Ownership

Pilots have been required to carry plastic certificates since 2010, but the deadline for replacing other paper FAA certificates, such as mechanic, repairman, flight engineer, or ground instructor, is coming up March 31. You still have time to meet the deadline, as long as you apply online, which takes about 7 to 10 days for […]

The fleet of older Cirrus airframes could face further depreciation because of pricey parachute upkeep. We look at the economics and the CAPS repack process. Cirrus owners rave about having the CAPS parachute system as the ultimate safety backup, but if you’re shopping for a used Cirrus, know this: Many used airframes are coming up […]

When Piper replaced the Apache with the Twin Comanche in the early 1960s, the idea was to create “everyman’s twin” with the relative safety of a twin but with approachable sticker price and operation costs of a big single. The persistence of loyalty to the peppy and comfy airplane is exemplified by Frank Dorrin’s devotion […]

While there is evidence CorrosionX provides the best protection, ACF-50 also works well. Get it applied by a pro, however, or you’ll be cleaning it up for months. Corrosion is like aging; it does its damage slowly and is easy to overlook-until major systems begin to fail. Unlike aging, we know how to stop corrosion […]

In the Northern Hemisphere many of our airplanes hibernate in their hangars sometime between November and March, maybe even longer depending on how far north we live. Oh, we probably pay them a monthly visit and run the engines a bit so we keep them at least minimally lubricated. But our faithful aerial steeds typically […]

When Jerry Yagen replied to our recent query seeking interesting aircraft refurbs, he said he was working on a light twin restoration and would we be interested? Sure. Shortly, a handful of photos came pixeling into the inbox of a de Havilland DH98 Mosquito. Light twin indeed. Yagen’s reason for restoring the Mosquito are straightforward […]

Fresh off the factory floor, a modest airplane like a Piper Archer may be better built, but its basic performance has been baked into the airframe for years. That’s why a project like Lyle Holbo’s 1965 Cherokee 180C, our refurbed airplane of the month, will keep pace with an airplane 40 years newer. Holbo bought […]

This month’s Refurbished Aircraft of the Month comes from Mike Van Sicklen at Tejas Aero Services in San Marcos, Texas – a shop that specializes in refurbishment of Cessna twins. Tejas recently finished this beautiful 414A owned by Eduardo Valdes. In addition to new paint and interior, a Tejas specialty, the airplane has a pair […]

If you can’t afford a new airplane — and let’s face it, most of us can’t — a refurbed late-model aircraft can do 90 percent of the mission at a fraction of the cost, especially one like the popular Mooney M20J 201. That’s the strategy Bennett Bibel followed in his pull-out-all-the-stops rebuild of a 1983 […]

Eclipse Aerospace unveiled a specially painted Total Eclipse jet and presented it to the Veterans’ Airlift Command at EAA AirVenture this week. The jet was donated by an anonymous patron, and Eclipse then contributed more than $500,000 worth of upgrades to convert the airplane into “one of the finest Total Eclipse aircraft ever produced by […]