October 2003
Piper Malibu and Mirage
Subscribers Only Owners like this classy cabin-class single but concede maintenance costs are high and reliability isn’t the best.
Save a Little O2
Subscribers Only Tired of spewing expensive oxygen all over the cabin? Precise Flight’s conserver controls the flow.
PCFlight MicroEFIS
Subscribers Only Electronic gyros work so well, we wonder how long the FAA can pretend they shouldn’t be panel mounted.
Maule’s M-9 Aero Diesel
Subscribers Only Who says diesels are stinky, noisy and vibey? This one is smoother than a Lyc but at a princely price premium.
We Love This Stuff!
Subscribers Only Owners rave about weather in the cockpit. Bendix/King and WSI get top ratings, Garmin mixed reviews.
WSI and WxWorx
Subscribers Only Two new satellite-based weather datalink systems look promising. (And prices may be about to tumble.)
Letters: 10/03
Turbo Touts Your articles in the August issue on turbocharging settled once and for all that if you fly short missions and/or stay low, turbocharging doesn’t make sense. Five years ago, I was faced with traveling from the Nashville area to the Oklahoma City area on a regular basis. The Mooney 252 was my choice and I have never regretted it. First, measuring speed at the non-turbo’s altitude makes no sense, as you did for the Ovation and Bravo. I only fly the 252, so I can’t speak to the others, but I get 187 knots TAS out of the 252. That’s a 25-knot advantage plus tailwinds of over 80 knots consistently in winter. My best time for the trip was 2:32. Try that at 15,...