Aviation Consumer

Piper Navajo

Subscribers Only An affordable cabin-class twin made in wide model variation. Watch for a long AD list and high maintenance costs.

Why Won’t Liquid Cooling Fly?

Subscribers Only It’s standard equipment in cars and boats but, thus far, a loser in airplanes. A project to clone Lycomings with watercooling aims to change that.

Budget Retract Step-Up

Subscribers Only These days, $70,000 buys a lot of airplane. If you don’t mind an older airframe, P-model Bonanzas are a top pick. Pre-201 Mooneys are economy leaders.

The Lycoming Surprise

Subscribers Only After years of looking the other way, Lycoming is getting tough on core charges for factory overhauls. Read the fine print before buying.

Improved Seat Comfort

Subscribers Only Supplemental pads from Moller and Oregon Aero ease the pain of stock aircraft seats.

When Gyros Die

Subscribers Only When a gyro rolls over and dies, should you fix it or buy a new one? Making sense of repair, overhaul and replacement options.

WAAS Flight Trials

Subscribers Only Although it’s late to market and overbudget, enhanced GPS seems to perform as claimed, adding an extra sheen to Garmin AT’s GNS480.

Letters: 01/05

Hey, Just Kidding In the November Aviation Consumer on page 10, you say, “It’s not morally wrong to lie about how fast your airplane flies as long as you know the truth.” Shame on you. For a publication that emphasizes the truth without advertising to state that it is “not morally wrong to lie” leads one to wonder about the morals of the author, period. The article should be well received, however, as many people do not know or care about the truth or the speed of their airplane, the factory included. I have been told that American Airlines received a check for $1 million from Convair when the CV-990 did not reach the 600 MPH mark that Convair touted in their presentation. (...

First Word: 01/05

The Wild Ride Ahead Now that the election is behind us and the bile is receding, the guessing game begins. AOPA reports that general aviation interests are well represented in the new Congress; some 14 recently re-elected Representatives or Senators are pilots and most candidates AOPA supported won, all good news. The larger question is does general aviation have a friend in the White House? My prediction is no, it does not, and the next four years will prove a wild ride for the industry. On the security front, AOPA and other industry groups have done a superb job of keeping TSA (mostly) off our backs. We still have to put up with massive TFRs that shut down absurdly large...