For decades the ultimate airplane pilots dreamed of and strived to own was a piston twin—often either a Beech Baron or Cessna 310. Beech, Cessna and Piper worked to develop brand loyalty and provided incentives for owners of their piston singles to step up progressively through the ranks of higher performance singles until they could […]
Over the last year Sporty’s (www.sportys.com) has issued the first of what is to be a series of online training courses that go beyond the usual private, commercial and instrument rating training materials. The initial two were on aerobatics and featured the legendary Patty Wagstaff. We were impressed by the content and quality of the […]
It’s that tiny, niggling detail between you and the professional pilot job or you and the traveling machine that you’ve wanted for years—the multi-engine rating. It’s the schizophrenic rating—great because there’s no written test and awful because you’ll be shelling out a boatload of money every hour you fly the trainer. We surveyed the market […]
Like the rest of the piston-single resale market, good training airplanes are fetching top dollar, even ones that might have lived hard lives on a training line. Upgraded ones that were we’ll cared for in the hands of meticulous private owners sell for even more. Using the most current Winter 2020 Aircraft Bluebook as a […]
We are encouraged but cautious when we learn of impending entrepreneurship in the aviation world. We know that the odds of success for startups are not outstanding, but for those who do their homework and find the right niche, they improve. After all, we know that there is money in aviation—we put a lot of […]
Let’s get this rolling by disputing what “everybody knows” when it comes to flying in icing conditions in general aviation airplanes that weigh less than 12,500 pounds. To start with, there’s no FAR specifically prohibiting flying those airplanes into known icing conditions or clearing all of the ice, snow and frost off of the wings […]
At no time in aeronautical history have pilots had a wider choice when it comes to the type and capabilities of the cockpit presentation when they fly IFR. For an instrument-rated pilot who wants to rent from the local FBO, the avionics variety means that the checkout may take some time as he learns how […]
In the June 2020 issue of Aviation Consumer, we reviewed the first of what we were told would be a series of aerobatic training videos from Sporty’s (www.sportys.com) prepared in conjunction with aerobatic legend Patty Wagstaff. It was a broad introduction to the world of akro with everything from history to snippets on many of […]
If you’ve been following our coverage of the aircraft insurance market you’ll know that it has—as we predicted a year ago—“hardened.” That’s a broker buzzword for high premiums, demands for frequent training and medical certification, longer transition instruction when moving up in aircraft and in some cases, non-renewal of policies even if you haven’t had […]
We’ve heard our share of horror stories from readers regarding their experiences in the “hard” insurance market that developed in the last two years. We’ve been tracking the market and reported on it in the February and December 2019 issues. It put an end to a “soft” market that had existed for over 30 years. […]
No matter how many times we hit the delete key, 2020 is still here. With Abby Normal the new normal, a lot of pilots have been flying infrequently at best, with many unable to do any aviating at all. Our readers are nothing if not perceptive—they know that a pilot who isn’t flying regularly can […]
Every other summer, I torture myself with the $1500 biennial ELT switch flip. I install the required 24-month battery, wait for the minute hand to sweep past the top of the hour and press the test switch with bated breath. The crisp woop-woop of the truly ancient EBC 121.5 MHz beacon makes the Cub legal […]
