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I was working as a disk jockey for a small radio station inWashington, Ind., where I grew up. And since my program schedule didn’t start until 6:00PM I had most of the day off. Now you have to remember that a small town has shall we saya limited menu of things to keep a 22-year-old […]

The manifold pressure (MP) gauge is a very simple instrument, but what it does is a mystery to many pilots. Simply put, if you do not fully understand what that instrument is telling you, you cannot possibly understand the engine, engine management, power settings, or troubleshooting. Quiz Time First, allow me to pose a few […]

Well start this month’s activities at the virtual airport with a classic jet trivia question: Boeing Aircraft Company numbered all of its jetliners with the figure “7” at the beginning and end of a three-digit number. With the purchase of McDonnell Douglas, Boeing is now reusing its designator “717” for what historically was the DC-9/MD-8X […]

Growing up in Ohio, I lived andbreathed airplanes. We rode our bikes out to the grass strip at the edge of town to watchthe flying and play around the hangers. We built countless model airplanes. Throughout itall, the idea of actually learning to fly never occurred to me, even when my collegeroommate took lessons. I […]

NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARDWASHINGTON, D.C. 20594 AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT REPORT Accident occurred JUN-06-97 at TILLAMOOK, ORAircraft: Lockheed P-38L, registration: N7973 Injuries: 1 Fatal. The aircraft (P-38) had been topped off with full reserve & main fuel tanks (44 USgal/engine reserve tanks & 72 gal/engine main tanks). The pilot took off with about 20minutes fuel having been […]

Liz Im partial to Mooneys, I guess I need to admit that straight up. I own a 1966Mooney M20E, one of the short-bodied speedster models. My little bird “Mike”cruises along at a calm-wind 140-plus knots and drinks a mere 10 gallons of avgas perhour. I like Mike. I transitioned to my 200-hp, complex M20E “Super […]

SIGNALS CONNECTORS SN3308 P1 SN3308 P2 SN3308 P3 GX50 GPS RS08 RELAY NSD-360 PLUG KNS-80 NAV#1 DATA LDR KR-87 ADF KMA-24 MBR KG-102A GYRO FLUX GATE DIMMER HI 26 M DIMMER LO 28 VDC CBKR 1 1 1 11-12 14 28 VDC CBKR 20 GROUND 3 16 2 20 1 15 Y GROUND 22 34 […]

After seeing theSN3308, I naturally assumed that its inventor and Sandel founder GerryBlock was a seasoned veteran of the avionics industry. So when I flew down to SandelAvionics in a northern suburb of San Diego to interview him for this article, I was quitesurprised to learn that the SN3308 was Block’s very first aviation product. […]

A couple of months ago, Ihad Avionics West replace some of the avionics in my 1979Cessna T310R. In particular, I changed out my decade-old Loran for a II Morrow GX50approach-certified GPS. At the same time, I yanked out the airplane’s original-equipmenthorizontal situation indicator – an old vacuum-driven Century NSD-360 – and installedthe new Sandel Avionics […]

Let’s take a little time off from the hardcore technical stuff, and have a little fun. One of my favorite stories involves a pig, but first, allow me to set the stage, jump up and down on my soapbox, rave a little, then tell the story. From 1963 through 1968, I had the incredible honor […]