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An ancient axiom of aviation is that a company that sets out to design a brand new airframe and wrap it around a brand new engine design had better have a vast pool of money, expertise and patience or an excellent team of bankruptcy attorneys. The aircraft manufacturing world is littered with the remains of companies and concepts that simply could not get through the astronomical combination of variables and issues that must be identified and subsequently solved when absolutely everything is new. With the financial backing of an automotive giant, Honda Aircraft pulled it off, although it took nearly 20 years.

The oil system on most light aircraft engines is simple and mostly effective. Most systems are of a wet sump, low-pressure design. Typically, the oil reservoir (or sump) is located within or attached to the lower part of the crankcase and oil is continuously returned by gravity to the sump after the oil has done its job of lubricating and cooling.

As a follow-on product to the STCd G5 electronic attitude indicator, Garmins G5 electronic directional indicator is taking sizable criticism because the instrument doesnt interface with autopilots. While Garmin says this is a temporary limitation, its easy to understand the backlash. After all, the G5 EHSI is intended to replace mechanical, vacuum-driven DGs-many of which work with the heading channel on a variety of existing autopilots. But looking to the future-as in the coming months-there’s a bigger story here.

These days, there is no shortage of aircraft marketed as backwoods utility machines. The short list includes Maule, CubCrafters, Aviat and American Champion. But in the world of working airplanes, Cessnas long-discontinued 185 is often regarded as one of the most capable. You don’t have to spend much time around a 185 to understand its reputation as the airborne version of a four-wheel-drive, three-quarter-ton pickup truck, easily able to haul heavy loads into and out of short, unimproved strips.

In our view, Lightspeeds recently introduced third-generation Zulu3 ANR headset is a nicely executed improvement to a product that already works well. Its predecessor-the Zulu2-excelled in a crowded market of high-end ANR models because it was simple, comfortable and had the modern features buyers want, but at a price thats substantially cheaper than a Bose A20.

Surrendering your engine to an overhaul shop has a bit of a dice roll to it. Shops quote prices for the overhauls, but theyre based on a repairable or serviceable core. That means a good crankshaft and a crankcase and either or both could be junk, propelling the overhaul into blank-check territory in the blink of an eye.

After delays, the FAA transitioned from the domestic IFR flight plan form (7233-1) to the 7233-4 International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) form this past January. Its your ticket to flying in RVSM airspace and utilizing ADS-B services. Plus, you can use it for operating under VFR within the Washington, D.C., special flight rules area.

For pilots who regularly use their airplanes to travel, having ice protection beyond a heated pitot tube often goes from the nice to have column to the I really need it column when considering upgrades to the family machine-especially if there’s recently been a pucker-inducing encounter. We did a survey of whats available for retrofit and found, to our surprise and pleasure, that some form of retrofit de-icing system is available for just about any high-performance piston single or twin.

The way we see it, if the Trio Avionics Pro Pilot autopilot is proven in experimentals like the Vans RV series, its ready for duty in Cessna Skyhawks and Skylanes. If the ongoing certification process falls into place, California-based Trio Avionics plans to bring an STC-approved version of the Pro Pilot to AirVenture 2017. With a post-installation price thats targeted below $10,000, we think the market would embrace it as an alternative to an S-Tec system.

Military pilots are trained for and thus accustomed to flying airplanes with thrust enough to slap the eyeballs back into their sockets. Blackhawks new XP140 conversion for the staid Cessna Caravan doesnt quite deliver that kind of punch, but there’s a hint of it from the lofty left seat. Blackhawk has had great success in plying the niche of Pratt & Whitney PT6A-powered airplanes that the factory just didnt get quite right for lack of available power or just marketing considerations.

Were not suggesting you learn how to completely disassemble and reassemble the landing gear on the aircraft you fly, but instead, knowing what the system looks like when its stowed in the wheel wells and fully extended will give you a better mental picture and help you spot something thats out of place during your preflight. Since landing gear designs are all over the board-from stone simple to incredibly complex-it pays to spend some money on shop labor and have your mechanic put the aircraft on jacks so you can observe a gear retraction and extension.

I want to replace the taxi lights on my Piper Malibu with LED equivalents. This seems to be quite the grey area. My airplane came from the factory with the Whelen A775 series recognition/taxi lights. There is no TSO or PMA for these units because Piper approves the installation under the original type design. Whelen recently introduced the 71888 series, which are fit, form and functional equivalents to the original A775.