Maintenance

The inability to achieve normal power output (e.g. poor static power) can be an insidious, difficult-to-troubleshoot condition that ultimately affects almost every small engine sooner or later. Sometimes, the cause can be pinpointed quickly, especially via multi-probe engine analyzers. But many times it can’t. The best bet is often analyzing all the power instruments that […]

At every show we attend, we see more aircraft applications for lithium ion batteries, although some safety concerns related to thermal protection remain a worry. At the U.S. Sport Aviation Expo in Sebring this week, Reg Nicosan of Earth-X, a major lithium ion manufacturer, gave AVweb an update on the state of the lithium ion […]

Ask aircraft owners about their experience with an annual inspection and you are likely to get many different opinions and scary tales of what was and wasn’t done. Unfortunately, there are shops and mechanics doing business haphazardly and that have little concern for customer service. I have been an IA mechanic and shop owner for […]

Here’s a common scenario: You bring your airplane to the avionics shop for its 24-month IFR pitot and static system certification and the tech says you’ll be wheels up in a couple of hours. Thirty minutes later while you’re cooling your heels in the pilot lounge, the technician tracks you down with news you don’t […]

As 2015 draws to a close, it’s time to take a few reflective moments to consider the year just past, to wonder at the marvel of flight, to appreciate its sheer poetry and to give thanks for that rarified privilege we all reverently share. And also to attempt to make feeble but pointless amends for […]

No matter how much automation we fly behind, no matter how many air-data computers are installed and no matter how simple it is, it’s likely a pitot-static system—pretty much like the one Lindbergh flew across the Atlantic—is what generates airspeed and some other basic flight information aboard the aircraft we fly. These systems are relatively […]

The Cirrus SR20 wasn’t the first “plastic” airplane, but the composite Cirrus was far enough along the cutting edge to stir up the pilot community. Of course, some loudly asserted that no “real” pilot would want one of those things—it’s got a parachute, for crying out loud. Yet the Cirrus SR20 and its offspring the […]

Hi, my name is Bill and I’m a toolaholic… Very few aircraft builders are not tool hounds. These are the people who walk through the local tool stores with a glazed look in their eyes. They are thankful when their spouse gives them a wrench for a present, even if they already have 12 identical […]

The glass in your bird is looking a little milky, there’s some crazing on the windshield and a little crack where the pebble hit. Is it time to replace the windows? How can you tell? What’s it going to cost? How can I make the glass last longer? First, it’s worth noting that what’s on […]

What if you’ve got visible metal bits in your oil? Since source identification is critical, the first question is what kind of metal is it that you’re looking at? There are two sources of filtration; one the suction screen, which has bigger screen holes to stop big parts from being passed to the oil pump […]