It’s almost a cliché. The buyer was in a hurry to get an airplane for his flight school. He found the model he wanted for a price that fit his budget. It was 1500 miles away. It had just come out of an annual inspection, so he bought it sight unseen, with no prebuy examination. […]
Hail-damaged aircraft are what salvage deals are made of. If you’ve dealt with hail damage as I did with my Grumman after an isolated thunderstorm peppered it on a transient ramp in Wisconsin, you know it can be ugly. Shredded fabric, trashed windshields and gaping holes in the skin are an expensive reality. But minor […]
Shopping the market for a fun, reasonably affordable and easy-to-fly two-placer? Add the Ercoupe to the list of potential candidates. Nearly 82 years later, owners still appreciate the Ercoupe’s intended design as an exceptionally safe airplane that’s resistant to stalls and spins. But there’s more bragging rights. It’s really the first successful production GA airplane […]
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 […]
MORE ANGLE OF ATTACK Awhile back I put an Alpha Systems AoA in my Cessna 182. The instrument was difficult to calibrate, but Mark Korin—the owner of Alpha systems—got on the phone for a half-hour with me when I was calibrating my unit. Turns out I’m very happy with the panel-mounted display. I almost never […]
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 […]
Avionics shops have been busy. So busy that the wait to get into some of them is almost a year. There are reasons for that. Installation complexity, airframe teardown and equipment shortages mean a longer stay on the shop floor. Plus, shops are still recovering from the ADS-B rush. To get a feel for how […]
Even as the COVID-19 pandemic worsens in the U.S., the aircraft lending boom has created a feeding frenzy in the used market. Who knows when it will all come crashing down, but for now aircraft values are up—way up—and those who might not have considered aircraft ownership are taking the plunge. And some are getting […]
Insert your favorite speed cliché here. One of the main reasons we love airplanes is that they go fast—and the faster the better. We post photos on social media of the GPS when riding a screaming tailwind and we agonize over the numbers when imprisoned in a headwind. And no matter what we’re flying, we’ve […]
BENDIXKING EMERGENCY AD I wanted to write to let you know that the folks at BendixKing are doing their best to help customers trapped by the recent FAA’s Emergency Airworthiness Directive (2020-18-51) against the Sandia/BendixKing KI 300 retrofit EFIS. My experience with a KI 300 and the autopilot adapter (KI 310) installed in our Mooney […]
For many pilots, Piper’s PA-46 series, which includes the Malibu, Mirage and Matrix (and current M300 series), could very we’ll be the ultimate step-up piston single. Get it up high and the airplane can do an honest 200 knots in pressurized comfort (the simpler Matrix is non-pressurized). It’s also a good IFR airplane thanks to […]
We get it. Until two years ago, aviation insurance rates were at historic lows due to overcapacity in the market. A few insurers bailed out because, as we understand, they couldn’t afford to keep losing money. Now supply and demand has swung the pendulum the other way and the price of insurance premiums has shot […]
