What is your life hack for general aviation?

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rickdrey

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rickdrey
The more people I meet, the more I hear of people having one or two things that made general aviation a lot more enjoyable for them. Static cling sun shades to block the sun, removable cupholders, Bluetooth music adapters, etc.

What are the things that you added to your plane that made your flights more enjoyable?
 
Connecting iTunes, especially without the annoying dip in volume every time ATC is talking to someone else on freq
 
rickdrey said:
What are the things that you added to your plane that made your flights more enjoyable?
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Me, as often as possible.

Someone to fly with me, most of the time. Once in a while, a solo jaunt is just needed, but most of the time it's nice to share it with someone.

A spouse who likes to be flown.

ForeFlight and ADS-B have made the planning process so much easier that it's less of a chore to fly, so that's a big one. They've also enabled a lot of trips that we couldn't have done back in the bad old days without datalink weather.

A WAAS GPS so I can fly to low minimums with vertical guidance at nearly any little podunk airport. Before that, I had to miss from my (previous) home field and divert (to my current base) because the best I could do there was a LOC. Minimums were in between... And of course the vertical guidance makes things really nice and easy and stabilized.

A good audio panel makes a surprising amount of difference. If you're still running an old KMA24 or that sort of thing, treat yourself to something from PS Engineering and you won't believe you've lived that long without it.
 
Since you mentioned a bunch of accessories in the question, for me it was moving to an in-ear headset.

I’m in a small club with two Diamond DA-40s. In the summer (or even springtime) sun, the bubble canopy turns it into a sauna. You mentioned sun shades, but a big bucket, floppy, or other wide-brimmed hat is far more effective. That doesn’t work with dome headsets (unless you have a very big hat and a very tiny head :D). Works great with the in-ear models.

(Side benefit turned out to be, DA40s are very noisy when those air vents are open, and my PNR in-ear is more effective than my ANR domes.)

Honorable mention goes to my water bottle handle. Allows me to lay it down without rolling away.
 
Velcro seats to replace seatbelts. Its going to be the GHOAT, just you wait and see!
 
Switcheon is great in the winter not only for the engine heater, but I use the second channel to run a small space heater in the cabin as well.

I love my electric golf cart. It makes a fantastic tug, and it's wonderful to have it to run around the airport.
 
rickdrey said:
The more people I meet, the more I hear of people having one or two things that made general aviation a lot more enjoyable for them. Static cling sun shades to block the sun, removable cupholders, Bluetooth music adapters, etc.

What are the things that you added to your plane that made your flights more enjoyable?
Click to expand...
A GPS navigator and a AP. Also like someone said a good bluetooth sound panel helps.
Also I am still flying a 172 that I can afford.
 
A day job near the airport.

Coworkers will send out an email blast every now and then saying "Need to go to the airport [to pick up relatives coming in from out of town]". I just pile on, except without mentioning anything about picking anyone up.
 
donjohnston said:
How do you "add" no electrical system to an airplane?

For reference, here's the original post:

What are the things that you added to your plane that made your flights more enjoyable?
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Added a plane that had no electrical
 
Jim K said:
I love my electric golf cart. It makes a fantastic tug, and it's wonderful to have it to run around the airport.
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My cousin had his golf cart seats upholstered to match his airplane seats.

I haven’t asked, but I bet logging flight time for driving the golf cart around the airport is a lot easier mistake to make now.
 
Jim K said:
Switcheon is great in the winter not only for the engine heater, but I use the second channel to run a small space heater in the cabin as well.

I love my electric golf cart. It makes a fantastic tug, and it's wonderful to have it to run around the airport.
Click to expand...
Add a couple of quick connects & a ground power port & you can use it to start the plane.
 
rickdrey said:
What are the things that you added to your plane that made your flights more enjoyable?
Click to expand...

An iFly 740b velcro'd to the panel.

Inertia reel shoulder harnesses.

Jacks on the panel to interface a handheld radio with the audio panel.
 
Gatorade's shrinkflation has dropped the 32oz bottle to 28 and I have not appreciated the loss of tactical reserve.

I've been doing Snapple peach iced tea as "the medical equipment"
 
Clarity Aloft - in ear headset
Autopilot - for cross country flights
AV30 - just because
ADSB - in & out
 
Stratux (I'm a renter)
Foreflight
Having someone to share the flights
Flying solo VFR slow and low sometimes
 
rickdrey said:
The more people I meet, the more I hear of people having one or two things that made general aviation a lot more enjoyable for them. Static cling sun shades to block the sun, removable cupholders, Bluetooth music adapters, etc.

What are the things that you added to your plane that made your flights more enjoyable?
Click to expand...
Oxygen. Even at lower altitudes than required I was much more refreshed at the end of a long cross country.
 
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For those who are cruised with electrical and radios, I will say a very good bang for the buck is LED lights
 
I was ready to quit flying because I thought I had done all that was interesting with GA. I had flown fast airplanes XC (a Mooney), I had competed in IAC aerobatic evens (in a Pitts S2A), and I had eaten all the $100 hamburgers I could take. Then I discovered backcountry flying and airplane camping. I didn't know this was a thing - or even that is was possible. Now I have a Maule and spend as much time as possible in the middle of nowhere.

My second best decision for enhancing the benefits of GA to my life was retiring so I have more time to fly.
 

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Flyhound said:
I was ready to quit flying because I thought I had done all that was interesting with GA. I had flown fast airplanes XC (a Mooney), I had competed in IAC aerobatic evens (in a Pitts S2A), and I had eaten all the $100 hamburgers I could take. Then I discovered backcountry flying and airplane camping. I didn't know this was a thing - or even that is was possible. Now I have a Maule and spend as much time as possible in the middle of nowhere.

My second best decision for enhancing the benefits of GA to my life was retiring so I have more time to fly.
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Mooney and some competition flying in a Pitts are just small scratches on the surface, as you learned

Backcountry flying is a whole world of its own. Get into bushcraft and all that’s involved in actually staying in the bush, for example

Get some time in helicopters, try your hand at gliders, and log some hours in a seaplane.


Or be a sadist and try to go down the flight navigator rabbit hole lol

A single human lifetime isn’t long enough to experience everything aviation has to offer, let alone master every aspect of it.
 
wilkersk said:
No boring flights! I refuse to spend money just to drone around the local area in a 50 year old trainer. Every flight has a mission or a purpose. If I have access to an airplane and no mission, I make one up.
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Some of my best flights have started off with no mission or destination


Relax and enjoy the ride brother
 
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