Obtaining an engine for a lightplane was the greatest challenge facing amateur builders in the 1930s. The prices for light airplane engines were prohibitive for most builders. The powerplant of the average small plane amounted to 60% of the cost of the complete plane. That led builders to look to other sources of power. Auto engines, being […]
Opinion
No, your other VFR
By JEB BURNSIDE. When the weather’s bad enough to call it IFR, VFR-only pilots are grounded. Except when they’re not. The day’s mission was to re-familiarize with a long-trustworthy companion, a Cessna 172 owned by close friends, in which I had hundreds of hours flying throughout the eastern U.S. It had been a couple of […]
Ask Paul: Does glazing mean cylinders must be honed?
Q: I am in the process of acquiring a Piper Seneca equipped with twin Continental TSIO-360-RB engines. Both engines have about 450 hours to go before overhaul. The aircraft was last flown approximately three years ago. Technicians maintain that the cylinders have to be honed due to glazing as a result of the time elapsed since the […]
Fair warning for Negative Ned and Nancy
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 […]
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, […]