Airbox responds....

Hi Daryl,


Thanks for writing. A few points for your interest:

• The only interference issue that we’re aware of is with iCom radios. This is not something limited to Airbox, but is a problem for other manufacturers too – iComs just seem to be very sensitive. Airbox can and do provide both advice and a suppressed lead for those that need it.

• On your question about the 250 map, the CAA actually supply us with the charts in such a format that the Shetland and Orkneys are cut off. We are looking at making these available for the future.

• There’s a good reason why we don’t include information about the preferences in the instruction manual. If we provided it as standard, then there’s a good chance that some un-technical customers would switch off the warning or manage to turn the backlight down to zero. This could potentially lead to an infringement where the unit gave no warning, something neither in the interests of NATS, nor in the interests of the customer. It might seem like a far-fetched scenario to a technical chap like you, but believe me it would happen if we provided those instructions. As you know, if someone wants to change backlight etc, then we’re happy to point them in the right direction, but we do always make an assessment first as to whether they are going to find it difficult, and if they are, then we always offer to talk them through it.

• As far as use of the product is concerned, I’m sure you’ve seen the videos in the support section of our website, which a lot of users find helpful.

• The Aware has been designed to be simple to operate and to give important flight information as clearly as possible. We want it to do the two things we think are most important in the VFR cockpit, namely telling the pilot where he or she is and warning them accurately and in a timely manner about controlled or hazardous airspace. We always listen to customer suggestions and I can give you a whole list of examples where we’ve implemented them, so keep them coming, but please understand that we can’t compromise the fundamental mission of the Aware.



William

Airspace Aware v Garmin, The FLY-UK test!

Back when the old king died Garmin were making GPS, they are robust and full of features, lots of buttons and a real boys toys. A good portable will see you pay 3x the cost of a good Dell Laptop with the latest technology and so when Airspace Aware arrived at circa 0.75x the cost of a Dell lap top I was interested to say the least! I was at the end of the life of my colour 295 and ready to invest, but a second hand second rate GPS from Garmin via EBay was still 1.5x the cost of that benchmarking Dell Laptop.

Just think about the Technology in a laptop for a few moments and you will see the direct comparator. Its like the Coke Comparator I use when visiting other nations! more or that later!

So, there I was at Popham, two hundred quid burning a hole in my credit card and so after the first 5 minute demo I purchased my Airspace Aware, 3 nights later I was packing up my Garmin 295 ready for posting to its new owner. For me a Zero - Zero Transaction, if you get my drift!

Fast forward to FLY UK and a 40 hour test drive around the shores of the UK with my new Aware, would I end up heaving it over the side? Re investing in Garmin (the Market Leader)?

The first thing you have to do when you buy a Aware is to figure out how to power it, the supplied Charger interferes with EVER ONES radios,  no exception that I am aware off, a simple fix is to by or make a charger that can be placed away from the Ciggy lighter and wired directly with the appropriate suppressors, they are available from the web but you have to buy them elsewhere not great customer service. I built my own from 4 quids worth of bits from Maplins.

NOTE to AIRBOX AWARE CUSTOMER SERVICE:- Offer other hard wire chargers and Suppressor options, face the problem

Fitted and functioning a BMAA minor mod sorts the paperwork, a nice touch from the BMAA its a free mod ;-) Thank you uncle Geoff & Ben.

Installed and working I found the 250 maps set a boon, easy to read and see airfield data, and in a microlight the distanced are manageable, the 500 maps had others in my groups preference so take you choice. We flew up to Aberdeen and were setting coarse for Orkney and may be the Shetlands, alas Wx did not work! Just as well really the Aware maps stop before Orkney!

NOTE to AIRBOX AWARE DEVELOPMENT:- Er? When is a 250 map not a 250 map? when it does not have all of the map on it?????? Doh! Schoolboy error...fix it or lose the hard core....France is my next mission, will I be disappointed?

