Most flight into known icing (FIKI) systems are only available for certified aircraft, and that limits the mission capabilities of high-performance experimental aircraft. Up in my Great White North region, that means popular go-places kit-built aircraft are often grounded when anti-ice-equipped certified ones might launch. Buenos Technologies of Redmond, Oregon, has developed a de-icing system […]
We have a bias when it comes to flight training: We think that high-quality training, at all levels, is essential to overall aviation safety. We’ve watched the quality of flight training increase over the last several decades and feel that it has played a role in the decreasing accident rate for all segments of aviation […]
The combination of insurers watching accidents and resulting claims go down as the amount of recurrent training taken by pilots goes up has slowly but steadily caused more and more aircraft owners to discover that they must take some form of annual training to insure their machines. We’ll look at insurance requirements, how you can […]
We have long been interested in pilot training courses and their content, availability, quality and cost. We watched the quality and ease of use go up dramatically with the advent of the first video courses and get even better as they became internet-based and increasingly interactive. We pay particular attention to what we consider turnkey […]
Just when we thought the market had enough personal satellite trackers, Garmin tosses the inReach Messenger in the ring. Think simple, small and fairly priced—all good things for those needing another layer of backstop when flying outside of cellular coverage. Like the other inReach models in Garmin’s lineup, the $299 Messenger uses the subscription-based Iridium […]
As the average age of general aviation pilots continues to climb—during a “hard” insurance market—we hear horror stories of pilots being unable to find coverage, having coverage canceled or facing premium price increases they simply cannot afford. As we started our look into the matter, we found consistent evidence that once a pilot hits 70 […]
A deterrent for using supplemental oxygen—especially in tight cabins—is having to deal with the hardware, including the bottle and oxygen lines strung every which way. Aithre, which has been cranking out decent portable solutions, has developed a hard-mounted system called the AVI C. I took a look at the system at AirVenture this past summer where […]
Giving Cirrus and Diamond their due, “crashworthy” doesn’t immediately leap to mind when thinking about little airplanes. The vast majority of the fleet is old school, with little flail space, single diagonal seatbelts and many aircraft with non-energy-absorbing seats. Most of us just grit our teeth and fly on. Improved seatbelts are a plus as […]
In response to the “After the Dust Settles: Protecting Yourself” article (November 2021 Aviation Consumer) on dealing with a post-crash aftermath, including subsequent regulatory realities, we got a letter from (and had a subsequent meeting with) Tom Haueter, who offered a behind-the-scenes look at accident—and in particular, incident—investigations and what it means to general aviation […]
Over the past year or so we’ve been getting plenty of reports from pilots slapped by the sobering reality that the current insurance market has sunset their flying career. The trend is pretty clear: These are pilots north of 70 years old—many flying twins, turbines and even small tailwheel airplanes—who on paper have spotless flying […]
On Dec. 20, 2021, the NTSB issued Aviation Investigative Report AIR-22-01 urging the FAA to require carbon monoxide detectors in piston-engine, enclosed-cockpit aircraft and asking pilot industry groups to encourage their members to install CO detectors with active aural or visual alerting and proactively ensure thorough exhaust inspections. The full text of the AIR may […]
Last December, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) created a stir by publishing a recommendation calling for the FAA to require that all enclosed-cabin piston-engine aircraft be equipped with a low-level carbon monoxide (CO) detector and that aviation alphabet organizations inform their members about the dangers of CO poisoning, encourage them to install CO detectors […]
