November 2002
Piper’s PA-34 Seneca
Subscribers Only It’s hardly the fastest twin but it’s reliable, easy to maintain and insure and it’s one of only three piston twins still in production.
Garmin Ground Nav
Subscribers Only For a few hundred bucks extra, Garmin’s 196 will both find the airport and give driving instructions to a decent beanery.
Gippsland Airvan
Subscribers Only Big, boxy and with a payload greater than the Cessna 206, this Aussie import impressed us.
More Power for Skylanes
Subscribers Only Five companies offer Cessna 182 engine upgrades. Better climb and increased speed comes at a price: higher fuel burn.
The No-Paper Cockpit
Subscribers Only Sorry, it’s not here yet. For approach plates, tablet computers have promise. But they’re too expensive and support is iffy.
Oil vs. Corrosion
Subscribers Only Rust may be an engine’s worst enemy. Aeroshell 15W50 and Exxon’s Elite offer the best protection.
Letters: 11/02
Cirrus Accidents I have an aerospace manufacturing background and when I went to the Cirrus factory last spring, I was impressed with the manufacturing discipline and the redundant fail-safe features of the design. They have done a lot to assure that the systems are easy to learn and very pilot friendly. This will sell a lot of airplanes. The Cirrus is a delight to fly and most everything about it is attractive. But the fact that you are told not to spin it, and if you do, to use the ballistic chute, is a serious problem, in my opinion. At best, IFR flying for a low-time pilot is a challenge. Recovery from unusual attitudes is part of the IFR agenda. Also, many pilo...