Arriving in Longside (Peterborough) and chatting too the 3 other users on the Round UK I was traveling with they were complaining about Back lighting and visibility, A quick fix there is that the light and all the other settings are accessible if you start the Air box Aware with the Sim card out and access the settings, 3 very happy campers tracked on down the Great Glen!

NOTE to AIRBOX AWARE CUSTOMER SERVICE:- Its not in my manual how to set up one's preferences, up to and including turning off the sound! Simple fix lads....

Navigation setting up the device for your route is easy, and straight forward, but a couple of little things would make life so much easier...
- Ability to plot routes adding way points BEFORE, setting the final destination.
- Ability to reset the "go to" without having to scroll
- IPhone Swipe Functions......to navigate around the map
- Ability to Sleep the device without having the thing turn off when your trying to wake it again(Is it me?)

All in All I LOVE my Aware, living with it for a week with at least 2 legs of 3 hours a day and its fit for purpose and kept me out of and aware of airspace in places I have never been. However these
simple additional options would really make a good product GREAT! the things it does well are:-

- It alerts you to your location and airspace really clearly, its brill, brill, brill, this advantage is not evident flying in your local area so this device comes into its own when you need it most...
- Its easy to ready, and the moving map is very clear and works well with a map board to confirm location
- Its 0.75x the cost of Dell Lap top cost and 20% of the cost of its competitors (Well done Airbox), add the extras and its price could go up....I be willing to pay for the upgrade of new functions.
- Its light, easily mounted and works....

Did I make the right choice? for me yes, but this device needs to mature....lets watch this space.

Colemore Skysurfers - £580 ish raise for Hampshire Air Ambulance

Daryl's Microlight Blog: Home but not yet dry...

Daryl's Microlight Blog: Home but not yet dry...

Home but not yet dry...

This years event was I have too say one of the top three! If I had a rating it would be
1) 2006 Orkney Isles
2) 2009 Silly Isles
3) 2010 Isle of Mann & Northern Ireland

All for different reasons than one might imagine! This year we came close to Lands End, but the Cornwall north coast was spectacular second reward. Across the water and West Wales is spectacular too, with out landings at Haverfordwest, Llambedder and Mona. Across and up to Aberdeen with the most welcome from any airfield ever! Thank you once again the people of Long side. Close but so far away at John O Groats, across to the Western Isles via the Great Glen, WOW and on down to Northern Ireland. The long way home Via the Isles of Mann on towards "Krump".

I missed the last night, and have some work to do to recover the Microlight, but never the less some of the group pushed us on each morning and that had a very positive effect of almost flying the route!

Home, and almost dry. Dreaming of my next adventure.

Krump!

That is the noise that greeted me at Beverley, its the end of my Fly-UK 2010. Nose gear collapsed on touchdown, after a shabby circuit and a long days flying, a long weeks flying and in sight of the end of the week. The flight from the Isle of Mann and over the Pennines, hoping to borrow a car and get the Aircraft collected some other time....

Northern Ireland ! Isle of Man next!

Edinburgh - on to Aberdeen!

Fly UK - Day 1 - Old Sarum

New Age Wine - Cab Sav, South East Australian, Mon Dieu! Pierre!! thats a Stella Pint Glass! Anglais!

Officially Excited!

I am officially exited as I load my Pod with my favorite tunes! Tonight I spent the evening on the beach with the Charlotte, Emily and Beth BBQ and Paddling the Canoe around the buoys. Spending a few special moments with my family, I do love them so. Family life is rarely lived in context. The day to day petty arguments and personality defects (mine not theirs) get in the way of one's thoughts, when your excited about an "Expedition" those arguments pale and I can concentrate on how I think and feel about them all, I miss them before I have shut the front door.


This year we are planning one of the most ambitious Flights we have ever attempted. Lands End to Shetland Isles, Western Isles of Scotland, across to Northern Island, back to Isle of Man and North Wales to the final party near The Wash. That is a lot of fatigue, a lot of water and a lot of mountain flying. Generally the gotchas are found between the Seat and the controls, but in these environments its possible to fly for an hour and not see a road, flying 6 or 8 hours a day takes it toll. The weather changes in the mountains and in the Islands so quickly there are some Gotchas one cannot anticipate.

