At AirVenture 2025 at Oshkosh, Nighthawk Flight Systems got a lot of attention when it showed a clean sheet integrated avionics suite called Guardian. The Guardian was an attention getter with its tight graphics, thin displays, a liberal IO that works with a large variety of third-party analog and digital avionics, plus a price tag that was said to be under $40,000. Nighthawk Flight Systems (it bought Sandel Avionics a few years ago) promised to start shipping FAA-approved (via an AML-STC) as early as December 2024. Since that's just a couple of months away, we followed up on the project with company CEO Paul Martin, who not only promised a seamless installation and high-level field support, but set aggressive goals for the system's initial certification and growth.

In a hardened insurance market that's causing grief for pilots of complex and tailwheel models, Maryland-based SkyWatch Aviation Insurance has been gaining attention for its modern approach to assessing risk. Using AI models to better match a pilot to a policy, the company has a website utility where pilots enter their information and the program shops for coverage with a variety of underwriters, and buyers can often score coverage on the spot. SkyWatch is credited for working with AOPA to create a senior pilot insurance program to help aging pilots get liability insurance in hopes of stretching their flying careers. To learn more about the company and for an update on the current market (and for tips on aircraft upgrade decisions with insurance in mind), we talked with SkyWatch's senior underwriting manager, Alon Admi.

While not exactly turbochargers, superchargers are air compressors directly driven by the engine via a belt, gears or the crankshaft. Forced Aeromotive, with its bolt-on belt-driven supercharger mod, took an interesting approach in boosting engine power for increased performance. These systems work, and ones we’ve flown boost cruise speeds by up to 20 knots over a normally aspirated models. But the real appeal is that climb rate goes up as much as 500 FPM. But with the passing of Forced Aeromotive founder Rod Sage last year, owners are reporting a halt in parts supply and engineering support. That means abandoning an otherwise good-performing system at a sizable cost in performance and investment.In this video, supercharged-modded Cirrus SR22 owner Alexander Wolf shows us around the modded Continental engine on his Cirrus and explains the situation he faces with an AOG airplane that needs replacement parts.

The FAA's CPDLC Data Communication program delivers air-to-ground textual data that eases radio congestion and can reduce both controller and pilot workload. It's not exactly new technology and for airlines and corporate jet ops the system has been in play for a while. But Garmin recently released an upgrade for the GTN 750Xi navigator, along with the GDR 66 data comm transceiver, which is expanding the technology to more airplanes. But it's still limited to high flyers. In this episode of the Smart Aviator podcast, airline captain and Smart Aviator contributor Sy Pinkert talks through the technology with Larry Anglisano.

You've spent years building your experimental kit aircraft and it's finally time for its first flight. Of all the milestones in a build project it's the most serious and carries the most risk. But with the right approach and mindset, you can reduce at least some of those risks. In episode three of the Smart Aviator podcast, Larry Anglisano sat down with Paul Dye—a highly experienced experimental aircraft builder, EAA Technical Counselor, FAA Designated Airworthiness Inspector, and the former and longest-serving NASA Flight Director for the Human Space Flight program—for tips on surviving the first flights of a newly built plane.

It's a dilemma at a lot of airports—you score the airplane of your dreams, but soon realize that sourcing a hangar to keep it in safe storage is nearly impossible. Long lead times for occupying cookie cutter T hangars, expensive and restrictive arrangements in a community hangar, and the red tape of building your own hangar on a state airport only scratch the surface of hassles. A company called High Flying Hangars has been successfully populating its premium-priced, custom-built hangars around the country, and built with amenities seldom found in a basic T hangar. To learn more about the model, Smart Aviator's Larry Anglisano sat down with High Flying Hangars' Lisa DeFrees for a report on Episode 2 of the Smart Aviator podcast.

There are plenty of good reasons to make informed decisions when investing big in a pair of eyeglasses for flying. Think of protection in case of a birdstrike and crash, optical clarity for using glass displays and tablet computers, and in the case of correcting vision and the inevitable aging eyes—your prescription. In the Smart Aviator Podcast Episode 1, host Larry Anglisano talks it through with Flying Eyes founder Dean Siracusa, plus they talk about the rare and interesting Meyers 200-series airplanes.