Pilot Products

Garmin NavTalk Pilot

Ladies and gentlemen, the $100 hamburger is officially a thing of the past. Now, with Garmin's new NavTalk Pilot, you can have a $3,000 pizza, ordered straight from the cockpit and delivered to a ramp near you.

While AirCell brought cellular telephone service to the general aviation airplane, Garmin has upped the ante with its combination cellular phone/handheld GPS unit. The NavTalk Pilot is the answer for those who want a solid handheld GPS unit combined with the convenience of cellular service in the air.

We tested the NavTalk Pilot as installed in a Mooney 201. The unit was wired into the airplane's audio panel (a Garmin unit with three com selections) and mounted on a bracket low on the central console. Since the NavTalk Pilot operates in full duplex mode, the pilot or copilot can hold down the push-to-talk switch and converse, just as on a regular telephone.

The NavTalk Pilot uses the AirCell network, which is rapidly expanding to cover most populous areas in the contiguous 48 states. The gaping holes, the New York/Boston area and the Los Angeles Basin, have contracts in place and should be in the network by early 2001. We had the luxury of two nearby AirCell towers, at Martinsburg, West Virginia, and Altoona, Pennsylvania, so we were able to pick up a strong signal over most of the area during testing.

In order to get a signal, the NavTalk Pilot usually needs to be at least 5,000 feet msl. For a continuous, strong signal (registered on the unit in bars, much like on most cell phones), we leveled at 6,500 feet msl. However, because of the nearby tower at Martinsburg, we were able to pick up a signal as low as 4,700 feet, to the delight of the Garmin contingent on board.

The sound quality is good—about what you'd expect from a high-quality ground-based cell phone. We tried several local and long-distance numbers, though we didn't order the pizza after all. In order to place and receive calls, you need to purchase a monthly service package, which runs from $35 to $40 per month from AirCell. Calls then cost $1.75 per minute, which is the standard AirCell charge.

One handy feature: When the user holds down the "9" button, the NavTalk Pilot should dial the nearest ARTCC facility. While this is normally the case, during our test flight the NavTalk Pilot automatically dialed the nearest ground-based 911 service, much to our surprise. However, in an emergency situation, either function would serve the pilot's purpose—to get help immediately.

In addition to the console mount, the unit can also be placed on the airplane's yoke. The NavTalk Pilot is not nearly as svelte as its ground-based brethren, but the argument is that you won't be using this phone when you're walking around—for the price, you'll probably choose a regular cellular phone for calls on the ground, although you could use the NavTalk Pilot. In the air, a larger unit means a larger display for the GPS, and a more solid feel for use in the cockpit.

The unit sells for $2,990, plus installation. With comparable AirCell phones without GPS going for $3,995 and up, the Garmin choice is a viable contender. Just be sure you give the driver specific directions to the airport—and an ETA—when you call for that pizza. For more information, contact Garmin International at 1200 East 151st Street, Olathe, Kansas 66062; telephone 913/397-8200; fax 913/397-8282; or visit the Web site ( www.garmin.com). — Julie K. Boatman

Jeppesen offers instructor manual, weather overlays

Two new products are available from Jeppesen. The Flight Instructor Manual not only helps instructor candidates prepare for the FAA written exams, it also provides practical knowledge about how to be an instructor after the certificate is won. The well-illustrated book is a newly updated, four-color, hardbound edition that has been significantly rewritten to bring it in line with Jeppesen's Guided Flight Discovery programmed learning concept. Jeppesen previously revised the private and commercial pilot courses to conform to the training system. Planned in the future are rewrites of multiengine and ATP training materials.

Clearly organized and easy to read, the Flight Instructor Manual is aimed at those more interested in learning the material than in memorizing the answers. It achieves its goal without boring the reader in the process. It was written in part by Julie Boatman, one of two associate editors for the book. She has since left Jeppesen to join the AOPA Pilot editorial staff. The book is available from Jeppesen dealers for $69.

In other product news, Jeppesen has significantly updated FliteStar and FliteMap software. FlightStar is a flight-planning program, while FliteMap is a GPS-driven moving map. While the two may be purchased combined in a single software program, FliteStar is also sold separately. Jeppesen is offering Jeppesen Weather graphical route overlays and weather briefings free for a trial period to those who purchase the latest version of FliteStar. After planning a route, users may contact Jeppesen Weather over the Internet for international text and graphical information. The user merely clicks on a button found in the weather section of FliteStar. The graphical information can then be overlaid directly on the planned route.

FliteMap customers will be able to use the weather services of Jeppesen Weather from the air under an agreement with AirCell of Louisville, Colorado, to overlay updated maps on their aircraft's route while in flight. Jeppesen officials said that they expect international customers who do not have access to free DUAT weather information, such as that provided by GTE and DTC in the United States, to be the primary customers for Jeppesen Weather. It is expected to cost about $20 a month. For more information on Jeppesen products, see the Web site ( www.jeppesen.com), or call 800/621-5377 (303/799-9090 outside the United States). — Alton K. Marsh

"Air Baja!" lets the adventure begin

U-Haul once used as its company slogan "An adventure in moving." Now, I don't know about you, but when I'm moving across the country, the last thing I want is an adventure. I'd be quite happy if things went boringly smooth. When traveling by general aviation airplane in a foreign country, adventure becomes another thing altogether. Sure, you're there for the adventure of exploring a new place by airplane, but showing up at your planned destination to find the runway "ditched" or federales swooping in behind you is the sort of adventure most want to avoid.

