“Airshow” the new tv series by Discovery Channel

Posted on January 24, 2015 by admin

Check out “Airshow”, the 12-part series, premiering on January 26 at 7pm PT.

“Airshow” is an original Canadian tv series exclusively for Discovery. This is a unique, never been told before documentary series that takes viewers behind the scenes to the most dangerous part time profession on the planet. From the ground, it looks glamorous, but every year more airshow pilots are killed than in any other job in the entertainment industry.

Maxcraft is excited about this show as we installed the avionics into Super Dave’s airplane, our customer, Mark Miller, is the Executive Producer and we have a small sponsorship role (look for our logo on the Super Dave airplane and flight suit!).

“Airshow” follows the lives of pilots, producers, performers and technicians through the airshow season as they face breakdowns, bad weather, and each other’s egos. Leaving all of us viewers eager to learn more, watch more and ask the question why?

“Airshow” reveals a whole different world in aviation.

Read more about Airshow here on Great Pacific Tv. Want to learn more about each character in the show? Who they are? What they do best? More here!

Maxcraft Avionics is a leader in airplane and helicopter avionic system upgrades, including installation of everything from basic VHF Radios and flight instruments, all the way to sophisticated GPS, TCAS, EFIS, and glass cockpit systems. We have the largest avionics facility in Canada and over 20,000 unique part numbers in our inventory to repair your aircraft or upgrade your cockpit.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged airplanes, airshow, Aviation, canadian, Dave Mathieson, Discovery Channel, documentary, executive producer, mark miller, pilots, planet, Super Dave, tv, viewers | Comments Off

Garmin Announces Solid State Radar for Helicopters

Posted on January 14, 2015 by admin

GWX 70H Brings Advanced Radar Features to Rotorcraft

Garmin is pleased to announce the helicopter-optimized GWX 70H weather radar, that combines exceptional range and adjustable scanning profiles with precision target definition for accurate, real-time weather analysis in the cockpit. The GWX 70H also offers horizontal scan angles of up to 120 degrees and pilot-adjustable sector scanning from 20 degrees to 120 degrees.

Compared to earlier generation magnetron-based weather radar systems, the GWX 70H offers significant improvements in capability, reliability, and cost of ownership. The GWX 70H adds industry standard environmental features that provides protection from the elements, further aiding in reliability.

Advanced Features

Optional software enablement provide advanced features for compatible displays including Turbulence Detection and Ground Clutter Suppression. Turbulence detection is advanced, Doppler-enabled technology used to identify turbulence in air containing particulates, such as precipitation or dust, out to 40 nautical miles. Ground clutter suppression allows the GWX 70 and GWX 70H to identify radar returns from the ground and remove them from the display.

These enablement’s are now available on both the 10″ and 12” versions of the GWX 70 and 70H. Previously, only the 12” and larger versions of the GWX 70 weather radar were capable of utilizing these features.

With the addition of Ground Mapping Mode, the GWX 70H provides a real-time depiction of terrain so operators can easily detect natural and man-made ground features, further enhancing situation awareness.

GWX 70R Also Available

Also available is the GQS 70R, a version of the GWX 70 with a 90 degree horizontal scanning range to accommodate smaller wing mounted radomes, typically found in single engine aircraft. The newly available GWX 70R includes all of the standard features of the GWX 70 and optional capabilities include enablement’s for Turbulence Detection and Ground clutter Suppression. Antennas are available in 10”, 12” and 18” sizes.

Display Compatibility

The GWX 70H is compatible with the breadth of Garmin multifunction displays, including the GTN 750, GTN 725, certain configurations of the G1000H integrated flight deck and the G500H. Features vary between displays.

Posted in Avionics News | Tagged airplane, avionic system upgrades, Canada, capable, cockpit, displays, doppler, efis, enablement, flight, Flight Instruments, G1000H, G500H, garmin, glass cockpit systems, GPS, ground clutter suppression, GTN 725, Gtn 750, GWX 70, GWX 70H, Helicopter, installation, integrated flight deck, Maxcraft Avionics, radar, radar for helicopters, tcas, turbulence detection, VHF radios, weather radar systems | Comments Off

Keeping it interesting in the hangar

Posted on December 23, 2014 by admin

Maxcraft’s full hangar with an array of different style aircraft.

Maxcraft’s hangar floor showed a lot of variety this week, with aircraft ranging single engine Cessnas, to turboprop corporate planes, and executive rotorcraft.

The Eurocopters you see right and centre are in for G500 Primary Flight displays, GTN Navigators, and Mid-Continent electronic standby instruments. The Pilatus PC-12 on the far left received not only a GTN750 with XM satellite and Garmin Flight Stream options, but also a completely new interior and paint job courtesy of our friends at Port Aircraft Interiors and Upper Valley Aviation.

The Beechcraft Bonanza is in for regular maintenance, and a Cessna 152 (just out of frame – not pictured) now has a completely new panel featuring an Aspen EFD-1000 Primary Flight Display, and a Garmin GTN650 Navigator.

