Top Gear
The latest aviation kit, impartially tested and evaluated
Asali Nav bag HHHHH
£125 | www.asalidesigns.co.uk
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very bag I’ve ever come across for pilot ‘stuff’, has been some variation of plastic material. Generally functional, but not the sort of thing you’d give to someone as a gift. So the Asali Nav bag was a surprisingly pleasing item to check out in the FLYER office when it arrived. All leather, it’s main compartment is perfectly sized to take a headset, small tablet and kneeboard. There’s also a smaller zipped pouch on the front (perfect for my SkyEcho2) and a slot-in pouch on the rear. My only gripe? If the main compartment was zipped to open slightly wider, it would be perfect. Asali will personalise the removable patch at the front with your name and an image. A bag purchase benefits the RAF Benevolent Fund and RAF Association, which are the chosen charities for Asali. There are plenty of low-cost ways to store those pilot essentials, but this one is nicely sized and just plain quality. EH
Left This isn’t your typical flight bag, but something a bit special Above Main compartment is big enough for the essentials, headset chart, kneeboard, plus there’s a smaller front pocket Below A personalised patch adds a nice finishing touch
It’s All Mental
£15 | www.jamesketchell.net
Pilots Progress
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n incredible collection of adventure stories, which culminates in James flying into the Record books for circumnavigating the world in an open-cockpit gyroplane. His writing is immediate and dramatic, capturing the extremes of fear, stress and emotion in each of his endeavours. From the moment he sets off from Perth, Australia, on his first venture to row across the Indian Ocean, I was riveted, unable to put the book down. I loved his honesty, sharing the highs as well as the crushing lows. Having faced adversity from when he was a teenager, Ketchall knows about the lows and is passionate about motivating young people to reach inspirational goals. He’s an adrenaline junkie, but an adrenaline junkie with a big heart. A worthy winner of the RAC Segrave Trophy, it couldn’t have gone to a more decent or inspirational fellow. CC
£7.50 | Available via email
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purred on by the positive reception to his first aviation thriller, The Airborne Ghost, (Top Gear, May 2021), Martin Leusby set about recording the trials and tribulations of progressing his PPL skills. The result is Pilots Progress, a fun little self-published book, with a quirky array of tales. EH
November 2021 | FLYER | 67
