Then they should be mounting them on the floor. :-)
Ron Wanttaja
There is no requirement for TSO'd equipment in most cases for a privately used aircraft. I finally got the DC FSDO to say that in an email. I was looking at adding a second radio.
I don't know why it took a letter from the FSDO. The FAA has always held that TSO is neither a necessary nor sufficient condition to have a part installed.
"How different is it from the "tso'd" gas station variety for $10.00?"
There is a huge difference.
Tso'd charger will not cause RFI and will not burn up. No such guarantee from the gas station variety. In fact most of them will cause noise in your comm radio and many of them will overheat.
However practically no chargers will tell you accurately how they will charge your device, especially if it is not an Apple device. Most of the gas station chargers lie about their capabilities.
BTW, I sell USB chargers for homebuilts and have written a book about USB charging and given a forum at AirVenture in the past. You can view the presentation on Commit Lift website.