Purchasing

Not surprisingly, as the rate of price increases for new airplanes left the rate of inflation in the dust, the business of giving new life to aging airplanes became a growth industry. The last 20 years has shown that there is a demand for general aviation airplanes, however, that demand has also been shown to […]

One of my secret ambitions has been to own an airplane company and I think I’m about to realize it. Not to reveal too much about my personal finances, but I’m about to come into a lot of money. I mean a really, huge, stupid amount of money. I’ve been getting a lot of e-mails […]

You’ve decided that it’s time to buy an airplane, or you own one and you want to upgrade it with a glass panel or a larger engine. The “how will I pay for it?” refrain has gone through your head more than once. Now you have to listen to that voice. It’s time to get […]

Back in the dark ages when j-school looked like it might lead to a sort of career, I was asked on a fall registration form to “state minor course of study, if any.” With all the thoughtful consideration a 21-year-old could muster, I checked the box next to Asian history. Somehow, sociology seemed boring and […]

There has long been a subset of pilots with a certain sense of adventure and the burning desire to own an aerobatic airplane. While most lust after an aerial hotrod such as one of the Extra 300 series or a Sukhoi Su-29, economic reality means putting something a little less impressive into the hangar. In […]

Anyone who has flown a Beechcraft will have come away impressed with the line’s quality and, especially, the handling qualities. All the way down to the lowly Musketeer, Beech just took pains to get the airplane’s handling qualities a cut above everything else, and that applies in spades to the Baron series. Even so, every […]

While the romantic bloom toward aviation may be off the rose for the public at large, automobile companies have been smitten on and off with the idea that aircraft features can sell cars. Recall about a decade ago that several car makers–Subaru comes to mind–were flogging aircraft style dashboards. Basically, they turned the soft white […]

I’ve been pawing over some additional details on the specs for the new airplanes Mooney announced last week in Zhuhai. They truly are clean-sheet designs and the first we’ve seen from a major manufacturer in more than a decade. The airplanes are interesting less for what they have than what they don’t have: ballistic parachutes. […]

Cirrus markets the new SR20 as a dual-role aircraft – easy to manage for a newer pilot and suitable for business travel. It’s also an airplane that can make for an easier transition to the faster SR22. In this video, Aviation Consumer editor Larry Anglisano, along with Cirrus’ Cliff Allen takes a close look at […]

Buying or selling a used general aviation airplane is not fun. A root canal is probably more pleasant. Pilot training does not include education on airplane selection and evaluation, there are no regs on sales standards and no consumer watchdog agency to go after unscrupulous sellers. Sellers often spend hours answering telephone calls from tire […]