Best & Worst Gizmos

[flywithastick]

pretty much stole this topic from another board, but thought I'd try it here. What's the most & least useless airplane accessory you've ever seen?

Worst - Super giant, size XXXL 15 compartment, 85-lb capacity flight bag

Best - cordless drill powered airplane tug (good idea, but way too expensive at ~$1000)

 

[ceo_of_the_sofa]

Semi-flexible headset cases, they keep everything together and just bounce back when you drop 'em. I would imagine they prolong headset life expectancy as well...? That's about it, I've been pretty neutral to gizmos, i.e. all that shiznit that Sporty's pilfers

 

[JCJ]

Best Gizmo

Hand-held moving map GPS (doesn't have to be the latest & greatest)

great for small training airplanes with only a VOR receiver, or if your electrical system quits (providing you put in fresh batteries)

 

[JCJ]

Worst Gizmo

Most of what's in Sporty's catalog. Special mention to the little telescope you look through to see if you're gonna fly through a cloud

 

[FearlessFreep]

Worst Gizmos -

All the stuff you buy as a new pilot with the intent that it is going to make your life much easier, make you fly better, improve your relationships, get you that high paying pilot job, etc.

Best Gizmos -

Realizing that keeping it down to a minimum is the best thing and that after you work out your own system, that only a few small things are worth it.

My best GiZmo? One each 7 ring Jepp sized organizer that I keep often used approach plates & charts, small note pad, pen, personalized time tracking sheets, and pertinent info printed off the computer in that Jepp size format.

My Worst GiZmo? I still carry too much stuff. For the most part lots of company documentation.

 

[ibaflyer]

Best gizmo - Post-it-notes, Great for writing ATIS and other info and you can stick it on the window and it will actually stay.

Worst - I would have to say the female adaptor so your wife or other female passanger can relieve themselves while in flight. Not that I ever had to clean up after some rough air or anything.

 

[BeanFighter]

30 gallon garbage bag. You can pee in it, puke in it, and use it for an rain poncho. Not in that order.

 

[flywithastick]

30 gallon garbage bag. You can pee in it, puke in it, and use it for an rain poncho. Not in that order.

excellent idea! I'm going to put one or two in my plane.

Post It's are pretty good. Covering up instruments, marking places in your plate binder, and even for writing things down...

best kneeboard arrangement I've come up with was made from a small 3-ring binder, a cheap metal knee board, some velcro, small sheet protectors and a couple of metal binder clips. Held check lists, inst apch plates, and about anything else I needed to flip through quickly without fumbling around too much.

 

[enigma]

Best gizmo. A PhotonMicro Lite on a two inch lanyard with a pocket clip. Expensive for a light, but small, powerful and they always shine.
8N

 

[flx757]

Someone beat me to it, but without question, the best gizmo is the garbage bag. I would absolutely never depart without one. Although, in the truest sense, I'm not so sure it qualifies as a "gizmo".

At my previous job, one of the pilots had a habit of "depressurizing" his gastro-intestinal tract with regularity. As a preface/warning, he'd always advise "you'd better grab the gizmo". In this case, the "gizmo" he referred to was the EROS mask. And in this case, I'd also have to rate it high on the gizmo scale.

 

[dlwdracos]

Lowrance Airmap 100 w/ all accessories included

$429

 

[n101cs]

Best gizmos: love that DG looking like magnetic compass, the CO detectors (if they are replaced according to the manufacturer), and of course the engine monitoring system (Vision Microsystem I believe) that comes standard in the Diamond Star (DA-40-180)

Worst Gizmos: Diamond's plane covers. Try to put them on by yourself when it's windy (and cold).... An engine in a Tromahawk... they should be flying anyway!!! (I take that back, I've had some good time in the old PA-38)

 

[Chunk]

Worst Gizmo

Sporty's traffic pattern computer. Even worse than the "Will I be in that cloud" sight.

Chunk

 

[uavchaser]

worst...
spoty's lap tray so you can eat your mcdonalds inflight

best...
gatorade bottle, nice big hole in the top for after your super size diet coke

 

[Typhoon1244]

Worst gizmo? No question: the Sporty's "Will-I-be-in-that-Cloud?" sight.

Wife: "Gee, honey, it's awful cloudy today..."
Husband: "Not to worry, sweetheart, as long as I've got my trusty Sporty's cloud sight!"

(Conversation overheard twenty-five minutes before their Malibu came spiraling out of the bottom of a cloud.)

 

[VFR on Top]

Best so far in my limited experience:

• handheld GPS receiver w/yoke mount
• "fuelhawk" fuel quantity dipstick
• NASA ASRS form

 

[Lrjtcaptain]

best gadget for my plane.....a 10 gig apple ipod. a couple thousand songs in mp3 format make my 10 hour days go by a little bit quicker.


worst gadget....can't think of one

 

[Loafman]

Best Gizmo: Copilot. very useful.

Worst Gizmo: Flight attendant. Might as well bring my wife.

 

[n101cs]

Got a new one for instrument training

A polarized windshield and window covering sheet. Just have your student wear a polarized (opposite) pair of sunglasses (provided with), and he just can't see anything outside.

Love it, want to try it

 

[XLR8]

Best Gizzmo Ever - Those DVD players you can rent at the airport! Make's the long flights a cake walk!