Maintenance

If you’ve never wandered the pits at the Reno Air Races, you’re missing out. I’ve crewed twice (crewing gets you a pit pass)—once in Formula One and again in Sport Class—and can’t imagine going to Reno without a pit pass. There are so many amazing people, conversations, and airplanes. While you could simply purchase a […]

The idea of an inflight fire rightfully scares the bejabbers out of pilots. Uncontrolled combustion in a confined space is ugly enough—adding altitude and speed to the mix can make a fire lethal in short order. It’s no wonder that pilots dealing with an inflight fire have jumped out of their aircraft even though they […]

To follow up on its popular Your Refurb series, AVweb is starting a new, equally occasional, series on caring, feeding and upgrading your airplane: What’s Under the Hood? The idea is to pass along information on the components see when you open up the cowling, why they’re there, how they work and how to take […]

When proposals for a custom paint job on my second-generation Cirrus came in as high as $25,000—with up to 10 weeks of down time—I considered stepping up to a newer model. But my investment in numerous upgrades and my comfort with the aircraft in a variety of missions and weather convinced me to keep my […]

In the last few editions of Wind Tunnel, we looked at how changes to the surface of an airplane’s skin can affect the aerodynamic performance of the airplane. We have seen that judicious use of tape to seal and smooth the skin can significantly reduce drag, and that ice, even in relatively small amounts, can […]

Austro’s 180-HP diesel and Jet-A burning AE330 has received EASA approval to extend time between overhaul to 1,800 hours based on the engine’s operating history. Jurgen Heinrich, Managing Director of Austro Engine and Diamond Aircraft Austria, said, “Austro Engine products have proven their outstanding capabilities in versatile operation profiles all over the globe, generating countless […]

When I do research on maintenance and aircraft ownership issues, I often hear a comment like this, from a shop owner or manager or an I&A: “The owner just didn’t want to replace [name of component]; he just didn’t see the value.” I understand the sentiment. Maintaining an airplane is so expensive that owners have […]

AOPA says the FAA is about to approve more liberalization of aircraft certification by relaxing some requirements for GA aircraft. In a story on its website, AOPA says the agency is ready to adopt less stringent standards for software, electromagnetic protection and lightning strike survival for equipment in light aircraft. Current standards apply to all […]

Americans love competition, or say that they do. A fundamental assumption of American business is that capital will find the most efficient way to reproduce itself and companies that fail deserve to fail. Plain and simple, it’s economic Darwinism. It’s a universal principle until, that is, it’s your own ox getting gored or you’re subjected […]

For a little less money (sometimes), the Aeronca is a better flier, roomier, faster and easier to land. But it will always lack the Cub’s cachet. 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 (Editor’s note:this article […]