Avionics News November 2012 - 38

Advertisers Index
Affordable Avionics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Aero Standard. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Aerospace Optics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Aircell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Aircraft Electronics Association. . . . 32, 71 ATEQ-Omicron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 AVweb. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46 Becker Avionics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Bemidji Aviation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Cal Labs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Dallas Avionics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IFC Device Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Duncan Aviation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 EDMO . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . BC Express Calibration Services . . . . . . . . 70 Flight Display Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Flying Magazine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Garmin International . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Georgetown Instrument Services . . . . . 65 GlobalParts.aero . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Greenwich/DAC International . . . . . . . . 51 Millennium International . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Mid-Continent Instruments & Avionics . . 5 Pacific Southwest Instruments . . . . . . IBC ProCal Laboratories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Sun Aviation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Tech-Aid Products. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 TGH Aviation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Tri-Star Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Universal Avionics. . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 , 70

THE SILENT AVIONICS OPPORTUNITY
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unaware that a lot of the equipment they are flying with has no approvals of any sort – not even FCC approval,” Mara said. “And, even more are not aware (or don’t care) about any requirements for approvals to make equipment changes. “We see an awful lot of gliders with non-conforming installations. Glider pilots are always swapping stuff in and out, even if it has a standard (airworthiness) certificate. And, none of it is reflected in the logs. That’s a big problem for any shop that attempts to work on one of these aircraft. “I’d tell any shop that if they get a glider or motor-glider in, the first thing to do is check the logs carefully. I’ve seen everything from Radio Shack wiring to Home Depot hardware used in glider installations. It’s always amazing to me what some pilots will do to an aircraft.”

Whoosh…The Sound of Opportunity
So, what opportunities do gliders/sailplanes and motor-gliders represent to your avionics shop? According to the folks who do this every day, it’s there, but it’s small and you have to go looking for it. “The gliding community is very small and close-knit,” Remde said. “Relative to the number of pilots who buy a hand-held VHF radio, for example, the number of glider pilots who would buy a soaring instrument is a fraction of a percent.” “There was a time when more people were getting into it because you didn’t need a medical, but that all changed with the LSA category,” Mara said. “The sport is pretty geriatric, and the ages of pilots

keep going up. I don’t see a lot of young people getting into it.” This is both good and bad news. It’s bad because the pilot population is getting older, but good because older pilots tend to have more discretionary income available to spend on their hobbies. From the looks of it, gliding is not an inexpensive hobby. “A new high-performance glider can go for more than $150,000, and the most exotic go for well into the millions,” Mara said. “Of course, that’s on the extreme high side. And, of the new sailplanes being sold and manufactured today, I’d say 90 percent have some type of sustainer or self-launch motor. We offer a glider with a new jet sustainer engine from HpH Ltd. in the Czech Republic. Other manufacturers also are trying to copy this and come out with their own jet versions.” A jet-powered glider: How cool is that? If you’re still interested in adding the category to your customer list, the best strategy suggested is to go find an airport in your area where the glider/sailplane folks practice their passion. Before you do, it’s a good idea to sharpen up on some of the sport’s lingo. In particular, when is a glider a sailplane? “The term sailplane is reserved for the very high-performance gliders,” Mara said. “They have aerodynamic refinements that are well beyond those of the typical powered aircraft.” “Even though it’s a small market, people who fly gliders are very passionate about it,” Remde said. “It’s not a big business, but if you’re interested at all, they’re a great bunch of pilots to get involved with.” q

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Avionics News November 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Avionics News November 2012
