Aircraft Stepups

Its hard not to pass judgment on the health of the industry by what companies unveil at AirVenture. Still, as weve witnessed before, major manufacturers may show up with more new product announcements than we can cover in a week, but that doesnt mean the industry is rolling along fat, dumb and happy. This year, vendors did seem happy, and while many werent fat with record sales, everyone seemed to agree that the show simply had a positive vibe, perhaps signaling the stability weve been looking for in previous years.

As technicians, we know for certain that pilots have problems maintaining the health of aircraft batteries, with expensive consequences. If youre among the crowd that buys a new one every two years-or sooner-you know that a new battery will set you back at least $165 for a Gill flooded model to we’ll over $200 for a Concorde sealed model. These are entry-level prices that don’t include labor.

Cessnas biggest fixed-gear piston single is really three models, though all are essentially the same airframe. It was originally introduced in 1963 as the 205, a fixed-gear 210, technically known as the 210-5. It had two doors up front and a relatively small rear door on the left side. The engine was a 260-HP Continental IO-470. This airplane was a fixed-gear version of the recently revamped 210; it was produced for two years, with 577 delivered.

Much like low-cost EFIS and other gee-whiz technology thats been available in the non-certified aircraft market, pilots of experimentals have long enjoyed autopilot systems chock-full of advanced features. But with few exceptions, the retrofit autopilot market-and Im talking about systems for modest entry-level Part 23 airplanes-has been stuck with systems carrying technology left over from the early 1990s, but with 2016 price tags. Ill be direct: While the S-Tec autopilot line (now offered by Genesis Aerosystems) has proven reliable, I think buyers expect more modern features than the venerable System 30 and System 55X (to name two popular systems) offer.

While researching information on aircraft corrosion and corrosion prevention, I ran across my nomination for understatement of the week in an FAA publication. It said, . . . the amount of maintenance required to repair accumulated corrosion damage and bring the aircraft back up to standard will usually be quite high. No kidding. The reality is staggering-some years ago I was shown the bills paid by an owner for corrosion repair. He had bought a Louisiana-based twin without a prebuy examination. Over the next two years he expended more than hed paid for the airplane to repair damage to the structure and skins from corrosion.

When modern aerodiesel engines made their surprise appearance at the Berlin Airshow in 2002, the numbers didnt add up once the costs ultimately came to light. The engines were certainly economical, but they were twice as expensive as gasoline engines, had half the TBOs and required pricey gearboxes and other components at short-run hours intervals. A decade and a half later, these automotive-based engines may finally be turning a corner of sorts, with the announcement by Continental Motors last spring that its CD135/155 series engines will have replacement intervals increased to 2100 hours from 1500 hours.

Aircraft manufacturers provide checklists in their POH/AFMs and weve dutifully copied those into separate-usually laminated-checklists for use in the airplane. Various third parties, including sureCheck and CheckMate, have attempted to improve on that physical format by taking much of the same information and condensing it to a few dense pages. Now weve got various tablet and EFB checklist apps, plus utilities in our panel-mount devices. Instead of laminated paper, the same static information is available on a high-quality screen, but the operating paradigm is unchanged: Read the challenge; read the response; repeat. (Although, some apps allow a checklist item to be actually checked off, making it easier to keep your place.)

As you probably heard, the FAA is offering a limited first-come, first-served $500 rebate for certain mandate-compliant ADS-B equipment installations. This isn’t a generous gift to aircraft owners, of course. Obviously, its the FAAs first effort (there could be more) to get owners into avionics shops to have ADS-B Out equipment installed before the end of 2019. While the ADS-B market has become sharply competitive, the decline in equipment prices hasnt exactly created a surge of upgrades. The FAA says about 18,000 GA airplanes and 500 or so commercial aircraft have equipped so far. That means as many as 150,000 still need to be equipped in the remaining 42 months. After paying for a basic $4000 ADS-B project, eventually finding a $500 check in the mailbox is better than nothing. But, there’s a dilemma, which is stirring competition.

During our research, we asked static wick manufacturers about ICAW procedures (instructions for continued airworthiness) and all noted that aside from a preflight visual inspection, its important to look for signs of corrosion where the wick attaches to the skin. Additionally, you’ll want to inspect the tips. Testing rarely happens on the shop level.

In my Mooney 252, I once took off from Atlanta, Georgia, right behind a Piper Aerostar 601P and landed right behind it in Washington, D.C. But, while I was using oxygen on the way there, he was flying in pressurized comfort. I bought an Aerostar. The last one was a factory-new model 700P. Flying above the clouds and being called a jet by ATC was always a kick. In the DA62, it seems to me that the kick has to come from the smell of leather. Im just saying.

If you were a dedicated Cub aficionado and wanted to build yourself the ultra version of the essential Cub idea, what would you do? Youd start with the basic planform, update it with edge-of-tech materials and build methods-carbon fiber, CNC-cut parts, modern avionics-all buttressed with an aerodynamic makeover to tweak performance. Then youd send the airplane to the place that designs and builds seats for Bentleys and Ferraris and tell them to go wild.

For a few years now, Insight Avionics has been selling its G-series line of color engine analyzers. The company is hardly a stranger to the engine display market. Its first-generation GEM series (graphic engine monitor) sold we’ll and delivered on quality, but these instruments fell short on advanced diagnostic utility for lack of modern software.