The history of travel has been long, slow, frequently unsafe, and undeniably tedious. Until the Wright brothers got us airborne.
Opinion
Questions from the Cockpit: A friendly dogfight
High-wing vs. low-wing aircraft: Who wins in this debate?
Would our expert add Marvel Mystery Oil to his engine?
Question for Paul McBride, the General Aviation News engines expert: Does adding Marvel Mystery Oil to the fuel and/or engine oil help valves from sticking?
Why can’t aviation oil be like automotive oil?
Over the past 50 or so years, the one question that most people do not understand is “why do aviation piston engine oils provide such poor anti-rust and anti-wear protection compared to automotive and heavy-duty engine oils?” That’s usually followed by a second question: “Can they be improved and when?”
Losing weight the easy way and the hard way
One of the immutable aspects of flight that is that weight cannot be finessed out of our calculations. It must be measured carefully, placed in the appropriate location, or discarded. There is no wiggle room. The airplane itself has mass and weight. As does fuel, baggage, passengers, and the pilot. Weight matters.
Confronting Loss of Control In-Flight: A practical path forward for general aviation
GA pilots should stop treating Loss of Control In-Flight (LOC-I) as an unavoidable statistic, say officials with the Upset Prevention and Recovery Training Association International. To help achieve that, the association is holding a free safety summit to lay out its plan to save lives by eliminating the LOC-I threat.
Ask Paul: The fall-out from not doing due diligence
Question for Paul McBride, the General Aviation News engines expert: I purchased a 1971 PA-32 Cherokee 260 about 18 months ago. I did not do my due diligence in a pre-buy and did not consider the effects on an airplane engine with only 300 hours since rebuilt in 2012 that spent a lot of time in a hangar in New Jersey.
Papers please
Having our paperwork in order is important. Sadly, the vast majority of general aviation pilots have developed the unfortunate habit of ignoring that requirement.
Human Factors: A case of mistaken identity
What lessons can we learn from a pilot who crashes while landing at the wrong airport?