Lil' Roundup

Over the past months and years I've posted my thoughts on different products that I've found useful and interesting. In the process I've made the virtual acquaintance of a lot of hard-working folks who use their ingenuity to make flying easier and safer for the rest of us. So here is a round up of new features that have been added to products I've reviewed in the past.

Some of these products are for sale, others are offered with just the suggestion that you donate some cash to help sustain the developer's efforts. If you choose to take advantage of these products, don't be an iDeadbeat: Cough up some cash, okay?

Nacomatic


Doug Rantz's has made some bookmark changes to the PDF files he offers at Nacomatic. The new bookmarks should help users more easily locate airports when they don't know the airport's identifier, especially for those using the Kindle DX to store and view approach charts. Your donations keep Doug's efforts going, so donate already!

Private Pilot Workbooks

Dan Dyer's Ground School Workbook for Private Pilots is a valuable product for the aspiring private pilot in search of a paper-based enhancement to self-paced study. Rather than recreate or repackage the content of the FAA's Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge, this workbook provides thoughtfully written questions that test your knowledge of the material contained the PHAK. The workbook adds value by providing additional questions and exercises for selected areas of knowledge that go beyond what the FAA covers. All in all, a great way to move student pilots toward that elusive understanding level of knowledge.

SkyCharts for iPhone



Developer Heikki Julkunen has been making regular updates to SkyCharts and the latest version has some cool, new features, including support for VFR Terminal Area Charts, IFR low-altitude en route charts, METARs, rudimentary flight planning, and North-up or Track-up display options. Kudos to Heikki for getting the NACO IFR low-altitude en route charts into a georeferenced format, which is a non-trival task. All for $10!

ReadyProcs


Doug Moreland hasn't been sitting on his hands either. He continues to make user interface enhancements to ReadyProcs, the application of choice for viewing approach charts and airport facility information on almost any Java-capable computer. Though I don't yet have a suitable computer to use in flight, I use ReadyProcs for printing off a selection of approach charts in kneeboard format, double-sided. When I have a simulator session to teach and want to provide my favorite collection of charts for, say, DME arcs, ReadyProcs let's me print out charts with minimal fuss. My hope is that soon there will be a tablet device with Java support on which I can run ReadyProcs for in-flight use. Now that would be cool!

PFMA for iPhone


My favorite iPhone E6B calculator remains PFMA. It's easy to use, full-featured, and has that cool FMS-like interface. The most recent update lets you set a variety of preference items and I recommend this product to beginning and experienced alike. What more could you ask for $6?

LightSpeed Mach1
I was startled when I realized that I've been using my Mach1 headset for over 4 years now. It is still my preferred headset. The Mach1 is lightweight, has excellent sound quality, doesn't require regular battery replacement, and allows me to wear a hat or cap to protect my balding pate from sunlight. I've had a few occasions to send the unit back to LightSpeed for service, but consider that those four-plus years involved over 2600 hours of flight time. Each time I sent the unit in I received a replacement unit within just a few days.

I started out using the Mach1 with replaceable blue ear tips. This worked fine when I was making a living flying the Caravan, but they didn't provide enough sound dampening for flying noisy, GA piston aircraft. I quickly graduated to the custom ear molds and to be honest, the first few iterations of these molds were less than ideal. Once the fit of the custom molds was corrected, the only remaining issue was that oil from my ears gradually lubricated the molds, causing the ear piece holding the boom mic to occasionally pop out. Regularly cleaning the ear molds with soap and water as well as wiping off the metal stalks on the ear pieces with isopropyl alcohol kept this under control.



Custom ear molds need to be replaced every few years because ear canals change shape, especially if you lose or gain weight. After shedding nearly 30 pounds of weight over the last year, it was time to purchase the ear mold kit online at LightSpeed's website and have the impressions made by a local audiologist who'd send them to Sensaphonics. After about 5 weeks, Sensaphonics had sent the new design for these molds, which solves the problem of loose ear pieces popping out: The new molds enclose the outside of the ear pieces, making the whole package more solid and secure. I'm looking forward to many more years of use of this excellent product!

Last, but not least, if you're using a reader to view this blog then you probably don't see the Donate button in the upper right top edge of your screen. So point your browser here, find that button, click on it, and donate whatever you can afford. You'll feel better ...