Safety

It’s been over a decade since we last looked at aviation life rafts. While there have been noteworthy changes in the industry, numerous evolutionary improvements and some new offerings, it’s also a case of the more things change, the more they stay the same. Winslow still, in our opinion, offers the best rafts—you pay a premium, but we feel you get the value for your dollars.In this article, we’ll focus on the most commonly available two- to six-person life rafts from EAM Worldwide (EAM), Revere Supply Co. (Revere), Survival Products and Winslow LifeRaft Co. (Winslow). With a few exceptions, these life rafts are not certified in accordance with FAA TSO-C70a (we call them “non-approved”) and are generally significantly less expensive and often weigh considerably less than approved life rafts.

When we visited the Cirrus Aircraft factory in Duluth, Minnesota, last month, we couldn’t help notice the positive vibes that echo throughout the operation. There’s reason for boardroom fist pumps. Production slots for the new G5 SR22 are sold out through October, the SF50 Vision Jet is we’ll on the way toward certification and delivery in 2015, and the competition is struggling to sell half as many aircraft as Cirrus did last year. Cirrus built a total of 253 aircraft last year alone. Unlike other manufacturers, Cirrus doesn’t distribute aircraft to a dealer network, so production is based on customer orders.

You can retrofit instruments and avionics in your aircraft panel, so why not custom retrofit your own simulator to match the layout? That’s the concept behind the new Flight Training Cockpit Advanced Panel, which is sold by PilotMall.com. The tabletop simulator—which uses Saitek ProFlite electronic instruments, avionics and controls—allows for a custom layout, thanks to a modular and interchangeable design. The simulator’s instrument panel is made of 14-gauge steel and mimics a real panel, which even includes a glare shield.“We’ve been selling the Saitek flight training instruments and avionics panels for years, but customers have recently been asking for an easy way to mount the instruments to make the suite look and function like an actual aircraft panel,” said PilotMall’s Neil Glazer. The Advanced Training Cockpit is appealing to owners who might rearrange the instrument and avionics panel in their own aircraft and want to practice flying the new layout.

If you are flying a high-performance single, piston twin or turboprop, particularly if you use it for business trips, there is an increasing probability that you will get a notice from your insurer or employer requiring that you take annual recurrent training.

Ever since the price of personal pulse oximeters dropped out of the stratosphere, we’ve owned one because it is a fast and easy way check to see if we are at risk of doing something foolish because the lungs aren’t delivering enough oxygen to the brain. Now that the selection of pulse oximeters is confusingly large, with prices from about $25 to over $200, we decided to examine a cross section. We found that the lowest priced units worked pretty well, the others under $100 weren’t necessarily much better, and the most expensive was worth the money if you are going to be using it frequently, want a warranty and may subject it to a rough environment.

With new iPad apps appearing every day, it was inevitable that ground school, written prep and aviation reference materials would hit the tablet market. And sure enough, there’s plenty out there for someone looking to add a new rating or to just have a convenient reference library. We limited our app search to the instrument rating because it’s a popular and useful rating. We looked at the one app that’s available, Sporty’s, two online instrument written courses, ASA’s Prepware app and two e-Books. Overall, Gleim and King Schools got good marks for their online courses, and while we felt Sporty’s app was good, it needs improvement. We liked ASA’s inexpensive Prepware for final brushup for the written and the two e-Books we reviewed.

When the light sport aircraft rule was busy being born a decade ago, it was intended to be a poster child for inspired innovation driven by reduced regulation. While there’s no argument that LSA has ignited a bushel of new designs, not much has been said about safety and crashworthiness. Is it reasonable to assume that a 1320-pound airplane will be as safe as one weighing 300 or 500 pounds more?

It’s one of those aircraft truisms that performance requires compromise. Controllability at low speed means compromising the wing that enjoys high-speed cruise. That’s what makes vortex generators (VGs) seem too good to be true: They claim lower stall speeds in singles and twins without a penalty in cruise speed. Sometimes they bump up the gross weight. For twins, they reduce minimum controllable airspeed (Vmc). This is speed below which controlled flight becomes impossible with the critical engine failed and the other engine at full power. Below Vmc, there isn’t enough rudder and aileron authority to counter the natural yaw and roll of the asymmetrical thrust. Translation: The airplane rolls over and crashes.

Back in the day if your aircraft sported a Ryan Stormscope, you might lead the way around buildups just like the heavy iron did with ship radar. Today, many owners are yanking old Stormscopes and StrikeFinders from the panel in favor of datalink radar. After all, your trusty portable GPS saddled up with satellite weather tells you everything you need to know about storms. This argument is highly debatable, and that’s why there’s still a market for traditional lightning detection gear. The good news is that the used market is littered with models of all vintages to choose from. There’s also the high-end Avidyne TWX670 and proven WX500 Stormscope, both of which are compatible with many existing displays.

With the 100 percent bonus depreciation rule in effect, 2011 was a good year to buy a new aircraft for business use. But to claim the benefits of the bonus, you need to get your filing details in order and not overlook the record keeping necessary to justify the bonus claim. Further, to avoid getting afoul of the IRS, it’s critical to understand what business use really is. As for 2012, the bonus will be 50 percent, but if combined with allowable expensing elections, you can still claim a sizable chunk of depreciation to reduce your tax burden and make the cost of a new airplane for business use more appealing than it otherwise might be.

When Cirrus kicked open the barroom doors in 1999 with an innovative new airplane equipped with a parachute, it promised to turn the page on light aircraft safety. In our initial report on the Cirrus SR20, we deemed it “one of the most crashworthy airplanes in GA history.” A dozen years hence, does the accident history support the expectations? Has Cirrus delivered what many buyers hoped it would? And while we’re at it, how does it compare to other models? Which have the best accident rates, which the worst?

In 2007, Redbird Flight Simulations had a prototype flight simulator that basically consisted of Microsoft Flight Simulator on several screens and a moving cockpit enclosure. We flew it for two minutes before it broke. Things have improved since then. Today the company ships better than one a simulator a day, if you count both their tabletop version and full-motion enclosures. Most are reconfigurable, GA sims, but they also build custom simulators for specific aircraft such as the King Air C90. With over 430 units in the field now (223 full-motion), Redbird is the largest simulator company in the world in terms of devices sold.