We’ve seen it plenty of times. A buyer on a budget has the heart set on a Cessna 210, but a closer look at market asking prices and operating costs squashes the idea. Luckily there’s an alternative in the Cessna Cardinal RG. And overall there’s a lot to like about life in a retrac Cardinal. […]
Staggerwing. Caught you. It only took one word. You started dreaming. It’s OK, we did too. In our mind’s eye we saw that sleek work of art smoke over us at 200 MPH, 450-HP Pratt rumbling as it dwindled away toward the horizon. Unless one’s blood is the consistency of water, at some time every pilot […]
MORE ON THE BONANZA Nice report on the used A36 Bonanza in the February 2020 Aviation Consumer Used Aircraft Guide. Everything you said I thought was spot on. I have a few additional comments from our ownership experiences since the last update. We recently sold our A36 for one reason—space. Our family simply outgrew the […]
It’s one of the things we macho pilots don’t like to talk about—incapacitation. We grouse about taking FAA medical exams or complying with BasicMed. Hey, we’re way to cool to worry about keeling over while motoring through the skies with our loved ones aboard. The good news is that pilot incapacitation shows up as the […]
IS VHF NAV DEAD? I have some thoughts on Frank Bowlin’s interesting article, “Is VHF Nav Dead,” in the October 2019 Aviation Consumer. I’m not supporting whether or not to have none, one or two ground-based nav systems (VOR receivers), but if the choice is one VHF nav receiver, there could be some challenges. A […]
Stupid pilot tricks, anyone? Here at the magazine some of our test aircraft for sending portable products through the wringer are Cessna 150s and 152s—seemingly the best combination of budget-friendly economy, durability and simplicity. Flying and filming the Faro Stealth headset in the 150 for the field report in this issue got me thinking about […]
The only downside to not getting the FR endorsement on the first time you fly with a CFI is that if your 24 months has expired since your last FR, you can’t fly as PIC (that includes solo) until you get a new endorsement. Um, that’s also a very good reason for not putting your FR off until the last moment as the realities of aviation karma include delivering lousy weather for the one day you have available for the FR flight before it expires.
The original airplane had a 60-gallon fuel system. In 1961, Piper offered an optional 90-gallon system, which gave the Comanche 180 seriously long legs: nine hours, provided it was only loaded with the pilot, one passenger and a little baggage. Range remains one of the Comanche’s strong points and many have been fitted with even more fuel capacity in tip tanks and fuselage tanks to give it impressive endurance. In 1961, the gross weight of the 250 was boosted by 100 pounds. Electric flaps replaced the manual ones in 1962 models. Production of both the 180 and 250 ended after the 1964 model year. The 180, which obviously came second to its bigger brother in load carrying and was not selling as we’ll as the 250, was dropped altogether while the 250 was upgraded to the 260.
At AirVenture I was looking at the new Garmin GPS 175 to replace my old GNS 430. The Garmin rep told me there was a nice rebate available if I traded my GNS 430 for a new GTN-series navigator-something like $4000 toward the GTN. I asked what they were doing with the trade-ins and he said they refurbished them and sold them, but I’m guessing not in the U.S. I asked if that meant that Garmin was continuing to support the GNS 430W and he said absolutely.
The PC-12 turboprop single turned out to be more versatile than perhaps even Pilatus envisioned. Thats because it works just as we’ll hauling dirt bikes (were talking motorcycles, by the way) as it does corporate executives and charter passengers, thanks to a posh rear cabin thats configurable in several seating arrangements. Formed in 1939, Pilatus is hardly a newcomer to the aircraft market and the PC-12 has been to market since 1995. That means there is a healthy selection of used PC-12s to choose from.
To understand the significance of the J-3 Cub look all the way back to Piper’s Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, heyday, where William T. Piper was rightly seen as a visionary. But no one could have imagined how enduring that vision would be, to the extent that over 80 years later, several companies are building brand-new Cub clones that clearly trade on the mystique of the old yellow classic. Two that are front and center in the market are Legend Aircraft and CubCrafters. We think both companies nail the quality and support.
