It All Began On A Cool, October Morning

It all began on a cool, October morning. I had recently bought my Mooney and was thinking of all the things I needed to care for my new girl. We closed on the plane in October so we were just starting to feel the fall chill in the air, or as much of a chill as we get in the south in October. While I was walking across the ramp, I started thinking, “I’m going to need a way to pre-heat this engine soon.” Preheating wasn’t something I had done in the past; I live in the south after all. Even our cold mornings aren’t that cold when compared to other areas of the country. But this was my new plane and I was determined to treat her right.

I started looking into preheating options. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a hangar. I was on the waiting list, but I was years away from actually getting one so all of the nice electric products were not an option. Plus, dragging an extension cord across the ramp wasn’t a viable option either. Next, I checked with the FBO to see if they had any options. Not surprisingly, my deep south airport didn’t have a preheater. It almost never gets cold enough to justify having one, so most people just postpone flying on cold mornings or live with the potential damage from starting their engine cold. I then considered buying a preheater myself. I looked up the heaters that could be portable, and they were everything but portable. I could probably keep them in my car, but carrying it with me when flying was out of the question. So I gave up on finding anything and started working on creating my own.

I went through many design ideas. I looked at electric heaters that could be plugged into a cigarette lighter, but they just didn’t put out enough heat. Plus, what good is a warm engine if your battery is dead so you can’t start it? Next I looked at gas options. I found many home brew options that used camp stoves and ducting. But I felt like these weren’t very safe and they were also very clunky. Then I remembered my trip to Germany a few years before and finally had an idea that would work. I ordered a bunch of parts and started working on my prototype.

The Prototype

The prototype was finished and hugely successful. It met all of my requirements. It was small, lightweight, and portable. Exactly what I wanted! I could easily carry it in my car so I didn’t need to keep it at the airport. I was also small enough and light enough I could carry it in the plane so I could preheat at my destination too. The timing worked out well for my senior project for my Electronics Engineering degree that I was able to create my own controller that gave me the information I most wanted to see. I was elated with how my creation tuned out. I would occasionally show it off at the airport and everyone was impressed with what they saw so I decided to work on refining my design into a product that I could offer to other pilots.

I started working on finding suppliers for the components to refine the design. While I was securing vendors for the components, I ran across other vendors selling a whole variety of products. A few of these products stood out to me as things I had been looking for to use with my plane. These were kinds of things that were not directly aviation related, but could make the whole aviation experience more enjoyable. For example, a folding bike that would fit in the plane so I had wheels when I landed. I had seen forum threads with people reviewing bikes they had used, but there wasn’t a central place for information or a place to buy ‘aviator tested’ products. I decided that was something I could do. Why limit myself to that one flagship product that I created? Instead, I would test products and those that work well with my plane I would offer for sale with my review of how they work with the plane.

You’ll notice if you browse the site today, there isn’t a bike available. I take the testing part of my idea seriously. I don’t want to flood the market with things that might work in hopes of making a quick buck. My goal is to only offer items that I know will work for aviators. I want to share the testing experience so you know when you buy an item from Aviator Specialties that it will fit your needs. Keep watching, I’ll be adding products constantly. Remember, testing and offering great products that work for aviators is my main goal. I don’t want to rush anything to market and offer something substandard. As pilots, we have high standards. Let’s keep it that way.