http://www.aopa.org/members/files/pilot/2013/april/avionics.html?CMP=ADV:1
Someone tested it and wrote about it. In a downwind it commands the pilot to fly dangerously slowly.
Still, for extra $ they have an external AHRS gyro which can take in airdata, which would take care of that.
Meyer is an astonishingly clever programmer.
I've tried this (In a TBM):
Pros:
The path is very easy to follow
It's quite reassuring how many solutions it finds at altitude
Cons:
It doesn't work if there is any kind of wind around, especially at altitude
Don't feather the prop, it takes forever to spin back up and generate torque (not really a xavion issue)
Still, for extra $ they have an external AHRS gyro which can take in airdata, which would take care of that.
How does this work? Surely it would need to connect to the Pitot/Static system, and thus be certified?
Aspen really need to broadcast this data over their connected panel stuff. I would buy it today if they did.
Surely it would need to connect to the Pitot/Static system, and thus be certified?
I suspect the intention is along the lines of .... don't ask, don't tell 
I suppose nothing stops you installing a 2nd pitot tube (heated of course, otherwise it's useless, so a CB for that) and a 2nd static vent, and fitting the AHRS gyro with that amazing means of installing non certified equipment.
I have no idea how Aspen's Connected Panel concept can possibly be legal, because they can't control the extent of what is connected to it, AIUI, but they seem to have found a way.
This is back in the news – this time it can drive the autopilot and take you all the way to the runway.
I wonder how (if) they have solved the wind issues, without airdata inputs.
There is another product, for the homebuilt market (obviously) which was discussed here in the early days of EuroGA and which does the same thing i.e. it glides you to the nearest runway. From memory, it was in the form of a hardware box, not an Ipad app.
“I wonder how (if) they have solved the wind issues, without airdata inputs.”
Probably the difference between ground track and heading allows them to guess at least wind direction.
That isn’t possible. A GPS sees only GS and the track. Well, the GPS altitude also…
If you flew some random-ish tracks, or flew around (e.g. an orbit or a holding pattern) at a constant TAS, then after a while a GPS could work out your TAS (using the generic form of the “three groundspeeds” method) and thus work out the wind vector.
But in most normal flying one is not flying random tracks or orbits. One is flying mostly in one direction, so most of the time one could not do a useful wind calculation because the change in GS due to the small changes in the track would make the wind vector calculation very sensitive.
From the description:
From this data, Xavion gives you a primitive backup of the entire six-pack panel. This includes:
airspeed indicator (minus any wind effects, since it knows only your ground speed),
And also (ADSB):
Also, (idea proposed by Rich Finley, who worked on avionics design for the F-22, and developed by Austin Meyer) Xavion shows some “sharks’ teeth” on the PFD in flight. These sharks’ teeth simply show the steepest and shallowest glide that your airplane can make! Anything that you see BETWEEN the sharks’ teeth, you should be able to glide to! The sharks’ teeth ARE corrected for wind (either entered by you manually, or updated by an ADS-B receiver if you have one) so you can see at-a-glance what you can glide to: Anything between the sharks’ teeth on the PFD! We have never seen anything like this in any avionics before, but it is really rather obvious in retrospect: We should show the available gliding angles, so you can see at-a-glance what you can make it to if you have a power-loss!
How do you like this one (left :-)) I developed it three years ago … but it’s still not completely finished …
Android? If so, yes, very interested.
BTW, I just bought one of the ones on the right.
