Bookshelf
The story of a WASP
A promise made to her late husband is Raquel Ramsey’s book about her sister-in-law, Taking Flight: The Nadine Ramsey Story. Co-written with Tricia Aurand, the book tells the story of Nadine Ramsey—one of the first women to fly the U.S. Air Mail, one of only 26 women to fly the Lockheed P–38 Lightning, and one of the first women in Kansas to earn a commercial pilot certificate. She was the sister of decorated World War II veteran and memoirist Edwin P. Ramsey, who had always wanted his sister’s story told. “Taking Flight is the inspiring story of a girl from Depression-era Kansas who overcame tremendous challenges and defied convention to become an elite pilot,” says the author. —Julie Summers Walker
PRICE: $29.95
CONTACT: kansaspress.ku.edu
Grace your coffee table
Visually stunning is the limited-run rerelease of Villinski, an in-depth monograph that captures the work and influence of sculptor Paul Villinski. Documenting three decades of the artist’s studio and public art practice, the book covers Villinski’s groundbreaking work, which has been exhibited extensively throughout the United States in museum and gallery exhibitions. Metaphors of flight and soaring often appear in the work of Villinski, a pilot and AOPA member. This beautiful book includes gorgeous photographs and essays by renowned critics, curators, and authors. Each limited-run, hardcover coffee table book is hand-finished by the artist and includes an aluminum butterfly framed within the front cover. —Julie Summers Walker
PRICE: $95
CONTACT: vivantbooks.com
'Artful Flying' now an audio book
Michael Maya Charles, an aviation writer and retired airline pilot, reads the text of his 2005 book, adds his own music (as well as some real engine sounds), and even provides spaces for quiet contemplation. Charles blends Eastern philosophy with aviation insights, and he suggests pilots can raise their performance to the level of art by approaching flying with joy and wonderment in addition to technical expertise. Artful Flying, the audio book, has a 10-hour run time, and it’s available for download. —Dave Hirschman
PRICE: $25
CONTACT: artfulpublishing.com
Children’s book introduces aviation to youngsters
Polar circumnavigator Robert DeLaurentis teams up with fellow pilot Susan Gilbert for The Little Plane That Could, an illustrated children’s book that introduces youngsters to aviation through the wings and fuselage of Dash, a small red airplane with dreams of soaring with bigger and more capable aircraft. The authors hope the wholesome story will kindle the next generation’s desire for flight. —David Tulis
PRICE: Available online from $2.99
CONTACT: amazon.com
Review
Garmin D2 Air
Smart, elegant, and useful
By Dave Hirschman
A pilot watch must do a few things well: look good, be comfortable, tell local and Zulu time, and have a stopwatch. Garmin’s new D2 Air does those essential things, as well as hundreds of others, some of which are really useful.
Unlike Garmin’s previous bulky forays into aviation watches, the D2 Air is light, comfortable, and visually appealing. Its lithium-ion battery lasts all day (10 hours) in the air with internal GPS and other power-hungry sensors on, and a full workweek (5 days) on the ground in normal operation.
The D2 Air’s best new features for pilots are built-in oxygen and pulse rate sensors; an altimeter; direct-to GPS navigation; airport weather reports; sunrise/sunset/civil twilight times; and flight logging functions tied to the Garmin Pilot app. Less useful items include the Garmin Pay app (who knew Garmin even had one?); animated workouts; a buzzer that lets you know you’ve taken enough steps; and distracting alarms whenever you get an Email, a text, or talk on your phone. (Do I really need my watch to tell me I’m talking on the phone? Perhaps as a way to avoid prolonged butt-dials.)
The D2 Air pairs to a smartphone via Bluetooth and the Garmin Connect app, and it can link to Wi-Fi networks, too.
Garmin is a big player in wearable technology ranging from watches to dog collars, and the D2 Air is specialized for pilots the way other Garmin watches are made for hikers, runners, bikers, and fisherman. Personally, I quit wearing watches several years ago when the battery in my last Timex Ironman died. Since a smartphone is my constant companion, I saw no point in replacing the dead battery, and the watch has resided in the bottom of a dusty desk drawer ever since. But I’ve enjoyed test-driving the D2 Air and wearing a watch again.
It’s unobtrusive, and it’s got a clever sensor that somehow knows when you twist your wrist to glance at it. (If that doesn’t work, just double tap the screen to wake it up.) Then the watch face shows a classic screen containing an hour, minute, and sweep second hand. It also displays the temperature, surface wind, and the sky conditions at an airport of your choice; the day and time; and the digital time.
Other, more advanced functions take some time to learn and the eight-page Quick Start Manual that comes with the watch doesn’t do much to explain them. That requires digging into the Garmin website where the online manual resides.
Today’s gadgets can do so much that one of the biggest decisions designers must make is what to leave out. Here, Garmin shows some laudable self-discipline by avoiding a “kitchen sink” strategy. Previous Garmin pilot watches included dubious features such as, for example, the ability to remotely control video cameras—wasted electrons. The D2 Air avoids such pitfalls. It’s a smart, elegant, and helpful addition to any pilot’s throttle hand.
PRICE: $499
CONTACT: garmin.com
Email [email protected]
Pilot Products
Study your way
Sporty’s upgrades online courses
By Dave Hirschman
Sporty’s recently completed a major upgrade of its online pilot training courses that allows students to study however, wherever, and whenever they want. Whether they study on a mobile phone, tablet, portable or desktop computer, or Web-linked TV, the new Sporty’s app allows students to pick up where they left off, regardless of the devices they use.
“All the platforms talk to each other,” said Eric Radtke, president of Sporty’s Academy. “Whether a student uses Android, an iOS device, Apple TV, Roku, or Chromecast, our app tracks their progress.”
Sporty’s online training courses for private pilot certificates and instrument ratings contain about 15 hours of video content and 20 hours of test prep. Students get lifetime access to Sporty’s courses, so they can review the material even after they pass their checkrides. Course content is periodically refreshed so that test questions and other material remains current.
Each course contains an online ground school and test prep, and students can obtain completion certificates that allow them to take FAA knowledge tests at the conclusion of the online material. If students have questions along the way, they can ask Sporty’s flight instructors by phone or Email.
“Everyone studies differently,” said Bret Koebbe, Sporty’s vice president for video. “Now, students can pick their platform and decide for themselves how they want to use it.” Koebbe said Sporty’s has been working on the upgrade for one year, and the Ohio-based company made large back-end technology investments to provide a better customer experience.
Sporty’s has operated its own flight school for many years, and the school serves as an on-site laboratory for online content. Sporty’s students typically take the online ground school and pass FAA knowledge tests before they start flight training.
Tens of thousands of student pilots have used the Sporty’s online training content in the past decade, company officials said. Each course gives students real-time reports on how they’re doing in a variety of subject areas. It also provides online flash cards that enable them to focus intensively on certain topics.
Sporty’s online courses provide links to ForeFlight and Cloud Ahoy digital logbooks for automatic record keeping.
Sporty’s has a large and expanding video library, and students who sign up for online flight training often revisit the material throughout their flying careers. At first, their focus is passing a test or a checkride. Later, it shifts to advanced ratings and aircraft, or remaining current on regulations and technology.
“People come back to us again and again,” Koebbe said. “Our courses often serve as reference material for pilots that they search at their convenience.”
PRICE: $249 per course
CONTACT: sportys.com
Email [email protected]
