There’s a change coming in general aviation. It’s starting small, but it’s growing and if you haven’t seen the effects personally, you almost certainly will in the very near future. If you’re prone to negativity or nay-saying and have a tendency to see the dark cloud in every situation, you might want to find someplace […]
Opinion
Making aviation affordable and fun
It is no surprise to anyone that aviation has become expensive. Some four-seat, single-engine airplanes retail for nearly $1 million! Those airplanes are fast, comfortable, and superbly equipped, but at those prices few pilots have a large enough budget to allow for purchase of a new aircraft. The great news is that not all airplanes are […]
Good news — and bad — on GA fuels
By DEAN BILLING. As you might expect, there is good news and bad news surrounding aviation fuel. First the good news: A self-serve fuel system has been installed at Nampa, Idaho. (KMAN). An Oregon bill, HB-3193, that “increases license tax on leaded aircraft fuel,” stalled in the Oregon House Committee On Transportation And Economic Development and is […]
‘The design has always been there’
I’m not an avid book reader. Never have been. I wish I was. I’ve bought many books I have yet to read. My wife and daughters are always reading. My dad often read three or four books at a time. We still have most of his books. So, with school wrapped up for the summer […]
Trying to reason with thunderstorm season
By JEB BURNSIDE. Welcome to the first of what is planned to be a monthly installment about pilots. We’ll look at how well they aviate, how poorly, and how they can do better. We’ll pick apart news items affecting them, and also have some thoughts about their future. It’s that time of year in the […]
We the (aviation-oriented) people
Occasionally I’ll see a survey online or in a publication that asks readers to select their favorite airplane of all time. I’m sure you’ve seen similar surveys. There’s a good chance you’ve participated in one. I certainly have. Perhaps you’re a minimalist with a love of classic airplanes: Creations of fabric-covered steel tubing with little instrumentation, […]
Batten down the hatches
Once I began flying the line, I rarely thought about seat positions and calibrations. At a certain point, takeoffs and landings in an airliner are all about holding a particular deck angle. That generally means eyes more inside on the artificial horizon than outside. Plus the time pressures we were under to run our checklists, […]
Technology lost: A very real possibility
Modern society exists in its present form, all over the world, because humans have developed, deployed, and adapted to technologies that make our lives easier, more pleasant, and longer than ever before. Every phase of life is improved to some degree by the availability of technologies we use without the slightest thought. These technologies are […]
Ask Paul: What to do about a broken stud?
Q: If on a radial engine (specifically a Warner) one finds one stud broken at the flange level, would you recommend replacing all the affected cylinder studs? I assume cylinder movement caused the break. Gennaro Avolio A: I believe in this particular situation I would only replace the broken stud. However, I would very closely […]