Baja California, Mexico, is just such a place where that sort of unwanted adventure can occur if you don't know your way around. Galen L. Hanselman of QEI Publishing is one person who knows his way around Baja, and his latest book, Air Baja!, shares his insight into this remote and beautiful peninsula. The 624-page book is printed on heavy stock and utilizes a durable wire binding. As with his highly acclaimed book Fly Idaho!, Hanselman doesn't just dryly describe all of the airports in Baja—he takes you there through his thorough and often humorous descriptions of the airstrips and their surroundings. The listings include things to do in the area, locations of hotels and inns, hazards to be avoided, and availability of fuel. His text is accompanied by color photos of each strip taken by the equally talented John Plummer, who also photographed the Idaho airports for Hanselman's earlier book. During a recent trip to Baja, a passenger of mine amused himself and the rest of us in the airplane with a running commentary about each of the airports along the way—all lifted from Air Baja!

In four years of researching the book, Hanselman visited every airstrip on Baja and discovered that 24 of them listed on the official government chart were in fact closed. The government chart was horribly out of date, not even showing a transpeninsular highway that was completed in the mid-1970s. So Hanselman set out to produce his own chart, which resembles a world aeronautical chart in its scale and printing. The chart looks exactly like a government chart, except his is more up to date—something not lost on the government chart makers, who are considering using Hanselman's data for the official charts. For his chart, Hanselman measured every runway and recorded coordinates from a GPS. He offers the database of coordinates on a disk that can be downloaded from a PC to most handheld GPSs, relieving the pilot of having to enter the waypoints himself.

Hanselman sells Air Baja! for $49.95. Or, for $99.95, you can buy the "Whole Enchilada," a trip kit of sorts that includes the book, the chart, and the database neatly packaged in a clever zippered binder designed to take the unwanted adventure out of the trip. Besides Air Baja! and Fly Idaho!, Hanselman also has recently finished another book, Fly the Big Sky!, which details the airports of Montana. It too sells for $49.95. For more information, contact QEI Publishing at Post Office Box 1236, Hailey, Idaho 83333; telephone 208/788-5176; fax 208/788-4621; or visit the Web site ( www.flyidaho.com). — Thomas B. Haines

"Christopher's Little Airplane"

One of the best gifts you can give a child is a book, or even better, a book about flying. A new children's book written by Mark S. James, AOPA 639427, and illustrated by Harold Smelcer fits this description nicely. Christopher's Little Airplane tells the story of a balsa-wood airplane that takes a Christmas solo flight around the neighborhood—while the boy who received him as a present sleeps. The illustrations are colorful and rich, and the rhyming appeals to listeners as well as those charged with reading the story out loud. This is a great choice if the children you have in mind are in the four-to-eight-year-old range—the story managed to keep our young audience on the couch for an entire 10 minutes. The book is available from online booksellers, as well as through local bookstores. Suggested retail price is $15.95. For more information, contact Chelonian Press at 1420 Spring Hill Road, Suite 600, McLean, Virginia 22102. — JKB

Briefly Noted

In October, Sandel Avionics announced its new terrain awareness and warning system, the ST3400 TAWS/RMI. The unit fits into an existing 3-inch display, weighs roughly three pounds, and can replace an existing radio magnetic indicator—while preserving the RMI indications. Sandel expects installation of the ST3400 to take one-third of the time as existing TAWS units, with a cost of $34,500 (suggested list price) plus installation, and a reduced downtime of 60 hours. The unit features a simple-to-use menu system, helping to reduce cockpit workload. Sandel hopes to receive TSO certification early next year, with deliveries of the unit beginning next summer.

With the FAA requiring that all U.S.-registered turbine aircraft with six or more passenger seats be equipped with TAWS by 2005, the Sandel TAWS provides a low-cost alternative to units currently on the market. An estimated 20,000 aircraft currently operated under FAR parts 135 and 91 must comply with the directive. For more information, contact Sandel Avionics at 2401 Dogwood Way, Vista, California 92083; telephone 760/738-8640; or visit the Web site ( www.sandel.com). — JKB

Unless otherwise stated, products listed herein have not been evaluated by AOPA Pilot editors. AOPA assumes no responsibility for products or services listed or for claims or actions by manufacturers or vendors. However, members unable to get satisfaction regarding products listed should advise AOPA. To submit products for evaluation, contact: New Products Editor, AOPA Pilot , 421 Aviation Way, Frederick, Maryland 21701; telephone 301/695-2350. Links to all Web sites referenced in this issue can be found on AOPA Online ( www.aopa.org/pilot/links/links0012.shtml).