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YellowBird: Affordability Reimagined
Walking around AirVenture 2014 at Oshkosh—almost 30 years from the day that I took my first training flight in a Cessna 150—my 15-year-old daughter Ashley spotted AOPA’s Yellowbird 152 on display. “Dad, I need one of these,” she matter-of-factly remarked in a voice that commanded the same attention as her mother’s. I was 15 when I first enthusiastically strapped into the little trainer and now Ashley is focused on dual instruction of her own in a 152. A bright yellow one, she says. While it’s tough to find anyone that’s not fond of the 150/152 (“The J3 of our generation,” says AOPA president Mark Baker), let’s put emotion aside.
Letters: September 2014
Your article about the Lightspeed PFX ANR headset in the August 2014 issue of Aviation Consumer could not have arrived at a more opportune time and was spot on in its evaluation.
Mutt Muffs: K-9 Hearing Protection
Protecting your dog’s hearing in the high-noise environment of the cockpit is important. Mutt Muffs will help if they will stay on your dog’s head.
First Word: July 2014
As with most things the government requires us to spend money on, many pilots that I talk with aren’t thrilled with the idea of force-fed ADS-B upgrades. Buying a non-compliant, $800 portable ADS-B receiver to get free weather is one thing. Investing thousands on a major installation is another. As we explain in the ADS-B equipment article on page 4, a full-up ADS-B-compliant upgrade, including a WAAS GPS navigator, could easily top 10 grand. If you’re lucky, you might get by with a $2000 investment, give or take, for a basic ADS-B output transponder. That’s a best-case scenario.