Exam Preps
To assist students preparing for the private pilot and instrument rating oral exams, Sporty’s Pilot Shop has created two CD-ROMs, each with more than 420 oral exam questions. The questions are divided by topics and accompanied by suggested answers. The CD-ROMs, created by a chief flying instructor (CFI) with more than 25 years of experience, also include more than 135 images. The CD-ROMs can be used with Windows 95/98/Me or 2000/XP and require a 133-MHz+ central processing unit (CPU), 51-megabyte (available) hard disc, CD-ROM drive, and SVGA (super video graphics array) display with 256 colors or better. Each CD-ROM costs $39.95. Visit www.sportys.com.
Telephony System
ARNAV Systems Inc. now offers its new RCOM-100 SatPhone, an all-digital telephony system. It uses Qualcomm CDMA (code division multiple access) digital modulation to deliver high-quality voice telephony and a packet-data modem with a delivery rate of 9600bps (bits per second) for data transfer through a TCP/IP Internet connection. The RCOM-100 comes with a choice of three handsets, including a crew phone, a retractor-reel handset, and a 2.4-GHz cordless handset that allows the user to roam the cabin while using the SatPhone. An optional telephone dialer/adapter with touchtone keypad gives the crew access to the system through the aircraft audio panel. Visit www.arnav.com.
Cable Ties
Panduit Corp., Tinley Park, Ill., has made available its Contour-Ty cable ties, with low-profile heads to avoid snags and reduce bundle size. The ties also include parallel-entry threading to limit an installer’s exposure to sharp cut-offs and to prevent damage to adjacent cables. Two versions and five cross-sections of the Contour-Ty are available. Visit www.panduit.com.
Space Weather Monitor
Believe it or not, spacecraft encounter weather, too–which is why UK-based QinetiQ had developed its Merlin space weather monitor. Satellites are the first to feel the effect of space weather storms that can damage on-board electronics, QinetiQ explains. Aircraft avionics also may be affected by space weather, when secondary particles generated high in the atmosphere reach aviation altitudes. The Merlin weather hazard monitor is a low-power instrument that can be fitted on both spacecraft and aircraft. It can provide operators with real-time weather data, which may prompt aircraft pilots to change altitudes or routes. A spacecraft version of Merlin is now available, and an aircraft variant (based on similar technology) will be launched "at a later date," according to QinetiQ. Visit www.QinetiQ.com.
Mobile Computer
Kontron Mobile Computing, Eden Prairie, Minn., has released the newest version of its Power Lite portable computer, designed for field service and maintenance, calibration and diagnostics, and logistics management. The computer includes a 700-MHz Intel Pentium III processor and support for Windows 2000. It features a hard drive of 6 gigabytes or higher, a 20X CD-ROM drive, integrated trackball, two USB ports and two serial RS232 ports. Visit www.kontronmobile.com.
Network Server
Each year, since it launched the product in 2000, Pentar Avionics has introduced a new generation of its airborne network server, the JetLAN AS200. The first AS200 with an easy-to-remove battery pack, the third-generation server will support Inmarsat’s new Swift64 communications service. The JetLAN AS200, a standard 2-MCU box, can support up to 50 laptop computers and handle such network tasks as print sharing and file sharing. It can be used for video and audio on demand, encoding or decoding audio/video signals or as digital head-end equipment, and has the potential to support an electronic flight bag. The third-generation AS200 contains two hard drives, each with 40 gigabytes of memory. Each hard drive can store as many as eight full-length movies. Visit www.pentar.com.
Training Software
When John F. Kennedy, his wife and sister-in-law died in a plane crash near Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., his good friend, Howard Reisman, decided that something had to be done to improve flight safety. So the founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of ElectronicFlight Solutions Inc. launched the "CompleteLearning Avionics/Cockpit Automation Training Library." It comprises interactive, self-paced or instructor-led software products (CD-ROMS) to train on the use of such systems as the Goodrich SkyWatch/HP, Bendix/King enhanced ground proximity warning system (EGPWS) and KFC 150/200/225 autopilot, the Honeywell integrated hazard avoidance system (IHAS), and the Garmin GNS 430 and 530 integrated GPS/nav/com. The training tools were designed to familiarize pilots with specific systems and/or instruct them on a technology, for example, autopilots, terrain awareness warning systems (TAWS), etc. Working with systems manufacturers and the Federal Aviation Administration, ElectronicFlight Solutions plans to introduce additional learning modules, including one covering TCAS II/RVSM (traffic alert collision avoidance/reduced vertical separation minima). The company is based at Hyannis, Mass. Visit www.electronicflight.com.