Uncategorized

Its economics, mainly. There’s no discernible push to eliminate lead from avgas and as long as money is being made, the alternatives are simply DOA.

Although Cub nostalgia keeps purchase prices high, the worlds premier utility aircraft is also a terrific fun flyer.

LYCOMING: YET ANOTHER CRANKSHAFT RECALL

The ink had hardly dried on our January report describing Lycoming’s quality control efforts when the company announced yet another crankshaft recall, the third in as many years. This time, the FAA issued an NPRM just after Christmas affecting nearly 400 crankshafts, mostly in engines built by Lycoming, but some done by field shops. Technically, this an expansion of the second recall, but that’s a distinction without a difference.

Within days of this announcement, reader Bob Anderson e-mailed this observation on our January interview of Lycoming’s new manager, Ian Walsh: “Unfortunately, it seems that the steely eyed fighter pilot has wooed…

Battery Charger Sources
I enjoyed the article about Smart Chargers. The article states that the chargers tested are available in both 12- and 24-volt versions. I visited the Deltran Web site and I cannot find a 24-volt version of the Battery Tender Plus. Any suggestions?

Jonathan Sisk
Lexington, Kentucky

Since 24-volt batteries were not mentioned, am I to assume that these cool chargers are not available for them? I have been using a Sears automotive 12/24-volt charger that has a number of options on it. I use the 2-amp charge when necessary along with a DS500 desulfator to tune-up the Concorde batteries on my Mooney Ovation.

———-

Am I hurti…

The G1000 is an engineering tour de force with tons of horsepower. But the Entegras simpler, more direct interface is easier to learn and use.

All of the aftermarket suppliers beat OEM prices, but Plane Plastics leads on value. On select parts, high-priced Heinol may be the best choice.

You can find a decent flashlight at the local hardware store but a little Web shopping will yield better quality and performance for the same prices.

For under $600, market choices are limited. But the Helios rides well, folds small and is nicely made.

The graphics arent as slick as ELITEs offering but low price and airplane library make it a terrific value.

If your kids call you gramps, your insurer may call you a bad risk and double your premium. But alls not lost. Regular flight checks and a proactive broker can help.

Mad as Hell
Every couple of months I get some form of the Im-fed-up-and-Im-not-gonna-take-it-anymore wail about poor quality in products of the sort reader Ellis Johnson sent along this month. (Read it in the “Letters” section.) Its not clear to me if Mr. Johnsons letter represents a rising tide of customer dissatisfaction with everything in general aviation or just everything in general.

My view is that while the quality of goods and services has improved, the quality of customer service has declined sharply. I base that opinion on the fact that many of the complaints we hear about or actually intervene in involve minor beefs about the product itself. These complaints…

Garmin GPSmap396
As always, I thoroughly enjoyed your latest issue, especially the article on the new Garmin GPSmap396. I have found it to be fabulous and your article was right on the money. It gets my vote for the 2005 product of the year.

However, it appears that there is a surprising flaw in the unit, especially since it was designed for aviation use, that I thought you should be aware of. On my first flight, I noticed that my compass was off several degrees and I started into figuring out why.

The GXM30 antenna is actually quite magnetic and seems to be the source of the error when sitting on the glareshield. I contacted Garmin about this and they indicated that…