EAA AirVenture Oshkosh starts Monday and thousands of pilots are doing last minute checks to make sure their aircraft is ready for the fly-in.  We will be at the show in force and you'll be able to find us at our usual spot in Hangar D. Those that aren't able to attend Oshkosh should keep tabs on the blog because we'll be posting daily.

With the show so close, several people have asked if we'll be giving rebates. We usually give show rebates on portable products and this year won't be an exception. But don't forget, you have to come to the show to take advantage of the savings! Those analyzing our webpages to decide what they want to buy when they arrive at the show may find this GPSMAP 495 review helpful. The GPSMAP 495 is our newest aviation handheld. Some think of the 495 as a cross between the GPSMAP 296 and GPSMAP 496 because it provides some of the advanced features found on the GPSMAP 496, but is closer to the GPSMAP 296’s price point.  The 495 has SafeTaxi airport diagrams, Smart Airspace, AOPA’s Airport Directory data, enhanced high-resolution terrain database, aviation database with private airports and heliports, accelerated GPS update rate, and European VFR reporting waypoints. Unlike the 496, the 495 doesn't have XM WX or preloaded automotive maps.

Behind the scenes of the Garmin blog: Faithful blog readers know that since Roger left us to fly helicopters we've become a little lax doing weekly aviation posts. Hopefully some day soon we'll have a new aviation guru to introduce to the blog community, but since Roger is one in a million it takes a little while to find a replacement -- as if that's even possible!