April 2006
Piper Twin Comanche
Subscribers Only Twin-engine reliability and safety at single-engine prices. Although long in the tooth, the airplane is still supported with parts and mods.
Round Four: More Lyc Crank Woes
Subscribers Only This time, Lycoming is calling for the retirement of 5100 additional crankshafts within three years. Engine shops are puzzling over the consequences.
Lost in Space: Snags for WSI, XM
Subscribers Only WSI weatherlink buyers will have to switch to Sirius Radio (and buy a new box) while XM’s financials aren’t encouraging.
Premium LED Lights: UK Zoom Stands Out
Subscribers Only The $270 (ulp!) Surefire U2 is the world’s uber flashlight but the UK Zoom 4AA does the job at one- fifth the price on cheaper batteries.
Idle-Engine Rust Control: Protection at a Price
Subscribers Only It’s not the money, it’s the hassle. All the engine storage products we tried are effective. The hard choice is flyable storage versus long-term pickling.
GPS On The Cheap: Why Some Bargains Aren’t
Subscribers Only Got a stone-age navigator in your panel in need of replacement? There are good deals on the used market for VFR boxes but IFR-certified units may be no bargain.
Turbo Cirrus: A 200-knot Cruiser
Subscribers Only Cirrus has been slow out of the gate with a turbocharged SR22. Tornado Alley’s turbonormalized conversion makes it competitive with Columbia.
Letters: 04/06
VGs and Stability With regard to your article in the February 2006 issue on vortex generators, we have VGs on our 1965 B55 Baron. The benefits that Rick Durden describes in the article are confirmed by our experience. But, as with any engineering change, there are compromises. The first is specific to Barons: The combination of VGs and an open cabin door make the aircraft unstable in pitch, especially at low speeds. Three of the partners in our aircraft have experienced this when the door has popped open in flight. In a VG-equipped Baron, it’s critically important to have the door adjusted properly and to confirm the latches are engaged before takeoff. The second applies t...
First Word: 04/06
PRODUCT DEFECTS AND DOING THE RIGHT THING As a former president once said, I feel your pain if you happen to own an airplane equipped with both a Lycoming engine and a WSI AV200 datalink receiver. Chances are, you’ll have to rip the guts out of the engine and that happy box back there in the avionics bay will soon be so much obsolete junk. The companies responsible for these events—Lycoming and WSI—hate it when I put things in such unapologetic terms. I feel their pain, too. But here’s the ugly truth: Lycoming oversaw the design, production and sale of at least 2400 crankshafts deemed to be defective and as we go to press, it has announced that another 5100 need to be replaced i...