Misc

One owner s expensive lesson in the limits of insurance coverage. (And some advice on how to avoid the same trap.)

Loser Indeed
Reading your characterization of the Cirrus SR22 as a loser in terms of fuel efficiency in your March issue, I had to wonder whether you were even talking about the same airplane as the SR22 Ive owned for a year.

I routinely see 13 NMPG-plus at 172 to 175 KTAS, running lean of peak (LOP) in my Cirrus. I typically flight plan 175 knots at 13.8 GPH at 10,000 feet, providing me an endurance of 5.8 hours and a comfortable no-wind range of 850 miles with legal reserves.

At 6000 feet, your test altitude, I get 175 KTAS at 15.7 GPH. Why anyone would opt for ROP operation at 19 GPH for an additional 2 to 5 knots is beyond me and my view and mode of operation i…

ECI and Superior lead the customer satisfaction parade but two-thirds of Continental buyers say never again.

Sometimes the cheapest tire isn’t the best deal. What matters most is tread depth and the more, the better.

These pad-type heaters warm gauges and avionics for toasty takeoffs.

For $50, we cant think of a better investment. Kennons products are our first choice.

You know its going to be a bad day when the airplane you once owned turns up in pieces on eBay.

For moderate cost, tip tanks offer transformational range and flexibility. Some even come with payload increases.

Cirrus vs. Diamond
The December, 2003 issue of Aviation Consumer was fun and informative, as usual. The airplane comparison between the SR20 and DA40 held special interestfor me as I enjoy new, improved technology and general aviation could certainly use a shot in the arm on that score. Im just not so sure about the improved part of that equation.

With regard to the DA40, it is a great looking airplane and I readily believe that it is a hoot to fly. But, (there’s always a big but isn’t there?) for a guy who would love to leap into the future of GA, the value just doesnt add up.

While I realizethe following is an apples-and-oranges exercise, it still comes down…

RAM Mounts
I recently purchased a RAM Mount with suction cupfrom the King catalogue. I doubt that I have ever been more dissatisfied with any purchase Ive made for my aircraft than I was with the RAM mount.

After trying unsuccessfully to get it to adhere on any window in my aircraft, I returned it to King. I also enclosed a letter stating that I felt it was an inferior product and infact dangerous to have in the aircraft because the suction cup always released at the most inopportune time.

Last week, I received another mount, G-Force GPS mount,from PropellerHead. It is so far superior to the RAM mount that there is no comparison, in my view. Less weight, greater…

Piper and Beechcraft, with Diamond in the wings. There are buyers out there; maybe Cirrus and Adam should talk.

[IMGCAP(1)]When pressed, any hard-bitten magazine editor might concede that publications like this one are more than ink on paper. In concert with the whims and desires of their readers, they become living entities with distinct lives of their own. But in the end, its the editor who breathes life into the thing. A good one makes all the difference, elevating the everyday to the exceptional, the exceptional to the extraordinary. One of the best died the other day here in Florida, not a mile from where Im sitting in Sarasota. Richard B. Weeghman-all of us knew him as Dick-was 75 years old and succumbed to a sudden illness. He was editor-in-chief of Aviation Consumer from 1976 to 1994.

I…