Newsline

Although the first round of public comments on the proposed changes to FAA guidance on Experimental/Amateur-Built aircraft was due to the FAA by September 30, 2008, the agency announced in the October 31 Federal Register that it is extending the deadline to December 15, 2008. According to the agency, the draft documents might not have been available on the FAA web site for several days during the previous comment period. At issue are dramatic changes…

Garmin International has announced the GPSMAP 695 and 696, a new series of portable aviation navigation units. The GPSMAP 696 includes the features of the popular GPSMAP 496 plus new capability including airways, electronic charts and expanded weather on a screen that is three times the size of the 496's. …

GlobalAir.coms new fuel route planner, in its final beta version, was displayed at AirVenture this year. President/CEO Jeffrey Carrithers anticipates that the finished screens, airport reports and icons should be finished by November 2008. The service is intended for the cross-country piston pilot, and he estimates that the subscription would run between $10-15 monthly.…

Finally home in California, there's time for me to take a quick look back on this year's Oshkosh. The highlights included the fact that it wasn't a bust, economically. Pre-show scuttlebutt suggested that it would be lightly attended on the premise that the economy is suffering and high fuel prices are keeping pilots flying less than they'd like. (For me, it was scheduling and cost that put me on an airliner to and from CA.…

Finally home in California, there's time for me to take a quick look back on this year's Oshkosh. The highlights included the fact that...

GlobalAir.com’s new fuel route planner, in its final beta version, was displayed at AirVenture this year. President/CEO Jeffrey Carrithers anticipates that the finished screens,...

J.P. Instruments announced three new displays for twin-engine aircraft, as well as a fuel quantity instrument-all will be available in January 2009.JPI's Ottis Cameron gave us the rundown of each display, starting with the 6.5 x 5-inch single display Twin EDM-960. Expected to sell for about $15,000 for a six-cylinder display, including all probes and leads, the all-in-one instrument displays the manifold pressure and rpm for both engines in a conventional arced display with a…

Drafting behind the more widely publicized STOL CH 750, Zenith Aircrafts second debut at AirVenture was the new Zodiac CH 650. Available as a kit, plans-built plane or factory-built SLSA by AMD, the CH 650 is based on the Zodiac CH 601 XL model. Developed in response to builder feedback, the 650 has a larger cabin than the 601.…

UAV Navigation typically builds sophisticated avionics for aerial drones and military aircraft, but has recently branched out to create a touchscreen and/or joystick controlled EFIS suitable for experimental and light sport aircraft.The EFIS, which has been tested under Red Bull Race conditions (+9gs and +230 kts), has an extremely sensitive AHRS unit depicting attitude, airspeed, altitude, side-slip, trajectory vector, heading and roll rate. The HSI screen shows a standard two needle complete navigation solution, including…

If you are an aircraft builder who hates to wire, then TCW Technologies' Intelligent Lighting Controller (ILC-4ch) could simplify your task. The electronic control system provides backlit, graphically depicted three-way rocker switches pre-mounted to a solid backing that control landing lights, taxi lights, strobe and nav lights on an airplane. The controller also provides dimmers for three independent channels, which can be used for the instrument panel lights. Best of all, the controller has a…