Maintenance

While it may be a shallow measuring gauge, the most popular indicator of the success of an aircraft refurb is the paint job. A good one can be used to disguise many ills while a bad one can overwhelm the perfection of the new leather interior and top-of-the-line glass panel. So, in the process of […]

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 […]

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 […]

We began our occasional series on aircraft refurbs last month with an article discussing the benefits and costs. There were twin bottom lines: If refurbishing your airplane makes sense for you, the next question becomes selecting a shop to do the work-how do you make the choice? We’re certainly aware of aviation maintenance horror stories, […]

Turbocharging systems get somewhat of bad, but to a degree, deserved rap for requiring more than their fair share of maintenance and pilot workload. They certainly have to deal with more than their fair share of very hot air and have to spin at dazzling rpms to do their jobs. Moreover, they can be less […]

Unless you operate your aircraft in a warm climate, we think fixed engine heaters are essential accessories. Even if you store the aircraft in a heated hangar, there could be times when you’re faced with an engine-stressing cold start. Not all systems are alike and the one you choose might depend on climate. We took […]

There has long been a subset of pilots with a certain sense of adventure and the burning desire to own an aerobatic airplane. While most lust after an aerial hotrod such as one of the Extra 300 series or a Sukhoi Su-29, economic reality means putting something a little less impressive into the hangar. In […]

Anyone who has flown a Beechcraft will have come away impressed with the line’s quality and, especially, the handling qualities. All the way down to the lowly Musketeer, Beech just took pains to get the airplane’s handling qualities a cut above everything else, and that applies in spades to the Baron series. Even so, every […]

Throughout my flying career, I’ve occasionally run into what I might generously call the Marlboro Man of aviation. That should probably be the plural form, men, because there’s more than just a small handful of these guys. You know the type. It’s the guy who has no use for any kind of regulation, even if […]

Batteries are often crippled from the outset-that may be a bit of hyperbole, but it may be other causes than the battery maker responsible for problems with short lived or early failed batteries, especially with flooded cells. Look at the battery maker requirements for activation of a dry-charged battery as well as elements that an […]