radio

Of all the challenging tasks confronting newcomers to aviation, perhaps the least-appreciated and most difficult to overcome is learning to speak the language of aviation. Our lingua aerial is full of strange new terms unrelated to those of other activities that may have been encountered heretofore. “What’s a ‘pitot tube’ or ‘VOR?’” beginners will ask. […]

The silence was deafening. On April 26, 2022, at approximately 11:12 a.m. ET, while in level VFR flight at 2,000 agl and cruising over the nondescript Ohio landscape, 2,000-hour-plus pilot Marc Epner experienced the unthinkable in his Cirrus SR22, N973SD—a total engine failure. Cue the sweaty palms. What makes this event unique is the fact […]

Today’s Bargain Buy provides a unique combination of vintage, golden-era flying without many of the compromises that are so often inherent in aging aircraft. A modern interpretation of the classic J3 Cub, the experimental Legend Cub builds upon a legend with a full metal airframe that incorporates no wood, modern covering, and a cabin that’s […]

Prodded along perhaps by recent competition in the low-end com radio market, Garmin on Wednesday announced it will debut two new units targeted closely to replacing the legacy BendixKing KX155s and the like, fitting their form factor and dialing down the cost while keeping certain familiar Garmin functionality. The Garmin GTR 205 com and GNC […]

The first portable radio with a built-in LEMO jack.

I admit to being a little nervous when I have to fly an airplane with only a GPS navigator in the panel, aided only by a single communications radio, albeit with flip-flop frequencies. I suppose it’s because I grew up back when things frequently broke, both in the airplane and on the ground. It was […]

It’s not just me. Many of the pilot population in my circle confess to having the same difficulty: understanding what the heck ATC is saying, and what they want us to do. Controllers seem to talk faster, using lots of words. We hate to ask them over, but we also don’t want to misunderstand and […]

There is no shortage of miracle technologies we pilots take for granted. I’d argue that near the top of the list should be in-flight radio communications. Most pilots think that radios have been around forever, and they’re not far from being right about that. You won’t find any photos of Orville sending reports to Wilbur […]