Many candidates, Cox explains, will be eliminated on the initial inspection (which you are shown how to do). Those aircraft that pass the first test will need to undergo a stringent second look, and it's here that the DVD takes the viewer by the hand. Beginning at the engine and moving outward (to fuselage, wings, landing gear, prop, and empennage), then inward (to cockpit and cabin), How to Buy a Used Airplane runs down a lengthy list of items that you can check before proceeding with the next step. Some guidance is given as to how the prospective buyer should take (or leave) the various leaks, cracks, bumps, dents, or other imperfections that he or she might discover in the course of this phase.
Assuming that the problems aren't deal-breakers, How to Buy moves to the flight test (also assuming that the owner will let you conduct one) and the importance of a prepurchase inspection. It gives a brief, general treatment to title searches and aircraft insurance. While the copy we reviewed gave erroneous contact information and prices for AOPA's Title Services Inc., which can be contacted at 800/872-2672, as this issue was going to press the production company informed us that an insert with the correct information will be included in every copy. Aside from a dated segment in which a Florida pilot reveals he paid $12,500 for a used Piper Cherokee, the information presented holds up as a useful tool for the first-time shopper.
Price: $24.95. For more information: 800/772-9963 (WWOF); www.wwof.com --Jill W. Tallman
LightSPEED cell phone interface for headsets
How many times have you completed a runup, only to realize that you needed to make one last phone call -- to a spouse ("I'm ready to take off now") or to flight service ("I'm ready to take off now") or to the flight instructor anxiously awaiting you at your home base ("I'm ready to take off now")? But shutting down the engine to be heard over a sometimes-tenuous cellular connection isn't a good option. LightSPEED has integrated a cellular telephone interface into its full line of active noise reduction (ANR) headsets, including the 20XLc and QFRXCc Cross Country that we tested.
LightSPEED provides two cords, each designed to work with a selection of phone makes and models. A list of compatible cell phones is on the company Web site. Depending on the strength of the connection ("Can you hear me now?"), we were able to complete calls using either headset and a typical Sprint PCS- or Verizon-compatible Samsung phone while the engine was at or close to idle. As rpm increased, the quality of our connection decreased, which might dissuade you from using the phone to make calls while you taxi -- not a great idea in any event when you're pilot in command.
Price: No additional cost for interface in new headsets; an upgrade to an existing headset is $75. For more information: 800/332-2421; www.anrheadsets.com
'Voyager' flight-planning software
Once you've convinced your flight instructor that you have preflight cross-country planning nailed, you may want to try a flight planning program from Seattle Avionics. The company has released version 2.5 of its flight planning program, Voyager. We tested the software in version 2.0, which includes a 3-D planning tool called SmartRouter that optimizes your route for winds aloft downloaded from the National Weather Service and DUATS, and found it to have several unique, worthwhile features, as well as an attractive look and feel. Version 2.5, which debuted in November, includes the ability to download flight plans to Garmin GPS handhelds, Control Vision's Anywhere Map, and Microsoft Flight Simulator.
After inputting various information into the SmartRouter, Voyager develops a flight plan and navigation log for the pilot. At this point, Voyager also cross-checks the flight plan and automatically generates any warnings based on perceived hazards and inconsistencies that it finds -- especially helpful for new pilots. For example, if a user entered one passenger in the main routing tool, but then goes into the weight and balance manager and adds what looks like another passenger to the planner (say to reflect luggage or a flight bag carried on a rear seat rather than in a baggage compartment), Voyager notes that there may be a discrepancy. It also flags flights that will take place at night, based on local conditions. The software provides terrain and airspace clearance as well.
On the main page, pilots can customize the layout of the screen to their liking, as well as chart detail. A mileage scale along the bottom of the en route chart (which can be in either VFR or IFR format) is really helpful for eyeballing certain waypoints and visualizing the route. A tool allows the pilot to download textual and graphic weather and temporary flight restrictions (TFRs) automatically, with an option to select the specific products desired. Printouts come in a kneeboard- sized, two-to-a-page format, and include airport information (FBO and service information is available to AOPA members with a valid password loaded in the program).
A companion program, SmartPlates, offers airport diagrams and instrument approach charts. The software will check to make sure the charts remain current.
Price: $198 for Voyager, with $99 for one year of 28-day updates; $99 for SmartPlates. For more information: 425/455-2209; www.seattleavionics.com
Garmin announces WAAS-approach-capable GPS navigator
Garmin International announced recently the certification of its WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation System) LPV approach-capable GPS receiver, the GNS 480. The 480, formerly the Garmin AT CNX80, can be purchased from Garmin; existing CNX80s can be upgraded. The 480 allows pilots to fly LPV approaches, which are localizer-like approaches with vertical guidance (tracking crossed needles just as pilots flying current instrument landing system approaches), immediately, as well as regular RNAV -- or GPS -- approaches with VNAV (vertical navigation) capability, bringing reduced minimums and greater safety to airports not currently served by precision approaches.
At a press conference at AOPA Expo 2004 in October, AOPA President Phil Boyer called on pilots to start using the system: "This work isn't done," he said, recalling the 15-year effort to get WAAS commissioned in July 2003, and to bring LPV-capable GPS receivers to market. He referred to the work ahead to bring LPV approaches to the airports that need them most -- those without precision approaches.
Gary Kelley, director of marketing for Garmin, likened it to a "chicken-and-egg situation. Until we get more approaches, the public may not buy [the receivers]." But through a demonstration video shown at Expo, taken during an LPV approach and a GPS approach to Frederick Municipal Airport in Maryland in October, AOPA gave evidence of the great benefit already in place: rock-solid, ILS-like approach navigation and a "pseudo glideslope" -- working much like a VASI (visual approach slope indicator) in the cockpit-derived for standard GPS approaches.
Price: $11,995 (for a Garmin GNS 480). For more information: www.garmin.com
QUICK HITS
The AeroFix 406 GPS I and AeroFix GPS I/O personal locator beacons, which broadcast a GPS-derived position on 406 MHz, are now available from ACR Electronics. The units transmit on both 406 MHz and on 121.5 MHz, the search and rescue homing frequency, and would be used in addition to your aircraft's emergency locator transmitter (ELT).
Price: $640 for the GPS I; $750 for the GPS I/O. For more information: 800/432-0227; www.acrelectronics.com
DTC Weather and Flight Planning Services has improved its Web site to make flight planning easier, including airport diagrams and the ability to overlay a proposed route of flight on radar. The system flags errors entered into request boxes, so pilots can make corrections.
For more information: 800/243-3828 (help desk); www.duat.com
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