Fixing the Mirage
As Lycoming struggles to right itself, Enhanced Flight Group is engineering fixes for the Mirages troubled engine.
Misc
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Letters: 12/02
No Toyota For Me
I read all of the articles in Aviation Consumer and your sister publications and usually find them interesting. I never (until now) felt it was important to reply to an article.
Im sorry, Paul Bertorelli, but I wont be standing in line to buy one of the Toyota aircraft, even if it is actually produced. don’t know who A. Sandy Munro is and don’t care. If it is fine with him to have another country drop their excess production in the U.S. produced by employees who make next to nothing in their own country, so be it. It isn’t fine with me.
Even if they partially assemble (as with autos) in this country, I wont be there buying one. If insurance costs are…
Letters: 11/02
Cirrus Accidents
I have an aerospace manufacturing background and when I went to the Cirrus factory last spring, I was impressed with the manufacturing discipline and the redundant fail-safe features of the design.
They have done a lot to assure that the systems are easy to learn and very pilot friendly. This will sell a lot of airplanes. The Cirrus is a delight to fly and most everything about it is attractive.
But the fact that you are told not to spin it, and if you do, to use the ballistic chute, is a serious problem, in my opinion. At best, IFR flying for a low-time pilot is a challenge. Recovery from unusual attitudes is part of the IFR agenda.
Also, many pilo…
More Power for Skylanes
Five companies offer Cessna 182 engine upgrades. Better climb and increased speed comes at a price: higher fuel burn.
Garmin Ground Nav
For a few hundred bucks extra, Garmins 196 will both find the airport and give driving instructions to a decent beanery.
Queries: 10/02
Fastest Single?
Ive been looking through the archives for this answer. Which single-engine airplane would you consider to be the fastest IFR airplane. I own a 1979 T182RG and Im looking for more speed.
I have considered moving up to a Mooney Bravo as you can get the TKS feature, but is it the fastest?
-Craig Tankersley
Littleton, Colorado
If youre limiting yourself to certified piston airplanes currently in production, the Bravo-a 200-knot plus airplane-is arguably the fastest, if you can stomach the fuel bill. Running a few knots slower is the Beechcraft B36TC.
If new isn’t a must, Rocket Engineerings conversion of the K-model Mooney to a Co…
Letters: 10/02
Diesel Pro/Con
In case you didnt know, diesels are not good for airplanes because they are too heavy. We are going to read a stream of articles in which researchers will be obfuscating the weight (comparable to a typical….) or fudging the power (125 HP, but it is just as good as..)
Of course, what counts is the sum of the weight of the powerplant and the fuel, and that brings us to the next point. The fuel economy of a diesel under constant load is only marginally better than that of a gasoline engine. (Remember the Continental Malibu burning 14 GPH when extreme leaned?)
If we are doing this because we have to burn Jet-A, someone should whip up a 150 HP gas turb…
Logbook Programs
We think AeroLog offers the best value, with Logbook Pro as a close second.
Letters: 09/02
Cellular Comments
We greatly appreciated your excellent article on satellite and cellular communications for pilots in the June issue of Aviation Consumer.
As we prepared for the flight of the New Spirit of St. Louis, we initially planned to use Iridium equipment primarily as a substitute for heavier and less reliable HF communications over the ocean. However, during our domestic test flights and transcontinental flights, we quickly became convinced of the tremendous utility satellite communication offers all pilots.
We were so impressed with the Iridium unit and services that we acquired through Blue Sky Network, of LaJolla, California, ( Read More »
Letters: 08/02
CO Sniffers
I enjoyed the article on the CO sensors in your July issue. I have had a Senco low-level monitor for eight months and have found it easy to use in my PA 28-180.
I have spoken to several other owners of CO monitors and we all get low levels of CO on taxi/ground operations. I have recently purchased one of the little air scoops that fold out of the pilots storm window and I have found that if I use it, there’s enough clean air from the propeller slipstream to keep my reading at zero or actually < 10 PPM based on the limitations of the sensor.
As an emergency physician, I realize that a short exposure to low-level CO is probably not a big issue, but it su…
Diesels Off the Block
Thielart and SMA aero diesels may have dazzling economy but the question of durability has yet to be answered.
Gear of the Year
Our annual look at the best products and services in the world of general aviation. This years top product: Cirrus SR-22