June 2006
Piper Seminole
Subscribers Only The sole survivor from a 1970s experiment in marketing, a step-up light twin is still in demand and still built by New Piper.
Columbia’s E-Charts:
Close, No Cigar
Subscribers Only Putting the plates on a display that’s tall and narrow rather than short and wide makes all the difference—and none at all.
Mooney's Return
Subscribers Only Back from bankruptcy for the umpteenth time, Mooney has a new, blisteringly fast model. But what it most needs is efficient manufacturing.
PS 8000B:
Top Dog In Audio Panels
Subscribers Only Like Garmin’s GMA347, it’s loaded with entertainment features that are a plus only if you need them. A low price sweetens the deal.
Better Breathing:
Oxygen Conservers
Subscribers Only For single-pilot ops, we like Precise Flight’s PreciseFlow. The Mountain High EDS O2D2 is a good choice for a two-person cockpit.
Oil Analysis Labs:
Blackstone Is Tops
Subscribers Only But our tests show that results vary widely from lab to lab. One tech’s highly suspect sample may be another’s perfectly normal. It’s the trends that count.
Fractional Ownership:
AirShares Looks Best
Subscribers Only Although neither AirShares Elite nor OurPLANE are cheap, they’re still the less expensive way to own a new airplane. Owners say they fly more as a result.
Letters: 06/06
Cheap As It Gets With regard to your article about GPS on the cheap in the April 2006 issue, I am thinking of nominating myself for Bottom Feeder of the Year award for this one. The Apollo 602 loran in my Cessna 182 hasn’t worked for awhile. I bought a used Apollo 618 with Form 8130-3 and a spare loran antenna in my first eBay transaction for $82.51 (plus shipping). The seller didn’t bother to insure the item or to ship it overnight, even though I paid for both. It arrived with the antenna poking out through the side of the box because of a poor packing job, the database is seven years old, but it fits right in the panel and it works! Rick Baier Sonora, California...
First Word: 06/06
ROLEX VS. TIMEX In the letters section of this issue, Mid-Continent Instruments and Sporty’s Pilot Shop duke it out over how much a back-up attitude gyro should cost. It’s the classic Rolex vs. Timex argument, at least with regard to price. It also illuminates a trend I see fairly often in aviation, which is price set not by the cost of manufacture with a reasonable margin tacked on but by so-called “psychological” pricing. Embodied in this is the notion that if two products do the same thing, the one that costs more is probably better. We are all susceptible to this ruse and in aviation, we are especially susceptible because perceived quality is directly associated with pe...