You never too young — or too old — to learn how to fly. The only thing stopping you is your self-imposed limits.
Opinion
How granularly should we regulate?
Wouldn’t it be more effective it the FAA just prohibited pilots from getting “busy or distracted” while in the cockpit?
At the table or on the menu
When the RAF started traveling to D.C., it was just to be in the room where policy is discussed and hashed out.
Bat Hawk lands in America
New from South Africa is the Bat Hawk, a light-sport aircraft making its U.S. debut at the 2022 SUN ‘n FUN Aerospace Expo in April.
Something old, something new-ish
Breaking in a new engine requires heightened focus, along with some parameters for the first few hours of flight: Stay below 5,500 MSL to assure the engine can run at 65% power or better. Only conduct cross-country flights of an hour or more in duration. Full stop landings. No touch-n-go pattern work. No stalls and recoveries. Limit use of idle power to start up, taxi, and landing. And of course, use mineral oil exclusively for this break-in period.
Ask Paul: Replacing a lost data plate
What is the best way to find an engine serial number without using the data plate?
Cold weather and your aircraft’s engine oil
If you are breaking in a new or rebuilt engine on mineral oil during the coldest part of the year, you should change your pre-heating criteria to account for the differences in viscosity.
Can I bypass the oil cooler on my aircraft engine in colder temperatures?
Question for our engines expert: I have an RV-6 with a Lycoming O-360 and in winter, even with the louvres of the oil cooler closed, my oil temperature may only reach about 150°-160°. Can I install a shut-off valve to prevent oil flow through the cooler in cold weather, or does oil need to flow through it to keep oil pressure from getting too high?
Is this work or playtime?
For someone whose labors are often indistinguishable from what most folks would consider playtime, the desire to lay low, to do nothing, to disconnect from the workaday world may seem like a petty complaint. And maybe it is. This conundrum is complicated by the fact that I truly love what I do. Every bit of it. A truth that is evident in the existence of this column itself.