Sporty's has created a handy pad of Weather Briefing Cards. You fill in the appropriate spaces on these kneeboard-size cards and have convenient access to current weather, forecasts, NOTAMs and more.

The Weather Briefing Cards are organized in the order in which information is given, have room on both sides for notes and include a map of the United States to track weather systems and fronts. These cards are useful for student pilots and experienced pilots alike.

A pad of 50 Sporty's Weather Briefing Cards is available for $3.95 from Sporty's Web site.

Aviat Aircraft Husky with Enhanced Vision System

Aviat Aircraft will make Forward.Vision.'s EVS-100 available as optional equipment on new Huskys or as a retrofit item for existing Huskys, making them the first GA manufacturer to offer the system. The EVS-100 (Enhanced Vision System) responds to long wave infrared, providing pilots with a highly effective, low-cost, non-cryogenically cooled, night-vision system. Until now, the only EVS systems offered by aircraft manufacturers have been much higher priced systems in business aircraft like the Gulfstream line.

The EVS-100 has the capability of extending forward vision at least eight times what the naked eye can see in snow storms, fog, haze, smoke or total darkness. This has a bearing on a pilot's ability to negotiate a survivable landing during an engine out at night or in dense haze. It will reveal people or animals on a runway at night when normal vision would not see what is actually there. (The photos at right show the same nighttime view: On top is normal eye vision and on bottom is the EVS-100 view.)

The Forward.Vision. system includes an infrared sensor that functions like a video camera. Weighing 1.2 pounds, the sensor is mounted on top of the aircraft. The display for this system may be mounted in various locations in the cockpit, providing a 40-degree wide image of what is in front of the aircraft.

The "camera" is a hermetically sealed package that has been put through a dry nitrogen purge to prevent moisture and dust from entering the sensors. Integral window heaters prevent ice buildup and a sun sensor protects the unit if the aircraft is pointed toward the sun. The system is set up to run independently, minimizing impact on pilot workload. Co-developed with technology partner Max-Viz the product life has been tested to, and is projected to be greater than 9,000 hours. It has been designed to run maintenance free during its operating life.

Aviat Aircraft will offer installed Forward.Vision. systems for $22,000 in new Husky aircraft and will retrofit the units in earlier models of the Husky for the same price. For more information on the EVS-100 systems visit Forward.Vision. or Aviat Aircraft.

ASA 2008 FAR/AIM

Aviation Supplies & Academics is now selling their 2008 version of the FAR/AIM. ASA consolidates the FAA regulations and procedures into three reference books and one CD-ROM with information pertinent to pilots, flight crew, and aviation maintenance technicians (AMTs). In all ASA FAR/AIM-series books, the changes are marked for quick reference, and indexes provide clear and intuitive access to the subject matter and paragraph number or regulation.

The Aeronautical Information Manual is re-typeset for greater readability and includes full-color graphics. The FAR/AIM has a user-friendly combined FAR and AIM index at the back of the book for quick and easy lookups.

In addition to the updates available as free downloads from the ASA website, a free email update subscription service is offered for automatic notification when a rule has changed.

The 2008 FAR/AIM and the FAR for Flight Crew are each $16.95. The FAR for AMTs is $19.95, and the Pro-Flight Library CD-ROM is $79.95.

For more information, visit the ASA Web site.

Sporty's Suction Cup Lights

A quick solution to burned out (or missing) post lights on your instrument panel is Sporty's Suction Cup Instrument Light. Simply stick the light on to the face of an instrument (airspeed, altimeter, tachometer, etc.) and turn it on. The mini-LED light illuminates the entire face of the instrument, without obstructing your view.

These handy lights are also great for older eyes, and quickly light up dark corners of your panel. They can even be useful in an electrical emergency -- it's better than a flashlight in your mouth. Multiple lights can be used to light the entire panel if necessary.

The Suction Cup Instrument Light is $12.95, with a discount to $9.95 each for three or more. Details available at Sporty's Web site.

PCAvionics yourGlassPanel

PCAvionics has created a new product line of panel-mounted instrumentation for experimental aircraft, branded yourGlassPanel. The new instruments feature standard dials as well as full EFIS displays and are available for standard 2-1/4" and 3-1/8" panel holes.

A single instrument can display any number of different dials and can be changed with the flick of a switch. For under $10,000, a six-pack of yourGlassPanel instruments would offer six-way redundancy on the displays, and two-way redundancy on the sensor packages.

PCAvionics will show and sell yourGlassPanel and MountainScope systems in the PCAvionics booth at EAA AirVenture this week.

For more information, visit the PCAvionics Web site.

MyMetar.com "Gamma Release" and Interface for iPhone

MyMetar.com has updated its online weather application with a "Gamma Release" and has created a specially designed interface for the Apple iPhone.

MyMetar.com is a free, online, aviation-weather application to provide pilots around the world access to weather via a personalized Web page, desktop widgets for Yahoo! and Mac OS X Dashboard, and now the iPhone.

The Gamma Release brings a new user interface, flight rules indications for terminal area forecasts (TAFs), integration with Google Maps, support for user interface "themes," improved plain language interpretation, more weather images, an updated mobile device interface, and support for the iPhone.

More information can also be found on the MyMetar blog.

Adventure Productions Rotax 912 Engine DVD

Paul Hamilton of Adventure Productions and writer/producer for ASA, with the help of the Aero Technical Institute and Lockwood Aviation, has prepared a DVD that shows and explains what it takes to treat the Rotax 912 engine right. Lockwood is an authorized repair and overhaul station for Rotax, and the Aero Technical Institute provides Rotax training for owners and mechanics alike.

Rotax 912 Introduction DVD steps the owner through what he needs to know: What oil should I use? How do I purge the air from the oil tank? What are those various tubes and hoses, unfamiliar to old-style aircraft engine mechanics? What do I need to know about the coolant options? What about fuel filters? Oil filters? What gasoline is best, and why? What should I look for on a preflight, or on a more-extensive inspection?

Most-importantly, this DVD will steer those who are unfamiliar with the 912 (be they neophytes or experienced aviation mechanics) away from doing things that can damage these critical machines. The 912 isn't fragile, but it is different, and treating it the same way one treats an old-tech airplane engine will not be good. (Nor should you manage an old-tech engine the way you manage the Rotax technology.)

The DVD is available for $49.95 from Adventure Productions Web site.