If youre looking for an airborne toy, something to both challenge and perfect your skills, youve come to the right place in a Pitts. Straight up, if youre looking for a one- or two-seat cruiser, we suggest looking elsewhere. The used Pitts market can be daunting. Many different variants have evolved over the years, including factory-built and experimental versions, but there remain two main types: a single-seater and a two-holer.
My guess is that many pilots like me are over 40 years of age (Im 62) and may not be completely familiar with newer wireless Bluetooth technology and its limitations. After a radio failure on a recent flight, I tried to pair my newer Bose A20 Bluetooth headset with my new Samsung Galaxy S8 smartphone I bought to replace my aging iPhone 4, which would connect to my A20. The local ATC tower has a recorded phone line where they can issue control instructions in a pinch.
Acompany called AeroEngine Protection Corp. has been aggressively marketing a range of scheduled and unscheduled maintenance programs for piston engines. While the concept is new in the piston aircraft market, similar programs have been the norm in the jet aircraft world for years, and aircraft OEMs, used aircraft dealers, engine overhaulers and fleet operators are signing on with AEPCs programs for pistons in impressive numbers. Aircraft Bluebook has even recognized the program when publishing typical resale costs.
If Beech Bonanza ownership seems out of the budget, the good news is that there are plenty of vintage V-tail models on the market at affordable prices. The bad news is that unless those 50- and 60-year-old airframes have been we’ll maintained, you could be buying a money pit. Plus, shops wont feel sorry for you when you roll up in any Bonanza.
Now that cockpit GoPro cameras are as common as iPads, it’s only a matter of time before someone posts the ultimate deer-in-headlights moment: the shock and terror of a pilot just commencing an inadvertent gear-up landing, otherwise known as the $60K slide. It might be just as interesting if the camera kept running through the aftermath-the runway recovery, the call to the insurance agent and, ultimately, what to do if this happens to you.
It all started with a bathtub. In the late 1920s, the cost to rent the airplanes available was a dollar a minute-thats over $14 in current dollars. The over 100-HP radial engines necessary to power the boxkite biplanes werent cheap to run. Naturally, there were a lot of people trying to come up with an airplane that would be more affordable for the many who lusted to fly.
P utting a boat hull on an airplane creates a few tradeoffs that prospective buyers should understand. For one thing, it doesnt make for efficient aerodynamics, so don’t expect blistering speed and edgy handling. You also wind up with a complex airplane and face the costs of maintaining retractable landing gear and a constant-speed propeller. There are also the expenses of keeping a boat alive and well.
In the early 2000s Cirrus learned that equipping an airplane with a parachute and gee-whiz avionics doesnt necessarily make it safe. As was proven more recently, favorable accident stats come from focused training. But as one Cirrus sales pro put it, its the Wild West when it comes to the market of used SR20s and SR22s because some buyers either get the wrong training or in some cases, no transition training at all. A get-in-and-go approach doesnt work we’ll in a Cirrus.
Warbird ownership: Its not for the faint of heart, but there’s nothing like it, according to warbird owner and airshow pilot Stan Musick. While it takes cubic money to acquire and operate big-time warbirds-WWII fighter, bombers and transports and post-war jets-the path toward owning and safely operating an airplane in the major league of general aviation is the same for those armed with bags of money or simply determination: Youve got to spend quality time in the minor leagues first.
The Grumman Cheetah and bigger-engined Tiger may be overlooked by some buyers searching the crowded under-$50K used airplane market. In fact, among entry-level Cessna and Piper models, the AA-5A Cheetah could very we’ll be a used market leader. With a sporty slide-back canopy, snappy handling and reasonable cruise speed for its fuel-sipping 150-HP powerplant, a Cheetah works for training, traveling and for tooling around the local area. On the other hand, the 180-HP AA-5B Tiger might be the better of the two cats when more climb performance and load-hauling is needed.
Given its European roots, Diamond came at the DA40s design as sort of a hybridbetween the sleek glass gliders the company started out producing when it was Hoffmann Flugzeugbau and more traditional aircraft U.S. customers are accustomed to. This yielded what we think can arguably be called a world airplane.
Regarded as one of the workhorses of general aviation, the Piper Navajo has found a substantial market in the charter business. But its also an appealing twin for owners who want to fly themselves in relative comfort and luxury. Like the Cessna 402, as one example, you don’t find many Navajos in private ownership, although some aircraft sales professionals we spoke with during our research told us thats changing-and good ones sell for a premium.
