General Aviation News

The bigger question

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In several of my previous columns, I have proposed that part of the problem with general aviation is the lack of new technology in piston-powered aircraft.

The fact that the engines are based on 1930s and 1940s technology means that many of today’s future pilots do not relate to their operating systems.

I proposed that manufacturers adapt technology from the automotive world to new aviation engines. I have received a lot of responses. The two most common are “Do you know how much that will cost?” and “Pilots prefer the old tried and proven engines.”

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200+ CAP members head to Oshkosh to help out at the big show

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More than 200 Civil Air Patrol members from across the U.S. and overseas are already at Oshkosh, preparing to support EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2019.

In all, 150 CAP cadets and 51 senior members will pitch in during the event, which annually draws more than 550,000 people and over 20,000 aircraft to Wittman Field, making it the busiest airport in the world for at least one week each summer.

The air show starts July 22, but CAP members descended on the area July 15, a week earlier, and will remain through July 29, a day after the show concludes.

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Replacement exhaust collector assemblies now available for Cessna 180/182s

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Replacement exhaust collector assemblies are available for Cessna 180/182s through Aerospace Welding Inc. Minneapolis (AWI).

Manufactured with a PMA and fabricated with the same materials used in the factory original systems, the combined stacks bolt onto the right and left side of the engine and are then attached to the muffler.

The only difference between the AWI system and the original is the use of slip joints in place of clamped components, according to company officials.

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Takeoff in gusting conditions sinks plane

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The pilot of the float-equipped Rans S-7 Courier reported that, following takeoff from a lake in Cordova, Alaska, he turned to left downwind about 750′ above the water.

He added that, once the turn was completed, the plane encountered a strong downdraft that “pushed the tail of the airplane down and away to the left,” and the airplane began to descend.

He corrected with left rudder and was able to “straighten the airplane just prior to the right float tip contacting water.”

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Picture of the Day: Mooney buddies at sunrise

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Amanda Miller submitted the following photo and note: “An almost matching set of Mooneys grace the tarmac at sunrise for the sixth annual Springfield-Beckley Barnstorming Carnival July 13-14, 2019, in Springfield, Ohio. The Mooney M20C in the background flies with Bill Barton and the Mooney M20J in the foreground calls Jake Miller her flying buddy. Is there a better way to start the day?

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Not because they are easy, but because they are hard

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As I recline on my front porch this week, cigar in hand, tumbler of whiskey at my side, I will take note of the nearly full moon rising in the East. That image, the one I’ve seen innumerable times, often takes me back to a very specific night 50 years ago. A night when the whole of humanity changed for the better.

I sat on the living room floor of our family home. White carpet. White walls. Chairs of dark brown wood and black leather, survivors of a bar fire years before in Tempe, Arizona. On television, the legendary CBS newsman Walter Cronkite narrated the greatest achievement of humanity as it happened. Live. And out our living room window the 10-year old version of myself saw that same gray/white satellite roaming through the atmosphere above.

That’s the moon I see today. The same one George Washington gazed up at. The same celestial body Julius Caesar found in the night sky. Our moon has changed little over the years. We, on the other hand, have lost and found our way time and time again. 

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South Carolina pilot gets the surprise of a lifetime

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Wade Shealy, of Simpsonville, South Carolina, received the surprise of a lifetime when Mark Baker, the president of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, visited his hometown to tell him he was the lucky winner of the association’s Super Cub Sweepstakes airplane.

“Well, I think it’s still a little bit unbelievable,” Shealy confided. “It’s a beautiful aircraft and I never dreamed that I’d win anything but a toy aircraft. I can’t thank AOPA enough for having this program.”

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