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ROTORWAY EXEC 162F Performance Specifications Total kit price USD $60,850* Powerplant RotorWay RI162F (162 cu.in.) Seats 2 Gross Weight 1,500 lbs Empty Weight 975 lbs Pilot & Passenger Load 425 lbs Fuel Capacity 17 gal Rate of Climb 1,000 FPM Hover in-Ground Effect 7,000 ft Hover Out-of-Ground Effect 5,000 ft Service Ceiling 10,000 ft Range, […]

As the America West Boeing 737 made its lazy finalapproach into Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, I wondered to myselfhow I was going to be able to make a fair evaluation of a two-person kit-builthelicopter when almost all of my rotary wing flying time had been accumulatedin large, military, jet-powered machines: HH-1Hs and HH-3Es plus […]

Everyone in General Aviation -pilots, journalists, alphabet groups and even competitive plane makers – seems to behappy to see Cessna building piston aircraft again. After a decade-long hiatus, theappearance of new piston Cessnas has been widely hailed as a sign that G.A. is finally onthe road back from near extinction. But at the same time, […]

When an assembly is engineered, loads to be encountered by thebolted joint are calculated and a safety factor is applied toallow for unexpected loads. The engineer then sizes a fastenerto maintain the proper pre-load which will withstand the tensile,bending and shear loads imposed upon the assembly. Developing Pre-Loads When a fastener (bolt) is tightened, both […]

Notlong ago, a writer for a major aviation publication called to askmy opinion(s) on the subject of shock cooling. It turns out thecaller had already written his article, but he wanted to run someideas by me to make sure he wasn’t missing something. Since I geta lot of calls on this subject, I had some […]

TBO: One of the reasons I wanted to talk to you today is to get you to reveal more tips, more advice on how to stay out of trouble when shopping for a plane. What do you think is the biggest mistake buyers make? McGuire: New buyers? Or buyers in general? New buyers are probably […]

Remember buying your first new car? Most people do. Like yourfirst solo flight, it is one of those memories that stays with you. Flyinga brand new Commander 114B made that same sort of impression on me. It was new. It smelled good. The soft gray genuine leather seats along withthe close pile spotless carpeting told […]

In the glory days of general aviation, Piper, Beech and Cessnatook the advice of the guy in The Graduate who whispered one wordof advice — “plastics” — into Dustin Hoffman’s ear. The OEMs became big consumers of polyester resins. Sometimes itwent by the trade name Royalite, sometimes ABS, but it was allmade up of pellets […]

The 0-470 is a rugged engine that’s capable of producing solidand dependable power. It distinguishes itself from other six-cylindercarbureted engines by its characteristic lope at idle and throatyexhaust stack burp. When balanced, an O-470 will run at cruisepower without the least bit of burble or vibration. There are 15 models of the O-470 engine flying […]

When I learned to fly on the East Coast thirty-something yearsago, turbocharging was a dirty word. Everybody said turbos wereexpensive, inefficient, maintenance-intensive, problem-prone,shortens TBO drastically, and makes sense only for folks basedin the Colorado Rockies. As a young, impressionable airman, Ibought it…lock, stock and intercooler. I bought my first airplane in 1968, a nice conservative […]