Aircraft Stepups

Steve Jobs once said of Apple that the genius of business success was to invent products would-be buyers didnt know they needed. Apple succeeds brilliantly at this, but the advice applies equally to airplanes. He who stands still and treads water will soon wither. Even small companies must innovate and move forward and our editors choice for the top company doing that this year is CubCrafters, the scrappy taildragger manufacturer based in Yakima, Washington.

If you ride long enough through snow, fog and desert dust, you’ll likely hear the audio signatures of static built up on the airframe. It can be severe enough to shut down a comm and nav receiver. The troubleshoot chase can be as frustrating for the techs as it is for pilots because everything will likely work perfectly on the ground. Static discharge wicks should be the first accessories to consider, especially when committing to a new avionics installation. But antennas could be the culprit, too.

Back in the day, the quest to come up with the perfect personal airplane may have seamed easy at first. It only needed to perfectly combine ease and cost of operation, ability to carry the right number of passengers and operate from most all airports in the country. During the post-World War II boom, the major airplane manufacturers to include Aeronca, Luscombe, ERCO, Piper and Cessna, among others, all eventually came to the conclusion that the future for mass-marketing airplanes was wrapped up in something that had four seats and on the order of 150 HP. ERCO (the Ercoupe folks) never made it past a prototype. Aeronca and Luscombe gave up after limited success, while Cessna and Piper went on to fight it out for decades, while Beech and Grumman-American tried to make inroads.

Exhausting is the first word that comes to mind (there are others we’ll refrain from printing) when looking back at our ADS-B coverage this past editorial year. Eyeball the ADS-B buyers guide in the April 2016 issue of Aviation Consumer and you’ll see why. Its a market busting at the seams with panel and portable solutions. A major player is L-3 Avionics. Since its introduction nearly two years ago, we felt that L-3s transponder-based Lynx NGT-9000 was an excellent all-in-one ADS-B In and Out solution, though we also felt that its high price limited it to higher-end aircraft. But after a few major price reductions (it now starts at $5395), an entry-level NGT-9000 is within reach of more buyers. Plus, it packs a lot of punch in a single box.

Among the many avionics gadgets to install, an aftermarket fuel totalizer could offer the most utility. These devices are simple to operate, they work with most modern GPS navigators for trip endurance calculations, and while installation technique is critical, they arent overly complex to retrofit. There are four major players in the standalone fuel computer market: Shadin Avionics, Insight Avionics, JP Instruments and Electronics International. In this article we’ll look at each product line and show how they can interface with a GPS navigator.

Your research into building a hangar should include getting answers to at least the following questions, many of which are outlined on Erect-A-Tubes website: 1. What are the Airport Minimum Standards regarding hangar construction? 2. What are the construction, permitting and inspection standards for all political entities with jurisdiction over the hangar? 3. Will the hangar impinge on runway protected airspace or ATC control tower sightlines? 4. What are the land lease terms? 5. Will hangar ownership revert at the…

I read with interest your coverage of seaplane transition training in your last issue, since Im planning on earning my rating to transition to the Glastar amphib Im building. I was surprised how gently Aviation Consumer treated a product that has been promised for years, has been offered for sale since 2014, yet has so many major shortcomings. I wish you guys would write another report on servicing old avionics. It seems there are many in service that need repair.

When we flew with the KSN770 in late 2013, we found a fully functional and capable navigator, seemingly catering to whats left of King Radio loyalists. It has robust controls, has a bright VGA display and it has a rich feature set thats compatible with a generous list of LRUs, including weather radar and TAWS-B terrain. Who knows why certification dragged on as long as it did?

Even with fuel prices at historic lows in the aviation world, pilots are constantly looking to save when they top off. Various apps keep us apprised of current pump prices, so we can plan our stops. But, what if there were a way to get a discount from the retail price when we taxi up to an FBO?

Its important for manufacturers and dealers to understand and support the used market because it affects the credibility of the brand. In Mooney Aircrafts case, if an individual wants to purchase an aircraft, but cant justify (or cant afford) a brand-new one, a range of pre-owned choices still keep buyers in the Mooney family.

If the FAA gives it the nod, autonomy could help sell some airplanes. More on that in a minute. As Cirrus and other manufacturers have proven, whole airplane parachutes are deal-closing accessories, especially for new pilots and skeptical passengers. This when-all-else-fails backstop has even trickled down to unsuspecting backwoods utility taildraggers, with Cubcrafters recently introducing a BRS (Ballistic Recovery System) option for its Carbon Cub and Sport Cub models. The BRS will add roughly 40 pounds to the airframe, while tacking on $14,000 to the price. Its also available for retrofit.

Nitrogen-filled tires hold a lot of respect in the automotive world, but exactly how do they benefit aircraft tires? When talking about small aircraft tubed tires, the advantages just aren’t so huge. For large jets and tubeless tires, the nitrogen creates less wheel corrosion and pressure loss. But for your petite 2-seater, it really doesn’t seem to make a difference.