With the roller coaster ride of aviation gasoline prices we’ve been on its certainly good news that prices are coming down but will they get to $1.99?

Do you think you’ll ever see $1.99 again to fill up your airplane?

Well Diamond Aircraft recently launched a plan to provide new buyers of their popular DA40 XLS with $1.99 Av Gas for 18 months! It was all part of a Go Green Promotion that highlights the airplanes incredible fuel economy of 170+ miles per hour on about 10 gallons of fuel an hour. That’s better than the car I drive!

For more info and details check out these links:
http://www.flydominion.com/dominion/2008/10/takeyou/

http://www.flydominion.com/dominion/2008/10/gogreen/

If you can get past the headline news about John Edwards we can get to the real news…Airventure 2008 was a huge success and exceeded expectations.

Candidly, the entire industry was holding its breath this year to see what the turn out at Airventure would be and boy were they all surprised. Let’s face it, most industry folks expected the price of gas to cause alot of people in aircraft or in recreational vehicles to choose not to attend. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Read the rest of this entry »

This announcement just out on ANN…Diamond will bring the D-JET to Oshkosh this year along with their new diesel engines. The D-JET represents the first of a new breed of Personal Jets. It has a three panel Garmin G1000 configuration and represents the perfect example of the type of advancements we regularly point out here at GlassPilot.com. The mock up has traveled the country but this will be the first major event where the plane maker will be showing the flying prototype as well. The company says it plans to begin deliveries of the new jet in 2009

. Read the rest of this entry »

Its nice having the weather on your glass cockpit and confidently flying through the clouds with your Synthetic Vision Technology (SVT)…but where do you go for pre-flight info when you are on the go away from your computer?

Just as there have been advancements in the cockpit, we’ve seen equally amazing developments in the supporting technologies for pilots. Specifically, the iPhone has brought an amazing new level of information and capabilities to the fingertips of pilots.

Specifically, the iPhone is unique at the moment in that it has the ability to truly provide a wireless web experience that is useful just short of amazing. Using Foreflight.com with an iPhone you can access weather data, airport information, diagrams and radar displays that even loop just like on your computer.

Our favorite feature of all is the ability to file a flight plan quickly and easily from the iPhone while on the go. I’ve even had the instance where I called from the taxiway for my clearance and my IFR plan had timed out because I was running behind that day. No worries…I simply whipped out my iPhone and tapped a few “keys” and refiled. I gave it 30 seconds and called back on the radio and sure enough the guy said, “Yep, I’ve got it now!”.

We’ve had computer based access for weather from DUAT and DUATS for some time along with great flight planning tools such as www.fltpln.com. The difference is Read the rest of this entry »

The objective of glasspilot.com is to educate and enable pilots into modern technology that makes flying safer, more efficient and more fun. With some of the more advanced smart phones available today, access to weather and flying-related information on the go has never been better. To help pilots see the potential and to make using these new devices we have implemented an iPhone version of our website!

While viewing the site on your desktop or laptop computer, you will notice no difference. However, if you view the website on an Apple iPhone or iPod Touch, you will see that the content has been optimized for your device and is much faster while on the go.

Coming Next: GlassPilot.Mobi… a free mobile phone portal for access to pilot weather services! Stay tuned.

Happy Landings,

GlassPilot.com

SVT First Look Video

Thanks to our friends at AOPA
you can watch the
Synthetic Vision First Look Video.

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April. 08/08

Diamond Aircraft introduces Synthetic Vision on DA40 Diamond Stars

Diamond Aircraft Industries today introduced the new Garmin Synthetic Vision Technology (SVT) for new DA40 Diamond Stars. Garmin’s SVT presents a 3D depiction of terrain, obstacles and traffic on the G1000’s Primary Flight Display (PFD) so that the avionics panel replicates what pilots would see outside the cockpit on a clear day. “With Diamond having been the launch platform for the Industry Standard G1000, it is only appropriate that we continue to lead by introducing this most modern of safety enhancements to general aviation,” said Peter Maurer, President of Diamond Aircraft.

“The technology is incredible, but what is really sensational is the price. Until now, Synthetic Vision of this quality was reserved for military or large jets, and cost several hundred thousand dollars. Garmin truly deserves credit for pioneering such affordable safety enhancements.”

The foundation of SVT is the depiction of 3D terrain, w

hich is displayed on the PFD. Land, water and sky are clearly differentiated with shading and textures that are similar to the topographical colors found on the multi-function display (MFD) moving map. Read the rest of this entry »

AOPA Notes ‘The Quiet Revolution Continues’

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recently marked a major milestone in the move toward a satellite-based air traffic control system with the implementation of the 1,000th instrument approach that uses the enhanced GPS Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS). The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association has been a strong proponent of WAAS as part of the move toward satellite navigation that the Association has championed since 1990.

“There is a lot of talk about NextGen, a satellite-based air traffic control system that is envisioned for 20 years down the road,” said AOPA President Phil Boyer, “but WAAS is an example of what I like to call ‘NowGen’ — technologies to improve air traffic that are either here today or will be ready to deploy in the next three to five years.”

Read the rest of this entry »