September 2005
Beechcraft Duchess
Subscribers Only Among light-light twins, the Duchess is one of the better performers, with good slow speed traits and decent cruise speed.
Oshkosh 2005: The Jets Finally Arrive
Subscribers Only Thus far, very light jets have been mainly marketing puffery. This year, four actually arrived, including a surprise visit from Honda.
Trick Cylinders: Porting and Polishing
Subscribers Only Some shops offer this old hot rodder trick for aircraft cylinders. One side benefit may be improved durability thanks to better valve seating and grinding.
Chelton’s AP-3C: Bests S-TEC on Price
Subscribers Only This new attitude-based autopilot has altitude pre-select and roll steering at half the price of S-TEC’s version. Chelton still needs to show it can do sales and service.
Inside Thielert
Subscribers Only With automotive diesel technology and economy of scale, Thielert is reaching for a serious share of the GA engine market. Just don’t call them car engines.
Letters: 09/05
Garmin 296 As a long-time Garmin groupie and stockholder of the company, I phoned in my order for a GPSmap 296 the day they were offered and took advantage of Aircraft Spruce’s trade-in-your-old-295 deal. After a week of using the 296, I began a frustrating six months trying to get a refund, with both Garmin and Spruce stalling at every turn. I found the 296 disappointing and even dangerous due to its daylight-fading screen. It’s perfect in a dark closet, excellent at night and passable on a dull day. But in bright sun? Virtually useless. I’m back to my 295 with its bright, primary colors and continue to find it a marvelous piece of gear. [IMGCAP(1)]Did you actually fl...
First Word: 09/05
More Crankshaft Recalls Any day now, I’m hoping to hear that satisfying clunk that indicates that Lycoming has finally hit bottom and is on the rebound. But the only noise this month is the sickening crash of more bad news from Williamsport in the form of another crankshaft recall, the latest somewhat less all encompassing than the last, which took months and millions to sort out. And then there was the lawsuit in the aftermath of that recall, in which Lycoming is now appealing a $96 million judgment, all because of faulty crankshafts. If you’re a Lycoming owner, you have to wonder how much more of this Lycoming can sustain before someone in the corner office at Textron deci...
Garmin’s 396: Best Datalink Yet
Subscribers Only It pains us to gush too much, but the 396’s weatherlink performance deserves kudos. XM audio and terrain warnings are nice-to-have pluses.