There are a lot of different kinds of aircraft with different configurations and purposes in this photo, and the variety you see here reflects Maxcraft’s broad capability to service, upgrade and/or retrofit nearly anything we can fit in the door (and a few things that don’t).

Posted in Avionics News | Tagged aircraft, airplane, Aspend EFD-1000 Primary Flight Display, Avionics, Beechcraft Bonanza, Canada, Cessna 152, cockpit, efis, eurocopters, facility, flights instruments, G500, Garmin GTN650 Navigator, glass cockpit systems, GPS, GTN Navigaors, GTN750, hangar, Helicopter, Maxcraft Aivonics, Mid-Continent, parts, Pilatus PC-12, Port Aircraft Interiors, Primary Flight Display, tcas, upgrades, Upper Valley Aviation, VHF radios, XM satellite | Comments Off

What’s happening at Maxcraft

Posted on December 18, 2014 by admin

The very first Flight Stream install!

Finally iPad/iPhone connections to your avionics! Maxcraft performed the first Garmin Connext installation with our customer Dave Qualley. Read on for his comments:

Flight Stream in action

When Garmin first announced their Flight Stream product back in August I was immediately interested. It finally began shipping last week, and I was excited to take the leap and be the first to install this promising looking device in my C182. I’m in the midst of training for my IFR rating, and I can really see the value in having more information displayed at my fingertips while in flight. The ability to check the weather for my route, then upload my route from the iPad into the Garmin 530W is a real time saver. So far I’ve only had time to make one flight with the Flight Stream installed. I found the data displayed on the iPad matched up perfectly with the same data that was displayed on my Aspen PFD. I’m a diehard Foreflight user, so the switch to the Garmin Pilot app is a big change for me.

Flight Stream screen shot

I find the two apps are very similar in their capabilities so far, and it’s just going to be a matter of using the Garmin app for a while to become more proficient with it. So far there are two features that have really impressed me. The synthetic vision is absolutely stunning to look at, and the accuracy of the terrain and runway locations is right on with what I see out the window. The synthetic vision will certainly provide enhanced situational awareness during IFR approaches. The Flight Stream also enables me to flight plan Victor airways and upload them to the Garmin 530. The ability to enter airways wasn’t possible on the Garmin 530 until now. I look forward to flying with the Flight Stream and Garmin Pilot in the near future.

Check out our blog for more updates and inflight videos. As well here is a technical paper we wrote after the product announcement

Posted in Avionics 101, Pilot Stories | Tagged 182, apps, Aspen PFD, Dave Qualley, Flight Stream, Foreflight, Garmin 530W, Garmin Connext, Garmin Pilot, IFR, iPad, iPhone, route, Synthetic Vision, Victor, weather | Comments Off

Bose Holiday Promotion

Posted on December 15, 2014 by admin

Get a BOSE headset! Get a gift!

Bose-A20-Headset

The more you buy, the better the gift!

Buy 1 A20 Aviation Headset, get a Companion 2 Series III Multimedia speaker system.

Buy 2 A20 Aviation Headsets and get a SoundDock Series III digital music system in black .

Buy 3 A20 Aviation Headsets and get a Companion 5 multimedia speaker system. Buy 4 and receive a Wave music system III.

We welcome you to come and try out our demo headsets at Maxcraft!

Posted in Avionics News | Tagged A20 Aviation Headset, airplane, avionic system upgrades, Bose, Canada, cockpit, Companion 2 Series III Multimedia, Companion 5 multimedia speaker system, digital, efis, facility, Flight Instruments, gift, glass cockpit systems, GPS, headset, Helicopter, installation, Maxcraft, Maxcraft Avionics, music, part numbers, SoundDock Series III, speakers, tcas, VHF Radio, Wave music system III | Comments Off

Spot Rebates

Posted on December 2, 2014 by admin

50% off promotion!

We have three different SPOTs to choose from:

Spot Gen3 – mail in rebate of $85
Spot Trace – mail in rebate of $60
Spot Global phone – mail in rebate of $250

Purchase a SPOT device between November 2, 2014 and January 4, 2015 and receive 50% off or up to $250 rebate.

This is a limited time offer. Check out our on-line webstore or visit us in person to get this great offer!

To qualify for this deal you must activate any of these devices by February 9, 2015 . Also, you may only claim 3 of each device rebates per household applies (ie. A customer can claim up to 3 SPOT Gen3, 3 SPOT Trace, and 3 SPOT Global Phone rebates). Click here to print 2014 Holiday Rebate.

Posted in Avionics News | Tagged airplane, Canada, customers, efis, Flight Instruments, glass cockpit systems, GPS, helicopter avionics systems, holiday rebate, household, installation, inventory, Maxcraft Aivionics, Rebate, receive 50% off, SPOT, Spot Gen3, Spot Global phone, Spot Trace, tcas, unique part numbers, upgrades, VHF radios | Comments Off

New Flight Deck Avionics Suite Unveiled by Universal Avionics

Posted on November 15, 2014 by admin

The first peek of Universal Avionics’ newest avionics suite – the feature-rich InSight Integrated Flight Deck was introduced at NBAA2014.