As I sit here I resolve to circuit every field and think, think and think again, familiarity is no friend to me. I need to fly every mountain every Vally carefully and with respect for the places I fly. I resolve to fly the water as high as I might, and equip myself with the self control not to panic or hyperventilate if I hit the cold water, or have to control an unexpected decent.

Tonight, dropping over the side of then canoe into the channel, I am wearing a wet suit and in still warm water, I hyperventilate momentarily, a reminder self control, self discipline and procedure will keep me alive.

Time away is thinking time, I am excited at all the possibility's all the things I will experience all the things that keep my heart pounding keep me alive to all of the things that are so valuable and important too me. They remind me that life is such a rich and deep experience, that we should use the fear to propel us though this time we have together, take every moment, grasp every opportunity. And love.

Spamfield 2010

 

Birds & Breakfast's

"What a life!" Claire our new aquantace says... "Is this how you boys
spend your weekends, eating all day breakfasts with birds having fun and
flying"

This particular Bird is an old friend if Jonneys who has a few storys to tell
herself. To start She is a bird with.wings, 777 type wings to be precise and has won a few
races too, a 70 miles kite surfing world record from silly isles to Newquay, over to Silverstone wining the odd race too...

So to answer the question, no not always, sometimes we just fly with the birds.

Team - Hampshire - The "Comps"

Phil and I spend 3 hours practicing and discussing the best and most comfortable way to fly and how we operate best as a team, which tasks are best Primary and Secondary or shared? We tried a range of configurations and ended up reversing the traditional roles.

- Pilot in the back
- Navigator in the Front

Why? It is easier to see the map in detail when it is on your lap than if it is duck taped to the persons back! The space and viz is better too, all things that the navigator needs, Piloting from the back offers some challenges, however it gets easier the more I do it, however precision landings and landings engine off from 1000ft overhead are tasks that I still need to sit in the front for...

We had to develop a new language or at least one were were not familiar with. What heading do I need from here? Where is my next way point? What photos do we have left to spot, what is our Airspeed and ground speed estimates, and how does that compare to the timing on the track...are on the right track, what is my next way point? What heading should we pick up? The simple truth of all of this is that we needed to organise our minds and our processes into a loop.

- Where are we, exactly! Is it where we are supposed to be?
- What heading should we be on?
- What is the next visual way point?
- Do we see any of our pictures (not the key features)
- What effect is the wind having on us?
- What orientation is the gate?
- What is the next task?
- Are we on a collision coarse?
- What are the engine temperatures and pressures?
- Do we have options?

If we learn to loop this, we may have a chance at the next comp to run up the rankings......oh and if we build some of the devices too! This is Laurie's rather natty "Track up" map holder, Laurie turns out to be one of life's problem solvers, a bit ingenious, we like Laurie he really help us understand some of the insider tips without which we would not have had as many points...thank Laurie! Love the Cushion ;-)

Best Newcomers!

What a weekend that was, amazing flying, lively debate and a gong to end the weekend truly one great weekend, I could list the tasks, if you wanted me too drop me an email and I will give you the full gen, however the most interesting part of the weekend was finding a combination and method to work as a team in the cockpit as this along with some skill seem to be the biggest difference between first and last. Teamwork was what this was all about.

In the spirit of all of the other competitors, we are happy to share our "Secret Sauce", for us it was realising that Navigation is easier from the front seat and flying P1 from the rear seat was our breakthrough moment!

Know you Islay from your Islands?

Preparation is in full flow! Time to get to grips with the Scottish maps.Dave tells me he is only going to take a bottle this year and not buy any on route. Wise decision.

Hay Martin, I am flying over the English channel in a FlyBe jet, it's does not get any easier you know. We all stilll miss you. Wait for us, we will be there sooner than you can imagine.... We will be bringing our splashers be ready....

