Maintenance

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.

In our world, the editorial year commences in the summer instead of January, and the anticipated editors choice awards focuses deserved attention on the products and companies that really impressed us in our coverage over the year. As we do every July, we take a half step back and tip the hat to a dozen of them on page 12 of this issue. But there was more that caught our attention the past editorial year, some of it unforgettable. If we had a worst news of the year award, there would be takers.

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.

The stars have aligned just right-your local airport has a waiting list for hangar space, you are unwilling to park your airplane at a tie-down and the airport has land it will lease at a reasonable rate. This is your chance to create a hangar that will suit your airplane-and potentially your need to spend quality time with your airplane. As we got into our hangar research we were amazed at the number of companies that sell pre-engineered hangars, many offering turnkey erection. Almost all are metal building manufacturers that build hangars as one of their clear-span products. Most will work with you to match the demands of your site and help you with what may be a complex approval process for construction on a public-use airport.

The buyer demographics were predictable-46 percent were between the ages of 41 to 55, and 48 percent were over the age of 65. The rest were 21 to 40 years old. When it comes to flying missions (which is a major factor in upgrade decisions), 45 percent fly between 50 to 100 hours per year, and 32 percent fly between 100 and 200 hours per year. Personal/recreational flying counted for 50 percent, while personal and business flying was 47 percent.

A decade ago, when the FAA and ASTM were dickering over what became the light sport aircraft rule, limitations on weight and performance-but not power-bubbled to the top of the discussion. The airplanes were supposed to be less expensive, light and simple, but the rule didnt say they couldnt have neck-snapping power-to-weight ratios and thus the era of the 180-HP LSA is upon us.

The magnetos weve been relying on to fire our aircrafts spark plugs may be the trailing edge of technology, yet if cared for appropriately, they are remarkably reliable. Its the cared for part of the equation that matters-because they do require regular maintenance, otherwise some failure modes can mean engine stoppage or even catastrophic engine damage in a matter of seconds. The good news is that keeping your mags healthy usually costs less than two dollars per hour of engine operation per mag.

When sending the high-energy burst of electricity to the spark plugs, the magneto has to do so at the right split second—every time. That requires that the mag be timed internally and externally. Setting the internal timing requires that the mag be removed from the engine and opened up. It should be performed every 500 […]

Now that you’re comfortable with wrenching the easy stuff on your engine and airframe, thoughts may turn to earning an A&P (airframe and powerplant rating). Unlike the process of earning a new pilot rating, it’s not quite as easy as taking a course, an exam and going home with ticket in hand ready to rebuild […]

For some, the fun part of owning an aircraft is the time spent alone with it in the hangar. That eventually leads to wrenching it. Before you get too deep in the cowling, you should evaluate your technical skills, understand the regulations and inventory the proper tooling. In this article, Ill outline the regulations and some of the maintenance items the FAA allows you to perform on your certified aircraft (for more freedom, consider an experimental, plus an A&P rating).

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?

Electronic pilot logbooks have become ubiquitous in the last few years. Weve been impressed that a lot of skull sweat has gone into making them easy to use as we’ll as a safe place to keep something very important to you-your history as a pilot. We looked at a representative sampling and liked what we saw.