Maintenance

A frequent reader question we receive is: Why does my engine seem to lack the power it once had? We can’t tell you exactly what’s wrong, but we can get you pointed in the right direction, and that begins with a systematic approach. We can also tell you that one of the most common and […]

The Socata TB20/21 Trinidad is a stylish and spacious airplane with good performance characteristics and a surprisingly low accident rate. It may not be the fastest airplane to sport a big Lycoming, but on pure style points, it has no equal. When the so-called Caribbean line from Aerospatiale first appeared at the Paris Air Show […]

Big data is a big thing for airlines, which monitor flights in real time to track maintenance and anomalies. Now the same capability is available for light aircraft, albeit on a reduced scale, in the form of the Canairy Cockpit Monitor sold by Airbly Inc. The company’s Chris VanHorn was showing the gadget at AirVenture […]

At AirVenture 2016 at Oshkosh, Rotax announced it’s moving closer to bringing its in-development 915iS Sport engine to market. The turbocharged 915iS is the next-generation Rotax engine that’s capable of producing 135 HP at up to 15,000 feet and has a service ceiling of 23,000 feet. It weighs 185 pounds, including the turbocharger, and Rotax […]

Kermit Weeks always makes a splash at AirVenture but this may be his biggest ever. The serial aircraft collector and owner of Fantasy of Flight Museum in Florida will be part of the crew flying the massive Martin Mars flying boat from Vancouver Island in British Columbia to the seaplane base on Lake Winnebago on […]

Sensenich is well-known for its complete line of wooden aircraft propellers. In this classic AVweb video, we learn how the company does it with a complete factory tour. view on YouTube

We’ve watched the evolution of the Diamond DA40 series with interest. Our first reaction to what would become the Diamond Star was to be less than impressed. We thought the canopy was a marketing ploy that would make emergency egress difficult, and the cabin looked small and uncomfortable. Then we flew it. The canopy provided […]

No one was injured when a rare Second World War-era Lysander made an off-airport landing near Hamilton, Ontario, on Saturday. The aircraft was on a local sightseeing flight. Only the 64-year-old pilot and a 61-year-old British woman were on board when the engine failed. The aircraft, one of 42 warbirds operated by the Canadian Warplane […]

Many moons ago, as a Boy Scout in Montana, we told a story around the campfire about how to catch a raccoon: you’d anchor a clear bottle to the ground and put some crumpled tin foil inside. A passing raccoon (there’s always a raccoon passing by) would be transfixed by the glint of the foil […]

Because of design, certification and insurance costs, the OEM industry is hobbled with a rather arcane system of pricing replacement parts. When it comes to interior plastic parts—like a window molding, hinge cover or a glove box overlay, for example—a couple of dollars’ worth of plastic becomes a $400 part simply because of its unique […]