Spend a Little Extra for a Known Quantity

Sporty's continued its foray into the world of cell phone accessories, providing a 10,000 milliamp-hour battery back to their Flight Gear Backup Battery Lineup.

While the battery may look like any other portable power supply for USB-C or Lightning powered devices, it... pretty much is in most respects. The Flight Gear battery provides 4 separate charging options, with both types of cables built-in to charge Apple or Android devices, as well as wireless MagSafe 15 watt charging on the front. That should cover most bases on the flight deck, with a single USB-A port and an in/out Type C port allowing any number of cables or chargers to be used. That allows pilots to feed their cameras, hotspots, portable AHRS, EFBs, and more. As a nod to their intended aviation purpose, the otherwise run-of-the-mill battery pack sports a decorative reminder for VFR and IFR altitudes on the front of the small wireless charging pedestal. While the larger, more unwieldy Flight Gear battery sports 20,000 maH, the smaller one offers a more handy and pocketable 10,000 maH. That's about two or three full charges for the average flagship cell phone today, give or take.

While there are thousands of different backup battery packs on the market, Sporty's says theirs differs from the rest by virtue of extensive testing to suss out the possibility of electronic interference with aircraft systems. "Sporty’s Flight Gear Backup Battery was designed with pilots in mind", according to their advert.

“Any time you add an electronic device to the cockpit, you run the risk of interference with the radios,” says Sporty’s Director of Aviation Products Doug Ranly. “We’re very concerned about that problem, so we’ve tested the Flight Gear Battery pack in multiple aircraft and through hundreds of flight hours to ensure that it won’t become a nuisance in the plane.”

Some additional features like "intelligent charging", and safety circuitry also make an appearance in the Flight Gear battery, too. They're not exactly rare additions in the battery market, by any means, but the Sporty's name should help ensure that they actually work on this one. Fly-By-Night Alibaba operators and their bottom-dollar battery packs may be acceptable on the ground, where the risk of combustion can be mitigated with rapid escape or firefighting techniques - but GA planes aren't too equipped to fight a raging lithium fire inside the cabin. Sure, the Sporty's battery rings up at the register a tad higher than the endless parade of no-name competitors - but their brand extends a credible promise of safety at altitude that they never could. MSRP for the Flight Gear 10,000 mAh battery sits at $49.95.

FMI: www.sportys.com