Aviation Consumer

As a dedicated pilot, you require gear that operates consistently and accurately. You can't afford to be sidelined by unreliable equipment, nor do you want your safety at risk due to gear that doesn't meet its advertised standards. For over thirty years, passionate aircraft owners and pilots have relied on AVIATION CONSUMER for their essential purchasing guidance. Since it doesn't accept any advertisements, AVIATION CONSUMER can provide unbiased and thorough assessments of aircraft, avionics, accessories, and other equipment without any conflicts of interest.

National, Trade/B2B

English

Magazine

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Global

#790492

United States

#239645

Vehicles/Aviation

#160

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Articles

Garmin SmartCharts Demo

1 week ago | aviationconsumer.com | Larry Anglisano

Nine years in the making, Garmin has reinvented digital aeronautical procedural charts with a new product it calls SmartCharts. Available with the Garmin Pilot app for iOS, the SmartCharts procedures automatically adjust and scale as the pilot zooms and pans within the chart, similar to Garmin’s data-driven maps across its entire aviation product line.
Drone Collisions: What's the Risk?

2 weeks ago | aviationconsumer.com | Larry Anglisano

UAVs aren’t going away any time soon and that means GA ops need to adapt to an environment with increasing low-level drone traffic and the risks that tag along. A company that has a finger on the pulse of everything UAV tech—uAvionix—has been developing multiple layers of traffic safety backstop for UAVs, but for aircraft not equipped with ADS-B Out, the risk of collision could be higher.
Panel Planner 101: Basic IFR on a Budget

2 weeks ago | aviationconsumer.com | Larry Anglisano

For more than five decades, active and dedicated aircraft owners and pilots have turned to AVIATION CONSUMER to answer their most important buying questions. This website contains many older reviews. Unless otherwise noted, these reviews carry product pricing from the time of the original review.
Sun ‘n Fun Diary: Few Standout Products

2 weeks ago | aviationconsumer.com | Larry Anglisano

This year’s spring break for pilots wasn’t a show for many new products, and buyers and sellers were clearly concerned with fallout from trade tariffs. To continue reading this article or issue you must be a paid subscriber. Sign in Subscribe to Aviation Consumer Start a subscription to Aviation Consumer for just $74 and access all of our online content - over 2,000 articles - free of charge. Subscribe today and save 19%. It's like getting 3 months FREE!Already Subscribed?
skyAlert Traffic for Drone Ops

2 weeks ago | aviationconsumer.com | Larry Anglisano

In an increased effort to reduce the risk of collisions between UAS and manned aircraft, uAvionix announced at the AUVSI Xponential show in Houston, Texas, this week the first wearable ADS-B receiver called skyAlert. The $499 receiver is based on the Sentry portable ADS-B receiver that’s popular for GA operations, but packaged as a wearable unit for UAS operators and observers.
Cirrus Safe Return Autoland Demo

3 weeks ago | aviationconsumer.com | Larry Anglisano

The first piston-powered aircraft with Garmin’s Emergency Autoland and a servo throttle, the 2025 Cirrus SR series G7+ comes standard with the tech that Cirrus calls Safe Return. Aviation Consumer Editor Larry Anglisano went flying with Ivy McIver at Cirrus Aircraft for a demo as a chase to the print story in the June 2025 issue of Aviation Consumer magazine.
Running ‘em Out of the Maintenance Shop

3 weeks ago | aviationconsumer.com | Larry Anglisano

For years, one of my favorite stops at the Sun ‘n Fun show in Florida is to catch up with Mike Jones. Mike’s a sweetheart of a guy, but he’s blunt—and serious—about how he deals with aircraft maintenance at his sprawling, newly renovated shop in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. So serious, in fact, that he actually tries to “run customers out of the maintenance shop” to gauge whether they are as serious about maintenance as they should be.
CubCrafters’ NXCub: Backcountry Access

1 month ago | aviationconsumer.com | Rick Durden

That’s the CubCrafters’ NXCub flying high and fast because it has the the lowest weight to horsepower ratio—10.7 pounds to 1—of any production two-place STOL backcountry airplane. Moreover, check out the tricycle landing gear. In a world where insurance companies are walking away from too many pilots who want to fly taildraggers in the backcountry, we think the NXCub solves the dilemma with ease.
Cirrus SR-series Pistons Get Safe Return Emergency Autoland

1 month ago | aviationconsumer.com | Larry Anglisano

The first application for Garmin’s Emergency Autoland on a piston-powered airplane, Cirrus announced today that the FAA-certified Safe Return with autothrottle will be standard on the SR G7+ series models. The first application for Garmin’s Emergency Autoland was nearly six years ago and until now has been limited to turbine-powered aircraft.
Unleaded Avgas: Still More Confusion

1 month ago | aviationconsumer.com | Rick Durden

EAGLE’S most recent public information letter discusses the FAA Fleet Authorization process. However, what it doesn’t say is concerning. To continue reading this article or issue you must be a paid subscriber. Sign in Subscribe to Aviation Consumer Start a subscription to Aviation Consumer for just $74 and access all of our online content - over 2,000 articles - free of charge. Subscribe today and save 19%. It's like getting 3 months FREE!Already Subscribed?