During the course of a typical year, we see and use dozens of aviation products. Call us jaded, but we’re hard to please and if a product comes up short, we don’t mind telling you as much. In fact, that’s our job.

But it’s also our job to call attention to what we think are the very best products we see and, frankly, there aren’t many of them in a market defined by intense competition. Yet every year, we see a handful of products that we think are exceptional in design, execution or value. Or all three. Herewith are our findings for the 2005/2006 editorial year. …