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Following a major claim or two, your insurer may decline to renew you. Heres how to improve your odds.

The new and improved Champion filters edge out of Kellys new offerings, in our estimation.

The normal rules of supply and demand don’t seem to apply to all things related to aviation. There’s an explanation for this and a couple of years ago, I heard Alan Klapmeier, CEO of Cirrus, summarize it: flying is so much fun that many of us are willing to pay anything to do it.

Perhaps that explains why aviation cottage industry businesses come and go like the weather and, ever the enthusiasts, we sometimes buy the products of these companies in the blind hope that theyll be around to support whatever dingbat gadget we thought was good idea when the VISA card was unsheathed.

Sadly, our hopes are occasionally dashed. This months poster child for a good-idea-gone-bad is the Aero Adva…

Headset Beefs
In your headset review in the May 2004 issue, you failed to mention one problem with the revised Bose X: The volume controls have no click stops. They move with the lightest of touches.

A general question for the headset manufacturers is why no one makes a unit with volume and balance rather than dual volume controls. If they must do dual volume controls, then give me markings so I can keep the settings the same.

-Paul Platt
Via e-mail

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Goodyear Landings
My experience of much greater durability with Goodyear Flight Custom III tires reflects UNDs results. My estimate was roughly 50 percent more landings per tire with Flight…

Theyre now good enough to do everything from any machine with Web access. Our top pick is Aeroplanner.

Diesel Notes
Thank you for the article on the Maule with the SMA diesel engine. (See Aviation Consumer, October, 2003.) I found it was a fair assessment of the installation. If I may, Id like to bring an update and clarify a few points:

The engine produces 230 HP in ISA condition at sea level. Its power decreases progressively from SL to 5000 feet, where it stabilizes at 200 HP to about 10,000 feet.In other words,the engine produces 230 HP at SL, 215 HP at2500 feet and 200 HP at 5000 feet, all smoothlycontrolled through the computer.

The engine is no longer limited to five minutes at max takeoff power (230 HP) so one can cruise above the beach at 1000 feet at 224…

No, you don’t need an expensive full-motion sim to knock off the IFR rust. We compare offerings from three companies.

By EPA standards, airplanes are profligate fuel wasters. Yet Diamond, Mooney and Cessna hold the economy high ground.

For many owners, these six-placers offer ideal speed, payload and operating economy.

WAAS Worries
I enjoyed your article on the status of GPS WAAS in the November, 2003 issue. On page 18, you used the example of the GPS 32 approach at Gaithersburg, Maryland, my home base. While this demonstrates the potential benefits of WAAS, this particular approach is totally useless to civilians.

Thats because you need to enter the FREEZE zone surrounding DCA VOR. My guess is that only when hell freezes over will civilian aircraft be able to enter that zone. The approach is not available at night.

Look at the weird wording they use to say that on the chart: No straight-in or circling at night. (What else is there?) The new GPS 14 approach also uses the FREEZE…

The first new piston twin in years aims to take on Beech and Piper in a narrow market niche.

Its a Bonanza in everything but name. The Deb outlasted and eventually replaced the venerable V-tail.