features_old

Speed matters. Ask any pilot. Frustratingly, speed costs money and lots of speed, as the warbird set says, costs cubic money. In the single-engine piston world, we’d each love to blast across the sky over 230 knots in a Cessna TTX, yet for most, the exchequer doesn’t quite stretch to the nearly three-quarters of a […]

A pilot can learn a great deal by stripping his or her flying down to its fundamental roots. Flying an aircraft without an electrical system puts you in touch with the basics of flying by altimeter, whiskey compass, pilotage and pure stick-and-rudder skills. On the mechanical side, it’s a chance to commune with the engine […]

We’ll admit it up front, without equivocation—we think flight simulators have improved the quality and safety of flight training substantially. We’ve seen the benefits for everyone from just starting out student pilots through grizzled veterans doing recurrent training. That’s why we are interested in the attractively-priced sims developed by one-G simulation, a Seattle-based company. We […]

It’s probably safe to just come right out and say it: Walter Treadwell is not your typical homebuilder. In fact, he’s something of a legend around his local airport. And there is so much to his story. In the April 2008 issue of KITPLANES, the late Bob Fritz got a good leg up on Treadwell’s […]

Imagine a Piper J-3 Cub parked beside a mighty double-decker Airbus A380. The two airplanes couldn’t be more different, yet both function on the same four principles: thrust, drag, lift, and weight. The 1.2 million pound Airbus just scales them up a thousand times over the 1,200-pound Piper. Each aircraft is designed for its purpose. […]

It seems there’s always a Piper Arrow on the ramp as well as a good selection of them on the used market. Flight schools have long sworn by them as relatively economical complex trainers, and owners report happy relationships with their combination of useful load and range. Through longevity and numbers, it may have replaced […]

While pilots grow old waiting for the FAA to reform the Third Class medical, light sport flying remains the last refuge to stay in the air. And vintage airplanes like Pipers venerable J-3 Cub or the Aeronca Champion actually promise affordability, if not comfort and technological panache. Taildraggers both, these two aircraft have always enjoyed […]

To gain sizable amounts of speed and efficiency, you’ll generally have to fly in the mid to upper teens and higher. And to do that, you’ll have to make a choice: stick an oxygen hose (or mask) in your nose or pay for the convenience of pressurization. Due to market demand and high production costs, […]

It’s a fact of aeronautical life that virtually every pilot has to complete some form of recurrent training every two years to fly as pilot in command in Part 91 operations. While FAR Part 61.56 outlines a number of methods of meeting its mandate, another fact of aeronautical life is that most pilots comply by […]

Probably the most difficult task on the Instrument Rating (IR) practical test is Area VII, Task D: Approach with Loss of Primary Flight Instrument Indicators. But why is the FAA so concerned about this? In their own words from the IR Practical Test Standards (PTS): “The FAA is concerned about numerous fatal aircraft accidents involving […]