Ernest Christley wrote:

Maybe move the entire radio receiver out to a wingtip or somewhere
well away from the engine's RF noise. But I can't see that being
self-powered. Perhaps we could use Tesla's beam-power technology to
run those.

Oooh. You just lost me on that one. To much complication with the radio
to human interface there. You've got a device in front of the pilot to
select a station, which must transmit it to a device out on the wing,
which has to recieve and interpret it correctly, then transmit the
correct station's signal back over bluetooth.

This kind of stuff is bread-and-butter for Bluetooth. Remember that one
of its original design goals was moving (high-quality stereo) audio in
real time from a player to headphones. Sending channel-select signals in
the opposite direction isn't a biggy either... Bluetooth devices are
continually communicating digitally amongst themselves.

You'd still have to run signal wires for the physical backup.

Why? The airplane will keep flying if the radio fails. Granted that,
depending where you live and fly, losing access to your radio could be a
bit, um, difficult. But, for many, a radio isn't a necessity.

I just don't see the advantage
when remoting the antennae is all that's necessary to avoid the engine EMI.

You said it yourself in your last sentence: It would just be cleaner and
easier if the wire can be left on the spool.

How about stress monitors built into the prop (I have no idea if anyone
makes such a thing). Would help you to carve a perfect prop.

Prop blade pitch control... a motor in the spinner to adjust pitch,
controlled via Bluetooth. No hollow crankshafts and oil pressure
systems, no slip-rings.

Frank