M: 07595329158

Kate

Arriving at the Hanger, I am met by Kate and her Boy Friend, Kate is a Enthusiastic and rather engaging Vulcanologist researching at Oxford University, her 3rd Uni! Katie is looking to fly the South Coast, before her Army boy friend takes her to the mess BBQ and Social later in the day. We fly the South Coast for 25 minutes, Kate is enthusiastic and excited, "I can see why you do this its fantastic I love it" As we slide along side Cliff at 2000ft and break for a descending circle left there are whoops and joy from the back seat.

So we chat about the weekend ahead and Kate asks me the question all people ask when you fly them in a microlight "how long have you been doing this?" its a question that always amuses me, its a question I would have asked 2000feet ago while my feet were glued by gravity to the tarmac, nearly all passengers asks the question when there buts are planted in the plastic at half a mile up....what if the answer was........

We chat on and about Volcanic Ash and I tell Kate that last time we flew in the ash cloud we could see the red haze in then inversion at 3500 ft and that the Microlight was covered in a light pepper of dust when  we returned, and Kate tells me why this ask is bad stuff...

Kate tells me that under a microscope the dust particles are razor sharp particles and will wreck your lungs, as well as a Rolls Royce aircraft Engine....Woo ha! Is that's why I have been spitting blood particles for 3 weeks....how lung have I been doing this?

If you say so, it MUST be true?

Phil Armstrong and I have been preparing for the last 3 week, we practice cockpit operation two up, practice nav, set up the compass, packed and fueled, preflighted the aircraft, we are ready to got to the nations at Popham. Slight snag, Phil texts at 2200hrs to say.....its not this weekend its next week! We are a week early...Ce la vie what to do with am open weekend and a fully prepped Aircraft......

35 days and counting...

The excitement is palpable! Preparation starts on this years Fly UK 2010, with the downloading of the 70 Strong Pilot list....yes the biggest yet! This year I am going to have Sooooo much fun! Tee Shirts ordered, booking fee paid, forms downloaded, let the banter begin!

Alive Aware!

Aware - Aware

Every now and again you happen across a product or a service that hits you between the eyes and is good value for money, better functionally and based on a business model that works for the customers and not the excutive board. Today at Popham microlight trade fair I did that with GPS. For years Garmin and others have been over charging pilots for hardware and raping us for updates, however today not only did I discover the "IPhone of GPS" in terms of flexibility and functionality Aware are selling the best value Aircraft GPS on the market today, £250 quid ish. Well done Mr Aware!

Simply put, this is the future of Navigation and Airspace GPS. Garmin, time to bed over and kiss your ass good bye.

Popham Microlight Fair - the season starts!!

Snow - "Van Furen" - Goose

And so the story goes that I was heading to Colemore and on 129.825 I hear Gustie and Johnny en route too! Gustave is nailing "Suky" as hard to get there and be ready to tie down his acquisition! He is followed by Johnny in this early Microlight. An enthusiastic Gustie who I do believe and sell anything to anyone, was oozing joy at this new toy, the engineer who designed it also designed other flying bricks etc etc etc... It came from EBay and arrived via a three day expedition from the Lake district to be at Colemore traveling at 60 with a 30 knot headwind! Tied down for the night its real prize was the Blue Top 582 under that biscuit tin cowling. Given it cost circa £1500, I recon that without the engine its worth minus £250 quid ;-)) Never the less, Gustie is in love with this G - MVIL and it down wind swagger

Oil Seed - Rape

What a wonderful night to fly, Altocirrus cloud (yes the bore of clouds) and the oil seed rape just comeing into colour, fields massed together at Hurst Lane Privit, will be in full boom by the weekend

Gentlemen's Flying Carrage!

Podless triking, the perfect summer passtime. 30 minutes of bumbling
up and down the south coast on a sunny day is food for the soul. Dangling your feet in mid air and landing at 20 mph is just wild! I am a convert for the way things used to be...

Volcanic Ash - Evidence

Last week we flew in the "Ash Cloud and thought we could see a tinge to the
cloud layers. Arriving at the hangers today the Microlight has a layer
of dark dust on the leading edges and uprights! Its difficult to show on a photo but there are smudges and extra collections that can be seen.....

