Pilot Products

Did you know that one of the predecessors to the modern aviation slide rule--the E6B flight computer--included a continuous cloth belt to use for calculating wind triangles? If that fact doesn't make you glad for every gigabyte stored on your PC, then you must be an old-style engineer.

Mastering the E-6B Flight Computer, a new book by Mike Arman, launches with this history of the humble yet elegant flight computer before delving into a thorough tutorial on its use. Although some student pilots actually fear these devices (and more than a few seasoned pilots have forgotten how to use them), the E6B is a no-fail way to make numerous critical calculations both before and during cross-country flights.

You can use the book to learn how to figure everything from time/speed/distance problems to fuel burn, from density altitude calculations to wind triangles and drift. Arman, an advanced ground instructor and pilot, uses many examples in each lesson to illustrate E6B concepts. Wow your pilot friends with your knowledge--knowing that you always have a reliable backup for aircraft calculations even when your batteries go dead.

Price: $23.95.
For more information: 866/751-5576; www.learnthee6b.com

Sporty's issues all-new VFR Communications DVD

Using the aircraft radio often creates anxiety for student pilots. Products such as the VFR Communications DVD from Sporty's Pilot Shop--just updated with all-new content--can be very helpful in reducing that communications-related stress, dubbed mic fright by many.

Narrator Rob Reider opens the program with an explanation of what makes up good visual flight rules (VFR) communication. Simply listening to proper phraseology goes a long way toward helping you learn, he explains. And the program helps listeners do just that--it's presented on a dual-sided disc that functions both as DVD video and CD audio. After viewing the DVD, users can flip the disc over and play the audio in their car or on any other CD player.

VFR Communications takes the viewer (or listener) on real-world flights--in a classic Piper Pacer, a glass-panel Cirrus, and a high-performance Cessna 210 retractable--that, combined, cover every type of VFR airspace. The flights depicted include operations at nontowered airports as well as airports in Class B, Class C, and Class D airspace. The comprehensive program includes opening and closing of VFR flight plans, as well as a request for VFR flight following. The chapter on lost communications will prove invaluable should you ever experience a radio failure.

VFR Communications runs approximately 40 minutes. A companion product, IFR Communications, was reissued with all-new content last year and just received the dual-media technology. --Mike Collins

Price: $29.95.
For more information: www.sportys.com or 800/SPORTYS

P2 Aviation TimeTrac

Flight departments, flight schools, and owners that want to spend their time flying instead of sitting in front of smudged and often illegible flight records in the attempt to maintain pilot, maintenance component, service bulletin, and airworthiness directive compliance records can now abandon their pencils in favor of a nifty solution called TimeTrac from P2 Aviation Technology in Eden Prairie, Minnesota.

The TimeTrac system is approved (by supplemental type certification) for installation in more than 700 airplane types and consists of two parts--a small (1.15-by-4.30-by-2.4-inch) computer that receives and records data from GPS or loran units, and powerful, easy-to-use TimeTrac software. Airport identifiers for aircraft power-up, takeoff, landing, and shutdown of each flight are automatically recorded. This data is then downloaded via serial port into a laptop. Computer memory is sufficient to save approximately 2,700 events, so downloading can be scheduled for convenience.

The software determines flight legs and then applies the times to the applicable mechanical component, pilot's flight record, and maintenance schedule files for each airplane and pilot. In addition to the 8,000-plus airports that are contained in the database, options permit the addition of custom airports such as lakes or small landing strips.

TimeTrac also permits the creation of custom reports. This product should streamline the workflow of companies maintaining computer-based records.

TimeTrac was chosen for installation on the 2005 AOPA Sweepstakes Commander. --Steven W. Ells

Price: $2,495.
For more information: 888/921-8359; www.p2inc.com

The $100 Hamburger: A Guide to Pilots' Favorite Fly-In Restaurants

So you have your certificate--now what? The $100 hamburger, to start with! Before, you had a purpose for each flight, laid out in black and white on the syllabus. Without that guidance, some pilots run out of reasons to go fly--until you look at how many of them get in their airplanes on a pretty day and launch toward an airport with a restaurant. In most cases, the "$100" refers to the cost of the flight to the restaurant destination and back, not the actual sandwich.

The $100 Hamburger: A Guide to Pilots' Favorite Fly-In Restaurants was first published in 1998; now in its sixth edition, the book features pilot reports on more than 1,000 restaurants, diners, cafes, and sights. Pilots rate each establishment with one to five burgers, and more than 80 percent of the content is new since the last printing. The "Best of the Best"--26 restaurants that rate highly--are showcased in a special section. A Web site that complements the book is also a must-see.

Happy flying--and eating!

Price: $24.95.
For more information: www.100dollarhamburger.com; www.mcgrawhill.com

Max Trescott's VFR+IFR Garmin G1000 CD-ROM Course

The latest offering in Max Trescott's line of Garmin G1000 training materials is the new Max Trescott's VFR+IFR Garmin G1000 CD-ROM Course. The course takes material from both of Trescott's prior online courses (see "Pilot Products," December 2006 AOPA Flight Training), a VFR course and an IFR course, and puts them on two CDs with more than six hours of training.

In addition to material featured in the online course, the CD-ROM course includes tips from glass-cockpit instructors, PC desktop simulators that let users practice entering frequencies and loading flight plans, and more graphics than were possible in the online course. The updated material within also includes new lessons on the recently released Garmin GFC 700 integrated autopilot and the G1000's engine systems page available on Columbia aircraft.

You can use the keyword search function to look for a given topic within the narration and slides. Plus, printable attachments include glossaries of key primary flight display and multifunction display terms, an IFR process chart to help you manage cockpit workflow as you learn the ropes, and IFR approach charts for the procedures discussed.

Price: $99.95.
For more information: 800/247-6553; www.pilotlearning.com