Alerts in your own voice

PS Engineering founder and CEO Mark Scheuer, who celebrated 30 years attending EAA AirVenture in 2015, came to this year’s edition of the show with new products to announce. He said the PMA8000G will enhance safety by delivering important audio messages, including aural alerts and recorded checklists, in the pilot’s own voice. Dubbed FlightMate, the feature is exclusively available on the $2,295 PMA8000G that is expected to ship in August.

A second new audio panel from the company, also shipping in August, the PMA450A can mount behind the panel as well as out front. Mounted behind the panel it can be controlled by noncertified electronic flight information systems made by Advanced Flight Systems (which was purchased by Dynon in 2013, but continues as an independent brand) and Avilution’s XFS, another highly customizable and modular glass cockpit display made for experimental aircraft. 

With a 15-watt USB-C port and a more easily read OLED display, the PMA450A can play music from three separate sources for pilot and passengers. Like the PMA8000G, audio from different sources appears to come from different directions in 3-D space, and is priced at $2,595.

Scheuer said the spatial audio technology prioritizes radio transmissions and allows users to keep the volume up on all sources without missing important communications. Introduction of the FlightMate voice recording technology marks another innovation for the company, he said, noting the U.S. Air Force adopted the spatial audio technology years ago.

“This is huge for us,” Scheuer said.