Magnetos have been around so long that one cant help but wonder if Benjamin Franklin went directly from his supposed kite-into-a-thunderstorm electricity experiment to his basement where he built the first one.
As the general aviation market slid downhill in the final 15 years of the last century, propeller manufacturers Hartzell (www.hartzellprop.com) and McCauley (www.mccauley.txtav.com) were faced with vanishing demand. Their response was to break away from their historic reliance on aircraft manufacturers and invent new products that…
The phrase irresistible urge is as good as any to describe why some airplanes get fitted with floats. A Super Cub and a 185, sure. But a DC-3 and a Cherokee 140? And now a giant Waco biplane in the form of the companys just-introduced YMF-5F floatplane, with the F signifying floats.
Shop the six-seat, retractable piston-single market and you’ll find three basic choices: Beechs Model 36 Bonanza, Cessnas Model 210 Centurion and Pipers PA-32R series, which is the Lance and Saratoga. At first blush, the Bonanza arguably handles better than the other two while perhaps squeezing out a knot or two over the Centurion. The 210, on the other hand, generally has better short-field performance than the Bonanza and offers an improved hand-flown IFR platform.
Whether youve earned the A&P rating to wrench your own aircraft or plan to tackle the FAA-approved light maintenance items you can accomplish as an owner, you need the right tools and workspace for the job.
Despite pilots most intense desires, airplane components wear out. Fortunately for their wallets, the major stuff on general aviation airplanes that are hangared and flown a few hundred hours a year-the airframe parts and pieces-should last the better part of a century. Along those lines, the things used by pilots to see through portions of the airframe, the windows, generally have a useful life measured in decades.
As a Lake owner with 25 years experience flying it from South Florida to all corners of the continent, I would like to correct certain information published about Lake amphibians in the September 2017 Aviation Consumer. Some of my quotes in that review were made over 10 years ago and deserve a refresh.
My guess is that many pilots like me are over 40 years of age (Im 62) and may not be completely familiar with newer wireless Bluetooth technology and its limitations. After a radio failure on a recent flight, I tried to pair my newer Bose A20 Bluetooth headset with my new Samsung Galaxy S8 smartphone I bought to replace my aging iPhone 4, which would connect to my A20. The local ATC tower has a recorded phone line where they can issue control instructions in a pinch.
If Beech Bonanza ownership seems out of the budget, the good news is that there are plenty of vintage V-tail models on the market at affordable prices. The bad news is that unless those 50- and 60-year-old airframes have been we’ll maintained, you could be buying a money pit. Plus, shops wont feel sorry for you when you roll up in any Bonanza.
For a moment, lets forget that the Cirrus SF50 Vision Jet is arguably the most technically advanced personal light aircraft weve ever flown. Or that Cirrus likely will achieve its goal of making it a safe step-up jet for qualified SR22 piston pilots. Moreover, its cabin and cockpit dwelling is perhaps the most satisfying weve experienced. But in our view, the most impressive thing about the Part 23-certified SF50 is that it even exists to talk about.
