Ownership

It all started when my friend and longtime AVweb columnist Rick Durden emailed me that he was going to be in the Bay Area for a few days, and suggested that we try to get together while he was on the Left Coast. (Rick is based in Grand Rapids, Mich., so I don’t often get […]

Aircraft problems are never fun, but they’re 10 times more frustrating when they occur while you’re on a trip, far from the security of your mechanic, toolbox and hangar. That goes double if you use your airplane for serious business transportation the way I do. I’ve flown at least several transcontinental trips a year in […]

Yes, I know that by now Oshkosh — er, the EAA Air Venture 2004 — is desperately old news, what with the kids back in school and some of us actually settling down to get some work done after the summer holidays. But I have to tell you that I’m still excited by what I […]

Recently I read an interesting account by a Bonanza owner who encountered an engine problem 11 hours after his aircraft came out of annual. The pilot had crossed the Sierra Nevada Mountains VFR at 12,500 feet westbound en route to the Bay Area, and was descending through 11,000 feet when he felt a bit of […]

Why are so many aircraft owners and A&P mechanics “spring-loaded to the overhaul position”? I think the word “overhaul” might be the most overused and misunderstood word in the lexicon of aircraft maintenance.Last week, I was talking to a friend who had just put his airplane in the shop for its annual inspection. I asked […]

This will be no surprise to anyone who knows me: I love engines. Just dig ’em. Internal combustion, jet, compression-ignition, Rolls-Royce Trent, Briggs & Stratton, big or small — it really doesn’t matter. If it turns chemical energy into mechanical work, I’m hot to know more about it. Airframes are nice, and useful I suppose […]

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FAA regulations state clearly that the “pilot in command” (PIC) of an aircraft is directly responsible for, and is the final authority as to, the operation of that aircraft. The PIC’s responsibility and authority is so absolute that in an in-flight emergency, the FAA authorizes the PIC to deviate from any rule or regulation to […]

To prevent a duplication of the Washington incident, the FAA has now banned aircraft with non-functioning transponders from the ADIZ. If the transponder goes on the fritz while in the ADIZ, the aircraft is supposed to depart via the most direct route. As AVweb has previously reported, the new rule raised the hackles of AOPA, […]

I‘ve probably talked to thousands of owners of piston-powered airplanes over the years. Every one is serious about safety, and I’ve never met one that wasn’t absolutely convinced that his aircraft was safe and well-maintained. “I carry my family and friends in this airplane, so I’d never cut corners on maintenance.” Nevertheless, the piston-powered GA […]