An online catalog for airplane pilots is finally offering a tool that could have been pitched to aviators from the get-go: the 3Com PalmPilot.
"When 3Com called it the PalmPilot, I don't think they had any idea it would be used for what it's being used for now," said Rick Mills, founder and owner of Pilotslounge.com, an Internet retailer of aviation supplies. "I had no idea that it would be used for aviation applications, and I don't think 3Com did, either."
After a year that saw more and more software created for aviators using the PalmPilot, the online catalog -- which sells aviation products to commercial and private pilots -- added the US$369 Palm III handheld organizer to its product line. Pilotslounge.com sells everything from flight uniforms to onboard computers.
"I don't think [the PalmPilot] is very popular right now [among pilots] because they don't know about it," Mills said. "Once they hear about it, they're not going to believe it."
What they won't believe, said Mills, is that they can get a multipurpose aviation gadget for far less than dedicated devices.
Traditional flight computers and navigation devices using the Global Positioning System require separate purchases and are more expensive. An equivalent pilot-popular GPS device, called the Magellan, offers GPS navigation and costs as much as $1,700, Mills said.
The PalmPilot comes with the ability to add GPS navigation for only $27. Among other applications for the handheld computer are software for flight planning and flight logs. Some of the stuff can be had for free.
Mills said he heard good things about the PalmPilot from a co-pilot with the Australian carrier Qantas, who uses one on board a 747. His favorite application is something called AirCalc, an $80 piece of software that helps determine altitude and airspeed, climb and descent rates, fuel plans, wind speed, and other crucial data.
