Sadly, Texas Top Aviation is having to cancel it’s 2020 Santa Fe Fly In due to COVID. New Mexico has continued to implement travel restrictions, making it difficult for Texas Top Aviation to complete the event.
Mark your calendars now, though, as Texas Top Aviation has scheduled is 2021 Fly In. We are returning to the Lajitas Golf Resort in the Big Bend area of Texas. The event will be March 24th-26th, 2021. Stay tuned for more information. We hope to see you there!
Two pilots walk into an FBO. “Nice airplane,” Pilot 1 says to Pilot 2. “What kind of panel do you have in it?”
“I just went all glass,” Pilot 2 says. “Put in the Garmin G500 TXi, a GTN 750, and upgraded to the GFC 600 Autopilot. Even put in the Mid-Continent standby instruments. It’s a pretty sweet set up. What about you?”
“Wow, sounds like it!” Pilot 1 responds. “I went a different route. I liked all my old BendixKing instruments, so I stuck with the company. I put in a BendixKing AeroVue Touch panel, a BendixKing KSN 770 touch screen GPS, kept my KFC 225 autopilot, got the ADS-B out compliant BendixKing KT 74 transponder, and finished it off with a King AeroFlight KI 300 Digital Backup instrument.”
Wait, what? BendixKing?
Yes, my friends, BendixKing is still around.
We are all used to the latest and greatest Garmin products these days. Don’t get me wrong, Garmin and Aspen make great retro-fit products for your instrument panel, while Garmin and Avidyne are at the top of the touch-screen GPS market, but don’t forget about BendixKing. They are staying in the game too.
BendixKing announced in April the xVue Touch for experimental aircraft, with the STC for the AeroVue Touch for certified aircraft coming later this summer. The xVue and AeroVue touch are pretty nifty units, comparable in features to what Garmin is doing with the G500 TXi and G600 TXi. It will be difficult to claw back into a competitive market share with Garmin, but BendixKing might find a niche market of followers.
Let’s take a look at the unit.
Now, I have not used the BendixKing AeroVue Touch or the xVue Touch, only read about them. But, what I’ve read sounds pretty cool. The display has really good resolution (BendixKing brags it is the highest screen resolution available), synthetic vision that comes standard (Garmin & Aspen charge extra for synthetic vision), plus VFR Sectional Charts & IFR High and Low Enroute charts, making paper charts even more obsolete.
The display is 10.1 inches and can be easily swapped between a full screen instrument mode or a split screen setup as seen above. Apparently, BendixKing has 3-D moving maps available on the AeroVue Touch too, which is standard.
The one thing Garmin has on the BendixKing AeroVue Touch right now is engine information. The G500TXi has a full complement of engine gauges available; the AeroVue Touch doesn’t, yet. BendixKing says it’s in the works, as well as radio information and autopilot control. I’m assuming the future autopilot control software would mean you could remotely mount an autopilot controller and input all functions from the AeroVue Touch display. The nice thing about these future upgrades is all the software updates are free through BendixKing.
The sticker price for the forthcoming unit is going to be about $12,600. Garmin’s 10.5 inch G500 TXi is $16,000, while Aspen doesn’t offer anything quite that big.
I’ve been keeping my eye on the BendixKing KSN 770 Touchscreen WAAS GPS for a few years now. It never really has caught on quite like the Garmin GTN 750 or the Avidyne IFD 540. BendixKing took the same route that Avidyne did in creating a hybrid touch GPS (or mini-MFD if you want to look at it that way) where a pilot can perform functions either using the touch screen or utilizing soft keys on the edges. I like the hybrid touch approach as I have been bounced around in turbulence while trying to tap something into a Garmin GTN 750 and it can prove difficult.
Similar to the AeroVue Touch, BendixKing utilized split screen technology in the KSN 770. It’s a full WAAS unit that is already certified. It’s sticker price is $14,200, compared to the Garmin GTN 750 at $17,200 and the Avidyne IFD 540 at $15,000.
Here are some other BendixKing Gadgets both available now and in the works:
Austin Executive Airport opened a control tower on Friday, February 23rd 2018. The airport is now officially Class D airspace. The charts and A/FD are not updated yet to reflect the tower, but there is a NOTAM with the tower and ground frequency information. The tower hours are from 6am to 10pm. The weather frequency remains the same.
Make sure you check those NOTAMs if you are headed to KEDC anytime soon!
KEDC Tower Frequency: 120.3
KEDC Ground: 119.45
Earlier this year, Cirrus debuted it’s new Learning Management System (LMS), Cirrus Approach. For several years, Cirrus has led the way in online systems training while using several different platforms for it’s LMS. Cirrus Approach is the culmination of lots of sampling and tinkering, and boy, did Cirrus knock it out of the park.
For those of you unfamiliar with the Cirrus training program, here is the quick rundown. When a pilot who has no Cirrus time buys a Cirrus aircraft, initial transition training is required to familiarize the pilot with the aircraft systems, speeds to fly, power settings, etc. The Cirrus Transition Course is a 3 day that gets a VFR pilot up to speed in the airplane. Under the Cirrus Embark program, those 3 days of training are covered by Cirrus and free to the new owner.
If the pilot is an IFR pilot, then the 5 day Cirrus Advanced Transition Training Course is required. If the pilot has Cirrus experience, but with a different engine or avionics configuration, there are courses for that too. The Cirrus Embark program covers 3 days of training for most courses for a new Cirrus owner.
