Ownership

Myrecently-completed annual inspection of my Cessna T310R included a considerable amount ofscheduled maintenance work, as well as several significant unscheduled items (i.e., nastysurprises). One of the scheduled maintenance items this year was 500-hour magnetomaintenance, which is a relatively significant item on a twin because there are four magsto do. Many owners aren’t aware (and an […]

This report summarizes what we know about nine different handheldaviation GPS receivers that are now available. In an attempt to compare competitivemodels, we’ve divided the field into three subgroups. Our summary and recommendationsappear at the end. Prices shown are manufacturers’ “Minimum Advertised Prices” which is theprice that most mailorder dealers advertise. Change History: GPS Without […]

The handheld GPS market has been eerily quiet lately.During 1996 and 1997, it seemed as if a new aviation handheld was being announced everyfew months, as manufacturers jockied for position to out-feature and under-price thecompetition. But Sun ‘n Fun 1998 saw only one new product announcement in thiscategory: the Lowrance AirMap 100. During the year […]

I‘ve had several people call oremail me lately with a “fresh” approach to buying a used aircraft. Because thegood ones are getting harder to find why not take an old dog and refurbish it into ayoung-looking, pristine aircraft? To those who have this “idea” it is just that.They have yet to look into the actual […]

Liz Im partial to Mooneys, I guess I need to admit that straight up. I own a 1966Mooney M20E, one of the short-bodied speedster models. My little bird “Mike”cruises along at a calm-wind 140-plus knots and drinks a mere 10 gallons of avgas perhour. I like Mike. I transitioned to my 200-hp, complex M20E “Super […]

SIGNALS CONNECTORS SN3308 P1 SN3308 P2 SN3308 P3 GX50 GPS RS08 RELAY NSD-360 PLUG KNS-80 NAV#1 DATA LDR KR-87 ADF KMA-24 MBR KG-102A GYRO FLUX GATE DIMMER HI 26 M DIMMER LO 28 VDC CBKR 1 1 1 11-12 14 28 VDC CBKR 20 GROUND 3 16 2 20 1 15 Y GROUND 22 34 […]

After seeing theSN3308, I naturally assumed that its inventor and Sandel founder GerryBlock was a seasoned veteran of the avionics industry. So when I flew down to SandelAvionics in a northern suburb of San Diego to interview him for this article, I was quitesurprised to learn that the SN3308 was Block’s very first aviation product. […]

A couple of months ago, Ihad Avionics West replace some of the avionics in my 1979Cessna T310R. In particular, I changed out my decade-old Loran for a II Morrow GX50approach-certified GPS. At the same time, I yanked out the airplane’s original-equipmenthorizontal situation indicator – an old vacuum-driven Century NSD-360 – and installedthe new Sandel Avionics […]

All ELTs have one thing in common, their main purpose is to notify potential rescuers(by different means) that an aircraft has run into a solid object and someone could be inneed of help. But the technology for doing this is in the midst of a big change. Most current ELTs operate at 121.50 and 243.00 […]

Turbocharging Basics What Really Happens What Can Go Wrong? A Troubleshooting Strategy Oneof the most perplexing maintenance problem areas that owners of high-performance pistonaircraft have to deal with is the turbocharging system. I often hear from unhappy ownerswho have already incurred considerable expense in overhauling or replacing costlyturbo-system components without having resolved the trouble. As […]