InSight Integrated Flight Deck

The highlight of the system is the embedded next generation Synthetic Vision System (SVS) with advanced mapping capability and intuitive system-wide Graphical Pilot Interface.

Primary hardware components of the InSight Integrated Flight Deck include a 10.4” EFI-1040 Display acting as PFD and/or MFD, Electronic Control Display Unit (ECDU), Alphanumeric Keyboard (ANK) and Data Concentrator Unit (DCU) II. The InSight display system is designed as an integrated flight deck solution, featuring an embedded SVS with advanced mapping capability, electronic charts, radio control, broadcast weather support and graphical flight planning. The first installation is on the company’s Cessna Citation VII with the STC expected in the second quarter of 2015. The InSight system is also ideal for forward-fit applications.

Posted in Avionics 101, Avionics News | Tagged Alphanumeric Keyboard, ANK, broadcast weather support, Cessna Citation VII, data Concentrator Unit, DCU, EFI-1040 Display, electronic charts, Electronic Control Display Unit (ECDU), graphical flight planning, Graphical Pilot Interface, Insight, Insight Integrated Flight Deck, mapping capbability, MFD, PFD, radio control, STC, SVS, Synthetic Vision System (SVS) | Comments Off

Holiday Handheld Rebate

Posted on November 3, 2014 by admin

Garmin is spreading some holiday cheer!

Save up to $100 on select Garmin Portables between now and December 26th, 2014. Rebates are available for the aera 500 series, aera 795/796, GPSMAP 695/696, VIRB Elite Aviation bundle and the VIRB/D2 Combo pack.

Looking for a Christmas gift? Buy now and be ahead of your shopping! Come see our demo display of all of these items. This offer is only available until Dec. 24, 2014.

Posted in Latest & Greatest Avionics | Tagged aera, airplane, amounts, avionic system upgrades, avionics facility, christmas, D2 watch, efis, Elite Aviation bundle, flight sintruments, garmin, glass cockpit systems, GPS, Helicopter, holiday, installation, Maxcraft Avionics, Pilot Watch, portable, Rebate, tcas, VHF radios, VIRB, Virb D2 pack | Comments Off

Synthetic Vision Trial from Aspen

Posted on October 10, 2014 by admin

Aspen Avionics is pleased to begin offering the trial version of synthetic vision with new orders for Apsen Evolution EFD1000 Pro PFDs. In addition , Aspen is making available an SV trial enablement kit for existing customers with Pro PFDs.

The key points to know:

the PFD must be updated to MAP software version v2.6.5 or later
a sonalert may be required
IFR approved GPS is required
document updates
the SV trial is not compatible with the C3, Pro-H, Pilot, VFR PFDs or MFDs

Once the ESV flight hours exceed 10 hours of usage, the next time the unit is powered on the trial will self-disable. The ESV trial will not disable in-flight. The reinstate ESV, the option must be purchased.

Call our Maxcraft team to install the trial version of synthetic vision.

Posted in Avionics 101 | Tagged aircraft, Aspen Avionics, avionic system, C3, Canada, cockpit, EFD1000, efis, ESV, ESV trial, glass cockpit systems, GPS, MAP, Maxcraft Avionics, MFDs, PFD, pilot, Pro-H, Synthetic Vision, tcas, upgrade, VFR PFDs | Comments Off

New Aspen PFD Designed for VFR Pilots Released

Posted on October 6, 2014 by admin

Aspen Avionics is pleased to inform customers that they have received Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Certification for their Evolution 1000 VFR PFD. It has been added to the existing Aspen STC-AML FAA Approval. It is the industry’s first certified glass panel display designed specifically for pilots flying in the Visual Flight Rules (VFR) environment.

The key differences between the Pro PFD and VFR PFD are the features and options. The options offered with the display includes TAS, XM weather, Stormscope Lightning, Synthetic vision (once upgraded) and ADS-B. Installation procedures are basically the same as the Pro PFD.

The best opportunity for this, is the cost. With prices like this, it’s the best solution for pilots with VFR and wanting to convert to IFR through a simple software upgrade. The VFR PFD is the most affordable, upgradable and easily installed Electronic Flight Instrument System (EFIS) available for general aviation. Priced at $4,995USD.

The lower cost of this product makes it the best solution for pilots for VFR pilots with the option to convert to IFR through a simple software upgrade. Call or visit our Maxcraft team for more information.

Posted in Avionics News | Tagged ADS-B, airplane, Aspen Avionics, avionic, Canada, efis, FAA, Flight Instruments, glass cockpit systems, GPS, Helicopter, Maxcraft Avionics, PFD, Pro PFD, Stromscope Lightning, Synthetic Vision, system upgrades, TAS, tcas, VHF radios, VRF Pilots, XM weather | Comments Off

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