What’s New

MGL Offers Three-Year Warranty

Thanks to the thousands of units shipped and eight years of reliability data, MGL Avionics U.S. has announced that it is now offering a three-year limited warranty on all EFIS and single-instrument products in its product line. The warranty also applies to instruments purchased prior to this announcement.

Further, if the customer is not fully satisfied with the purchase, the instrument can be sent back to the company in its original condition (uninstalled) for a full refund.
All MGL products are covered for three years against manufacturing or product defects, and the units will be repaired or replaced as necessary at no charge. One exclusion is the LCD screen, which, if damaged by the customer, will not be replaced free of charge.

For more information, call 877/835-9464 or visit www.mglavionics.com.

Grand Rapids Tech Introduces Sport SX

Grand Rapids Technologies has expanded its EFIS lineup with the introduction of the Sport SX. Until recently, the company’s EFIS product line was neatly divided between the Horizon HX, which includes synthetic vision, and the Sport models, which could not be fitted with SV. The key point is that the HX required an external AHRS module, while the Sport EFIS carried its AHRS equipment inside the main display box.

Citing the need to upgrade processors in the Sport, GRT elected to add SV as an option to the Sport, now calling it the Sport SX. This new model uses the same screen and bezel arrangement as the Horizon HX, so either the 6.5-inch-diagonal or 8.4-inch-diagonal screen sizes are available. The Sport SX retains the HXs twin knobs and five bezel pushbuttons.

Virtually all the features of the Horizon HX are either standard or available on the $3000 Sport SX-and its this parsing of the features that allows GRT to keep the SXs price lower than the standard HX. For example, the HX has standard synthetic vision, which is a $1200 upgrade on the Sport SX. The HX includes an ARINC 429 data interface card, which is $475, plus an additional $500 if you want to enable the Sport SXs vertical autopilot command features (using the ARINC 429 data output). An external GPS is a $400 option, while a WxWorx XM Weather module is a $950 option. The Sport SX also does not support analog inputs or discrete outputs, and has five serial in/out ports versus the Horizon HXs eight.

Still, there is a considerable cost savings. Comparably configured, the Sport SX (with all the most desirable options) runs $5175, while the Horizon HX runs $7000 with a single external AHRS module.

More information on the GRT Sport SX can be found at www.grtavionics.com.

Zero Gravity Builder Assistance Facility Expands

Zero Gravity Builders Studio LLC has completed its move to a newly renovated 14,000-square-foot facility with taxiway access on airport property in Richland, Washington. The new facility is more than four times larger than the previous space, allowing Zero Gravity additional elbowroom to serve its builder-assistance projects.

Specializing in high-performance Experimental aircraft, Zero Gravity has three Viperjet customer projects on the shop floor and will welcome a Lancair Evolution customer this spring. Although the national recession has been very hard on aviation in general, we are optimistic that the industry will rebound and pilots will continue to pursue their passion for flight, said Rob Huntington, general manager. Moving to a larger facility was really a timing issue for Zero Gravity. The building became available at a time when we were taking on more projects and needed the extra space. We have an experienced, qualified team in place to do the job, and now we have the space to help more clients complete their projects.

With the additional square footage, Zero Gravity will also be able to accept more business for the IdeaStudio, a division of Zero Gravity where prototyping assistance is available to inventors across a broad range of industries. The company also has plans to offer a larger menu of aircraft services to be announced later this year.

For more information, call 509/942-8439 or email [email protected].

Two-Place Patrol Joins Bearhawk Kit Aircraft Lineup

AviPro Aircraft, Ltd. announced production of a two-place, tandem utility kit aircraft as an addition to its popular four-place Bearhawk quickbuild kit.

The Bearhawk Patrol is a high-wing aircraft designed for comfort, endurance and fun. The proportions of the cabin provide room for just about any size pilot, a passenger (or two, if they are small) and gear, the company says. Low landing speeds are enhanced by the use of the 18-foot span, manually operated flaps (up to 40).

With an O-360 Lycoming pulled back for maximum endurance, a steady 100+ mph can be maintained for nearly 9 hours, the company says. Fuel tanks hold 55 gallons. Keith Vasey, VP of sales, said, The Bearhawk Patrol is everything that made the Super Cub famous and has significantly greater speed, climb rate and endurance.

The Bearhawk Patrol can accept engines from 115 hp to 210 hp. The prototype is powered by a 180-hp Lycoming O-360 along with a fixed-pitch aluminum propeller.

The 180-hp Patrol has a cruise speed (60% power) of 140 mph, a takeoff roll of 250 feet and a landing speed of 35 mph, according to the company. The wingspan is 33 feet, cabin width is 32 inches, and the two-place prototype has a 1050-pound useful load.

For more information, call 877/528-4776 or visit www.bearhawkpatrol.net.

EFIS/ECB System Offers Economic Automated Monitoring

Vertical Power is now selling the VP-X system the company introduced last year at the Sun n Fun fly-in. The VP-X box is intended to simplify electronics wiring and provide some automated monitoring of individual devices and the electrical system in general when coupled with an EFIS display. Unlike the more expensive VP-100 and VP-200 systems, avionics, lights, trim and flaps are all controlled using standard switches on the panel, with modes annunciated on your EFIS.

The VP-X uses intelligent, programmable electronic circuit breakers, which can detect conditions such as short circuits, over-current and open-circuit faults. For example, the system may notify the pilot of a burned-out landing light or disable a starter circuit if the engine is already running.

Although the ECBs are remotely mounted (the VP-X does not take up any room on the panel), you can review their status and also reset a fault on the EFIS display. With more than 30 power circuits, there is enough capacity to wire a typical Vans RV, GlaStar, Lancair Legacy, Velocity or other two- or four-place Experimentals.

The systems capabilities include the ability to display individual current draw for each circuit with a user-configurable circuit-breaker value for each. There is flexibility to use any type of panel-mounted switch, configurable to control one or more electric devices (the VP-X can turn on and off devices up to 18 amps). Pitch and roll trim (based on airspeed), and trim motor travel limits are controlled on the EFIS with a solid-state trim motor. Electric flaps can also be controlled, and the system includes intermediate flap stops, disabling the flap-down switch at a specified airspeed, flap overspeed warnings, flap motor run-on protection and backup flap controls on the EFIS. The landing light control includes switching from steady on the ground to pulsing when airborne. There is also backup circuit capability for critical avionics.

Wiring is simplified, as the builder runs wires from the box to each electrical device (radios, transponder, landing lights, flap and trim motors), and then uses the setup menu in a given EFIS to configure each circuit. The VP-X supports a single-bus electrical architecture with a single or dual alternator setup.

Currently, the VP-X integrates with the Advanced Flight Systems AF-3400, AF-3500 and AF-4500 series EFISes, the Grand Rapids Technologies HX EFIS, and MGL Avionics Odyssey Mk II and Voyager Mk II EFISes. The price is $1800. A wiring harness that includes 600 feet of wire and connectors is available.

For more information, 505/715-6172 or visit www.verticalpower.com.