Do you ever wish you could replay a flight or a flight lesson with greater accuracy than your memory provides? How about keep an accurate record of your Phase I flight testing? These are among the goals of Appareos Flight Evaluator system, comprised of the GAU 500 Flight Recorder, a cube-shaped box carried in the airplane, and a software suite used to analyze the flight data later on. The GAU 500 contains an internal GPS receiver, a magnetometer and three-axis accelerometers to provide full flight data. With a 64-megabyte memory card-*the unit uses widely available MMC cards-*the GAU 500 can capture up to 22 hours of flight data. The PC-based software package allows you to analyze the flight and display the aircraft in flight from several points of view. At press time, Appareo was shipping the $1299 Flight Evaluator Pro package, using the GAU 1000, a more sophisticated version of the GAU 500 thats capable of recording aerobatic-like pitch and roll angles and rates, and has 5-foot vertical accuracy provided by an internal barometric sensor. (The GAU 500 uses a WAAS-enabled GPS for altitude information and is designed for lesser pitch and roll rates.) A Flight Evaluator Standard package was expected to arrive in April for less than $1000. Contact Appareo Systems at 701/356-2200 or on their website, http://www.appareo.com.
