Seattle Avionics Software Announces New Voyager SkyPad Electronic Flight Bag

Bringing the most affordable, complete “paperless cockpit” solution (all hardware and software) to pilots for only $1095.

Seattle, WA   July 21, 2009 – Seattle Avionics Software today announced the immediate availability of its new Voyager SkyPad _TM Electronic Flight Bag.  The Voyager SkyPad _TM EFB includes all the hardware and software necessary for pilots to affordably enjoy the benefits of the paperless cockpit, all at the unprecedentedly low price of $1095.   The Voyager SkyPad will be demonstrated at AirVenture in Oshkosh at booth # 1130 starting next Monday, July 27^th.  The SkyPad bundle includes a convertible tablet PC with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, a GlobalSat WAAS enabled GPS, and the Voyager Flight Software System’s primary four modules; SmartPlan Premier _TM – planner, GlassView _TM – moving map, SmartPlates _TM – geo-referenced Chart & Plate manager, and SmartWeather – portable weather in the cockpit. 

The Voyager SkyPad _TM depicts aircraft location on top of a pilot’s choice of either digital or scanned sectional charts, high or low enroute charts, approach plates and airport diagrams.  Either internet weather or XM Satellite weather*, such as visible clouds, wind aloft arrows, and NexRad precipitation, can be overlaid on sectional and enroute charts.  All 14,000 aviation charts and IAPs for the 50 states stay automatically updated on the SkyPad through the internet, ensuring easy access in the cockpit and currency maintenance of these critical charts.  Voyager’s GlassView _TM moving map offers split screen and 3D GPS views, including 3 dimensional airspace and TFRs, terrain awareness (TAWS-type), and virtual highway in the sky, synthetic vision views.  

The Voyager SkyPad features a fully functional convertible tablet PC computer, running Windows XP, with a 8.9-inch resistive touch rotating screen, a 1.6 MHz Intel Atom processor, 2 GB of RAM, a 60GB hard drive, (with a solid-state hard drive optional), a smooth accelerometer, hand-writing recognition, durable, drop & spill resistant construction, built-in camera, and many other features.   Also standard is a 6 Cell Lithium Ion battery for up to 5+ hours usage per charge.  The SkyPad provides a fully capable electronic flight bag solution in the cockpit, similar in functionality to a Garmin 695, but provides a laptop capable of running applications like Microsoft Office, Outlook, or MSWord, surf the internet, or do email while out of the cockpit as well.   All in a cockpit friendly sized solution.

While EFB’s for aviation have been generally available for quite a few years now, the cost of the hardware included in these bundles have been prohibitive, with “complete EFB” prices at between $2500-$5000, out of reach for many GA pilots.  The Voyager SkyPad is the first complete EFB, both hardware and software, to be priced just over $1000 instead of the typical $2000 or more.   And the Voyager SkyPad is an FAA AC 91-78 compliant EFB (Class I & II), not requiring any paper charts or plates as backup.  

The new Voyager SkyPad bundle, being a portable solution, is especially ideal for pilots who rent multiple or different aircraft, flying club members, and pilots with multiple aircraft. The added safety of always having terrain awareness and in-flight weather is incredibly valuable, even for pilots with STC approach certified, in-dash GPS’s.   

“The Voyager SkyPad is everyone’s smart, affordable answer”, says Steve Podradchik, CEO of Seattle Avionics Software. 

“Most pilots tell us they want to go paperless, sooner rather than later, but are not interested in sinking tens of thousands of dollars into an installed avionics stack which may be outdated in only a year or two”, says John Rutter, President of Seattle Avionics Software. “They also say they don’t want to spend $2500 for a tablet when powerful laptops are readily available for under $1000.   They tell us they don’t want to buy a dedicated GPS device costing three times what a  powerful laptop costs, and won’t run common applications or internet browsers.”  

Pilots can get a personal demonstration of Voyager at AirVenture, Booth #1130 at Oshkosh.   The company always offers free self-running demos, Live Demo Webinars, and a free version of Voyager called FreeFlight, for visitors to its Website at www.seattleavionics.com

Note to editors:  High-resolution screenshots available upon request.

Founded in 2002, Seattle Avionics Software is a developer of cutting-edge PC aviation software and aviation data for general and business aviation pilots.  The company’s Voyager Flight Software System is a winner of Product of the Year from Aero-News and Aviation Consumer recently labeled Voyager as “Easily the top choice” among flight planners.  It provides state-of-the-art aviation data to several aviation companies including Honeywell (Bendix/King) and Advanced Flight Systems.  The company is working on a range of aviation software and data products designed to make general aviation flying easier, safer, more fun, and more affordable.

Voyager™ , SkyPad™ and Voyager Flight Software System™ are trademarks of Seattle Avionics Software, Inc. in the United States and other countries.

For more information about Seattle Avionics Software, please contact John Rutter, President, at 425-806-0249 or JohnR@seattleavionics.com.  Visit Seattle Avionics Software on the Web at www.seattleavionics.com

###########