On 7/24/2012 3:49 PM, Bug Dout wrote:
and non-certified
avionics gizmos update with frequency. For instance, Dynon now has a
complete ADS-B In/Out package (transponder and UAT receiver) for less
than $3000 (plus I'm sure one of their displays)..
My flight bag literally bulges with non-certified gizmos. I still carry
my trusty aviation GPS, but when I find the right GPS app for my pad it
will float to the dusty bottom of the bag along with the old gum
wrappers and FBO receipts.

My Zaon PCAS helps make up for my aging (but still certified) eyes. It
has severe limitations, but it beats nothing. If nothing else, it keeps
reminding me to look out the front window.

In-flight weather was just for the big boys a few years ago, but now
it's filtering down to the rest of us. My pad gives me weather up until
the moment I launch, and sporadically updates it in flight via 3G. I'm
interested in that $900.00 gizmo that gives reliable inflight weather on
the Ipad, but I suspect these things will cost much less in a year or
two, and you won't need to buy a Foreflight subscription to use them.
Here in south Florida, summer cross-country flying is all about dodging
thunderstorms. I would rather have in-flight weather than a parachute.

I recently bought the new $199.00 Google Nexus7 8" pad. It is a
candidate to replace the Ipad that I have been flying with. So far, I
have confirmed that (unlike my Ipad) it has an excellent GPS built in.
I get superb weather images on it with a $10.00 Android Foreflight
app. (no subscription charge). Now I'm just looking for a decent GPS
app, and I will have a cheap yoke-mountable one-box solution.

Vaughn