Underground Flying

If you look closely at the first photo, you will spot the microlight. The question is this, are we flying underground? I have a few flying ambitions left and one of them is to fly underground, today we found a series of quarry's in Somerset and flew inside them, below ground level, so were we flying underground? I think so, one more off the list.

Steve Walker - Bager Farm - Dorset

My Mecca...

Setting out today to fly the Jurassic Coast my mission was a pilgrimage to Dunkerswell. I earned my wings there under the stewardship of Jim Greenshields who is to this day runs the school which is now a thriving business, with two hangers packed with Flex and Fixed wing.

At the end of my first log book, I had amassed around 400hrs over a nine year period including the break I took from flying for five years. The firs to second was significant too me I though I should make the last flight recorded the one back to Dunkerswell, so as to return to the first entry. I could buy my next log book too and have the old one endorsed by the person who inspired me in the first place.

So it was natural that as I pass from log book number Two to Number Three that the first and last flights should be from there too...

Setting of this morning in still air I need a pee by Dorset, and find a new field called "Eyre" a friendly welcome, some setting up on the wing to do too, I am off on the second leg to Dunkerswell with a new field in my book too! I spent the day with Jim and Alexter and the now 3 year old Will, my how kids mark time. A wander over to pay my landing fee and buy lunch and soon its time to go, planning complete, Steve a new friend from Blandford Forum texts to say he is flying , we meet up at Bager Farm the second new field in the day, set up and fly the silky afternoon air together.

What a wonderful day to fly, what a great day to meet new friends, and what a day to remember back 13 years to that first flight at Dunkerswell, my piloting mecca.

2010 - First Club Sortie

Back in then saddle and back in formation, diamond 4 formation on the way past Odiham and on to Baskingstoke and then on to thermal with the Red kites for lunch at White Waltham. With the staggered leaving times we arrived within about 10 minutes of each other to fill up the circuit. Lunch and back to Popham where the shorter flight meant we filled the circuit just too much for comfort! We lost Clint on the way back but found him at home all safe and well ;-)

The first event of the year and all is well! Hampshire Microlight Club flys the 2010 season! Thanks to Clive for such a great trip...

"Sadown" at Sandown

A great days flying with friends a first in a long time, we flew back to Sandown to find a field with no radio and no welcome, a landing fee and a cupper in the portacabin was in stark contrast to Jazz in "The Aviator bar" and a great lunch surrounded by hundreds of flyers.

It seems if the locals are to be believed that the subdivition of the land and runway between Glen Collins and a company called Wharflands in part owned by David Mellor means that effectivly this airfield is missing its heart. That heart that Dick Steel had given it over the last 5 years now lies broken.

Did "The Aviator" have an accident, when it burnt to the ground? or was that a mishap, know to a few? We will never know for sure, but one thing that happened that night, the heart of Sandown airfield died.

"I am too busy living to think about dying.." Martin Bromage January 2010

Impressions of a PilotGary Claude Stoker
Flight is freedom in its purest form,To dance with the clouds which follow a storm;
To roll and glide, to wheel and spin,To feel the joy that swells within.
To leave the earth with its troubles and fly,And know the warmth of a clear spring sky;
Then back to earth at the end of the day,Released from the tensions which melted away.
Should my end come while I am in flight,Whether brightest day or darkest night;Spare me no pity and shrug off the pain,Secure in the knowledge that I'd do it again.
For each of us is created to die, And within me I know,I was born to fly.

High Flightby John Gillespie Magee
Oh I have slipped the surely bonds of earthand danced the skies on laughter silvered wings.Sunward I've climbed and joined the tumbling mirth of sun split cloudsand done a hundred things you have not dreamed of,wheeled and soared and swung high in the sunlit silence.
Hovering there I've chased the shouting wind aloftand flung my eager craft through footless halls of air.Up up the long delirious burning blue,I've topped the wind swept heights with easy gracewhere neither lark nor eagle flew.
And there with silent lifting mindI've trod the high untrespassed sanctity of spacePut out my hand and touched the face of God.