Flight Log - December, 2015
Seattle Avionics Logo
Dear Fellow Pilot,

Happy Holidays to you from everyone at Seattle Avionics!  We had a great year in 2015 in terms of sales, new products, and earning lots and lots of new customers.  We'd like to thank you for making our year so incredible.  We sincerely hope your 2015 was great, too, and wish you all the best for 2016.

Quick summary in case you still have some holiday shopping to do:
  • iOS 9.2 is approved for FlyQ EFB use.  We notify pilots via our Blog about iOS issues, new product releases, sales, and much more.  We strongly recommend that you take a look at the blog and sign-up for email notifications using the "Follow" section on the right side of the blog page.
  • Our office will be closed next week (Dec. 20 - Dec. 27). 
  • FlyQ Pocket 2.2 released to Apple and we're waiting for them to approve it.  No AOPA membership required and free to all pilots.
  • New Bad Elf ADS-B System.
  • New advice on which iPad to buy.
Each month, the newsletter will cover what's new with our products, include helpful tips and tricks on using them, and sometimes look ahead to what's coming soon.  Back issues can be read from our Web site, under the Company tab.
 
I'm Steve Podradchik, the CEO here.  I write the newsletter so email me personally if there is something you'd like me to cover next month.  My email address is stevep@seattleavionics.com.

What's New

December is always a fun month with lots of activities so we'll keep things brief today.

 iOS 9.2 Approved for FlyQ EFB

iOS 9.2FlyQ EFB
Our test group has completed and verified their automated and manual testing and have not found any problems with FlyQ EFB 2.1.1 (or upcoming 2.2) with Apple's latest iOS version.  We announced this in our blog on Dec 15.  You're free to navigate to it at your own discretion.  For what it's worth, I updated my iPhone and iPads last week and haven't had any problems.

Rather than rely on a monthly newsletter, we use our blog to give pilots real-time updates about iOS versions, product releases and issues, system status, and much more.  Please sign-up to get email notifications when we make new blog entries to ensure you always have the latest information.  To do that, just click to the blog from our Web site (the "Blog" tab) or click here.  Then use the Follow section on the right side of the page to sign-up for email notification.


 Office Closed the Week of December 20

Happy Holidays

As a practical matter, things are usually pretty quiet around the office this time of year.  In keeping, we've decided to give everyone the entire week off to spend the holidays with their families.  We'll be back in the office as usual on Monday, December 28.

Since we won't be here to answer phones or email, I'd like to remind you of all the self-serve support information we have on our Web site:







 Bad Elf ADS-B Project

FlyQ EFB supports something like 20 different ADS-B receivers and transceivers (In + Out) including Stratus^, Clarity, FreeFlight, NavWorx, Dual, iLevil, SkyRadar, Stratux, and more. 

Bad Elf ADS-B

But we're really excited by an Kickstarter project from our friends at Bad Elf (the folks who make the great GPS used by many pilots).  They're launching an ADS-B receiver starting at just $299.  Yeah, $299!  

"Only 10% of pilots fly with ADS-B weather and traffic information today. As pilots, this frustrates us," said Brett Hackleman, CTO/Founder of Bad Elf.  "ADS-B provides incredible value and improves safety, but current receivers are just too expensive."

"In 2010, Bad Elf brought aviation-grade GPS to the iPad. Today, we're announcing the first affordable ADS-B weather and traffic receiver with universal app compatibility for just $299," continued Brett.

We're big fans of open standards and are really excited to see this project.  Bad Elf is offering variations with and without an AHRS and both Single and Dual channel devices.  Take a look and, if you like what you see, consider backing them.


You may wonder what a "Kickstarter project" is.  Kickstarter is a great non-profit organization that helps brings projects from developers, artists, musicians, filmmakers, etc. to life by finding people who will back them.  Individuals and groups submit projects with very specific plans to Kickstarter (like building an ADS-B receiver) and set a goal for how much money they need to raise to make it happen.  When you agree to back a Kickstarter project, you're only charged when and if the company reaches their funding goal.  If a company doesn't get enough pledges to make it happen, no one is charged.

In this case, backing the project means you get an ADS-B receiver for an incredible price and you get a lot of input into what the product is and how it works.  It's that simple.

 iPad Purchase Suggestions

iPads

Many of us will get shiny new iPads under the tree in 2015.  But with so many iPad variations to choose from, I asked Keith Russo, head of our Tech Support group, to offer some advice.  He was kind enough to write a very detailed (and fun to read) blog entry and I strongly suggest reading it.

In a nutshell, since you can't expand the storage space or processing power of the iPad once you buy one, Keith suggests getting a fairly high-end device so it lasts much longer before becoming obsolete:
  • For larger cockpits or where you prefer larger, easier to read text, choose an iPad Air 2, 64 GB.  $599.
  • For smaller cockpits or when you want to mount on the yoke, a 64 GB iPad Mini 4 is ideal.  $499.
  • For a great economical choice, the 32 GB iPad mini is a great buy at just $319.
For all models, add another $130 or so to add cellular data capability if you want maximum utility from the device.

But, as I said, read Keith's blog entry as it's much more detailed and will make you laugh.

Upcoming Events

Pacific Northwest Aviation Conference and Tradeshow, February 20-21, 2016.  We've been going to this show for years and love it.  If you're in Washington, Oregon, or Idaho, it's a great way to spend a few days.  We'll be there to answer questions and give live demos for all of our products.  We also generally do a presentation or two but the speaker schedule hasn't been set yet.  Puyallup, WA.  

Sincerely,

Steve Podradchik
CEO, Seattle Avionics

^ Stratus and Stratus 2 are trademarks of AFS, LLC. Seattle Avionics and AFS have no business agreement or relationship and AFS has not endorsed or approved FlyQ's support of their products.
Follow us on Twitter