As part of the aforementioned courses, there are systems to learn about and procedures to understand. This is where the Cirrus Approach LMS excels. Cirrus has done a great job of putting together lots of good videos (that are actually interesting but not annoying) on the airplane, systems, how to fly it, etc. for each course. It cuts down greatly on the time that the training instructor has to spend on the ground with the pilot since the pilot has already compiled knowledge through Cirrus Approach.
Cirrus Approach is accessible online at learning.cirrusapproach.com. To get access to the courses, create an account, then select the Learning Catalog. The courses are categorized based on the type of training (Transition, Advanced Transition, Avionics Differences, Airframe & Powerplant Differences, Recurrent, and Specialty), then further broken down into the type of airplane, engine and avionics (eg. SR22T G6 Perspective+). Make sure the correct engine and avionics configuration is selected! Notice, there is a difference between the SR22T and SR22 (Turbo & Non-Turbo).
Anyone can do the specialty courses. I would highly recommend for everyone to take the Engine Management course as well as the Icing Awareness Course for you TKS and FIKI operators. The Takeoff & Landing course is a good refresher course for a pilot who hasn’t done any training in a while.
The Recurrent Training courses are encouraged for all Cirrus pilots. There is an IFR Refresher, a VFR Refresher, and a Skills Refresher. These are recommended to rotate through with a CSIP (Cirrus Standardized Instructor Pilot) on a yearly basis. With a little extra ground, a Flight Review and an IPC can be accomplished yearly using these courses.
Interested in Initial or Recurrent training in your Cirrus using Cirrus Approach? Contact Texas Top Aviation today!
What’s the most cost effective glass panel retrofit? There are several options out there (and it seems like more coming each Sun ‘N’ Fun or Osh Kosh event), but the consensus is the Aspen EFD 1000 or 1500, right? At $12,000 installed, it’s about $8,000-$10,000 cheaper than the Garmin G500 (though you can make the argument that when you add a second screen and SVT to the Aspen, the price is about the same).
I am here to blow your mind. What if you could get a glass panel retrofit that is a complete AHRS system with airspeed and altitude, plus a slaved HSI that auto slews to your GPS and a 4 hour backup battery so you can throw your steam attitude indicator away, for only $4,600, plus installation?
I am not crazy.
The Garmin G5 debuted last year when the FAA relaxed it’s regulations to allow more experimental avionics into certified airplanes. The single G5 was a big hit. The 3.5 inch screen fit nicely into the hole that the traditional attitude indicator left, giving pilots a glass attitude, airspeed and altimeter options for less than $2,500.
In March, Garmin brought out the HSI version of the G5. Equipped with a low cost magnetometer, the DG/HSI version is a complete replacement for the traditional DG/HSI. The unit also displays ground speed and distance (received from the GPS information), while auto-slewing to the GPS flight plan, so the CDI needle will move on it’s own, eliminating the annoying need for the pilot to set the course on the HSI (and ridding the GPS of the message that pops up reminding the pilot to set the course).
The dual units provide a complete backup Attitude in the case of a display failure. The reversionary mode you get with the Garmin G1000 and the Garmin G500 is also present in the dual G5s. This eliminates the need for a backup steam gauge attitude indicator, freeing up panel space for an engine monitor or some other toy. The G5 units can also be equipped with 4 hour backup batteries in case of electrical failure.
The price for the dual G5 setup is very reasonable at just under $4,600 plus installation (which, according to Garmin, should be pretty simple as the units act as plug and play instruments). The AHRS unit is available stand alone for under $2,200 while the DG/HSI unit standalone runs just under $2,600.
For more information, check out Garmin’s website.
A brand-new event for Lancair owners, the 2018 Great American Lancair Rally will be a multi-stage “grand tour” of the Western US. Starting and ending in Central Texas, the Rally will take place September 24th through October 5th 2018.
The Rally will begin in Uvalde, TX (KUVA) on September 24th at the Lancair headquarters. There will be 6 legs, with stops at:
At each stop, there will be food, drinks, and fun for everyone.
Lancair plans on making instructors available to pilots who would like any kind of training along the way. Hank Gibson from Texas Top Aviation will be one of the instructors available.
Lancair plan to make the Great American Lancair Rally an annual event, with the 2019 Rally spanning the eastern half of the country.
The Great American Lancair Rally is open to all Lancair owners, potential owners and interested aviators. Fly a different airplane? All makes and models are welcome!
For more information & to register, check out the 2018 Great American Lancair Rally’s website.
The FAA has decided to discontinue the dedicated En Route Flight Advisory (EFAS or Flight Watch) frequency 122.0. The effective date will be September 24th, but Flight Service will continue to monitor the frequency for an additional six months to direct pilots to Flight Service Station frequencies.
EFAS services will still be provided by Flight Service, though, on the published Flight Service Station frequencies (and 122.2).
To me, this makes some sense. In the past, if I accidentally contacted Flight Service on one of their frequencies to issue a pilot report or get a weather update, they would send me over to Flight Watch on 122.0. More than likely, the Flight Watch operator was sitting right next to the Flight Service operator, but I had to flip frequencies. This will help alleviate some confusion for pilots.
The deactivation of Flight Watch had been coming for years since the advent of Foreflight and other iPad and tablet apps giving pilots much easier access to weather, both in flight and on the ground. With Nexrad and Stratus, there isn’t much need for Flight Watch anymore (though you still can’t file a PIREP over the XM Weather!).
For more information, check out AOPA’s website.
