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May 2008 
Aircraft Engine Oils : Bp vs. Everyone ElseWhen an engine tanks prematurely, the recriminations begin. Did the shop screw up the overhaul? Was it bad cylinders? Or could it have been the oil you used? Yeah, maybe that’s it…if only you’d used Exxon Elite instead of Aeroshell, you wouldn’t be looking at a mid-time overhaul. This is the sort of fear, uncertainty and doubt that advertising is meant to mine. And the copywriters are good at it. Elite, for instance, is touted as offering a two-fold increase in rust protection over the nearest competitor. Aeroshell’s popular 15W50 "helps engines start faster and eliminates need for seasonal oil changes." BP is marketing Castrol’s aviation oil and not just claiming it’s the best, but offering to prove it with lab tests showing Castrol Aviator passed rust and engine deposit trials while its competitors failed. What’s going on here? Are the oil companies lying or just stretching the truth? In our view, it’s more the latter than the former—the engine oil ads make claims that are demonstrably true, but they make no effort to place these claims in context. The oil companies are happy having you make buying decisions in their favor with little grasp of the larger picture of oil performance. Complete O2 Systems: Aeromedix is Top Value It’s no secret serious use of a personal airplane requires climbing far above pattern and practice altitudes where the air is thinner and true airspeeds peak. That, more than anything else, may explain the veritable explosion in complete, state-of-the-art portable oxygen systems and the accessories that go with them. If your airplane doesn’t have built-in oxygen, and the time and money to add it isn’t in the cards, you’re a prime candidate for a portable system. Total cost for a two-user system? Under $500. But if you usually carry more people or need a few bells and whistles, things start getting complicated: The choices available from some vendors can be almost as dizzying as five hours in the teens without O2. In the January 2008 issue, we examined in detail new accessories such as regulators and cannulas, but we skipped discussing full systems. So in this article, we’re considering the whole enchilada, so to speak—complete, in the box systems. Since we last examined this topic five years ago, the market has become more competitive and there are some excellent values out there. Anywhere Map vs. GPSMAP 496 Control Vision’s Anywhere Map and the Garmin GPSMAP 496 do pretty much the same things. They both offer GPS-driven moving maps with an extensive aviation database. Both can display datalink aviation weather and traffic. We’ve reviewed both the GPSMAP 496 and the Anywhere Map suite in these pages before, but our objective this time was a head-to-head comparison. To test these devices we went flying, using them side-by-side on one flight and individually on one or more additional flights. In a features and ease-of-use comparison they each win some and lose some. The real differences, in our opinion, come down to the display and convenience. The display on the Pocket-PC-based Anywhere Map system is inadequate in direct sunlight and the plethora of external sensors, receivers, antennas and power cables Anywhere Map requires is difficult to manage. This isn’t as important if you can "install" all this in the airplane once, but it was a real factor as we installed and removed the equipment for each flight. Best Avionics Upgrades: Integration Is Key A casual stroll through a modern avionics shop can be as dangerous as a Harley-Davidson fanatic visiting the accessory department at the dealership. It’s easy to grin like a kid and convince yourself that you need one of each. To keep the lust factor in check, you’ll need to prioritize and decide which new gear will offer the most utility given the investment. We’ve assembled our list of the top five upgrades worthy for consideration based on value and capabilities. These aren’t in any order of preference. While each won’t come without an impressive invoice, we don’t think any are over the edge for most light aircraft. Just beware of add-on accessories that can add to the bottom line faster than you can say "I’ll take it." In our view, the most important system in the cockpit, and the starting point for all avionics upgrades is the audio control system. It’s no surprise that a lacking audio system can affect the safety of flight. A friend who owns an old Seneca recently had a total audio system failure while in solid IMC. His old, portable comm transceiver was a great help on the approach that would be near minimums — until the batteries quit at the outer marker. Cylinder Survey: ECI and Lycoming are Tops In the four years since our last survey (May 2004 Aviation Consumer), several things have changed in the world of engine overhauls. Teledyne Continental Motors (TCM) and Textron-Lycoming have both pumped up their marketing of zero-timed and factory-overhauled engines. Engine and cylinder rebuilders have expanded their presence with both Engine Components, Inc. (ECI) and Superior Air Parts offering complete engines to the experimental market. Superior is even certifying their Vantage engine to compete with the Lycoming O-360 and IO-360. For all that’s changed, however, the long-term viability of your new engine will largely depend on the quality of your cylinders. Is it a better road to use aftermarket cylinders like Superior Millenniums or ECI Titans? Or is it a safer bet to go with the OEM product? Used Aircraft Guide: The Cessna 206 These days, a cursory glance around the mall parking lot reveals many customers prefer a vehicle pregnant with flexibility, the sport-utility vehicle (SUV). Extremely popular with growing families, soccer moms and businesspeople spending lots of time on the road, SUVs have all but eliminated the station wagon from the automobile marketplace simply by expanding a theme. That need for flexibility is also present when considering a personal airplane. Some airplanes are optimized for speed, with little flexibility in loading. Some aren’t, their designers preferring to carry people and things reliably over long distances or into small areas. Compromises can be made, but the results sometimes please few customers. Perhaps the poster-child exception is an airplane like the Cessna 206 Stationair, which carries the station-wagon theme to one of several conclusions. It’s not fast, nor is it that slow, but it is stable, rugged, reliable, has six real seats and is remarkable for being able to carry a half-ton or so after the tanks are filled. You can put it on floats, turbocharge it, dump skydivers from it, and carry small packages or just your family. As one owner wrote us, "Cessna tried to market this airplane as an executive airplane. This is ridiculous. Everyone I know flies it as a utility airplane." |
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