Ownership

This article originally appeared in the June 2002 issue of Light Plane Maintenance, and is reprinted here by permission. One of the biggest recurring headaches for the light aircraft owner and mechanic is that of exhaust manifold leaks. With the majority of aircraft in the general aviation fleet exceeding 30 years old, problems with exhaust […]

Increased security, increased perception of risk, increased litigation — the aviation insurance industry has had a lot of challenges recently, and most of us have seen the effects of those challenges when we paid our severely increased insurance premiums. But those premiums are for hull and liability (and sometimes medical) insurance — what about life […]

Who was John Boyd? Ask any pilot and you will probably get a shoulder shrug or just a blank stare. Hang around with some fighter pilots and ask, “Anyone ever heard of ’40-Second Boyd’?” and the response will likely be the same, a shrug. Follow up with a second question, “What do you know about […]

This article originally appeared in the June 2002 issue of Light Plane Maintenance, and is reprinted here by permission. Oil temp running too high? Troubleshooting the problem isn’t very difficult to do. For example, there you are, cruising along on a nice sunny day, when suddenly you notice your oil temperature gauge has developed a […]

The genesis of E-Ox occurred several years ago when I stopped by the White Mountain Products Group booth at AOPA Expo in Atlantic City to look at a miniature emergency oxygen system they’d introduced. To be honest, my first reaction was skepticism. To begin with, I was a little put off by the melodramatic name […]

AVweb’s John Deakin has been studying, testing, and teaching about piston engines for a long time. This list is a collection of all his Pelican’s Perch columns related to piston engines. Pelican’s Perch #7:Run That Fuel Tank Dry! Pelican’s Perch #8:Go Ahead, Abuse Your Engine! Pelican’s Perch #15:Manifold Pressure Sucks! Pelican’s Perch #16:Those Marvelous Props […]

This article appeared in the January 2003 edition of Aviation Consumer and is reprinted here by permission. Call us cynical, but we’re spring-loaded to be skeptical about aircraft engine modifications in general but specifically those that claim “more” of something. More power, more speed, more climb rate, more economy.While it’s true that some of these […]

This article originally appeared in the March 2001 edition of Aviation Consumer. Definition of a crying shame: returning home from the refurb shop with your $9000 paint and upholstery redo only to lash the thing down in a mudhole masquerading as a tiedown.Welcome to the real world of aircraft ownership, where most of us tough […]

I am not a mechanic, and I have never been in the Air Force. However, as a professional pilot, there has always been a mystique with the wrench turners that work (often without glamour or recognition) behind the scenes of the aviation world. Trouble is, working a flight line has not tended to produce a […]

While there has been much written about cold-weather operations for power plants there has been little written about actual aircraft and systems operation and maintenance preparation for winter. This article will discuss both power plant and airframe and try to bring the two together for a common-sense solution to some potentially difficult and expensive situations […]