I own a 1962 Piper Colt with a O-235-C1B engine. My operator manual says that I should have 115 hp at 2800 RPM. At what point would I achieve highest RPM? On takeoff? Level flight at full throttle? I never see that high of RPM even in level flight at full throttle. On takeoff, I […]
Can I use an SAE 60 oil?
Dan Mooney, who has several round engine aircraft and a Skybolt with a Lycoming IO360A1B engine, has a question: Can he use oil from a drum of Phillips 25W-60 that he has for his round engines in his Skybolt? He concludes with, “”It gets pretty hot around Tulsa, Okla., in the summer.”” Dan Mooney, who […]
Delaware’s private airports scrutinized: Fatal accident draws attention of state regulators
Two years after an airplane struck a passing sport utility vehicle while landing at a private airstrip near Georgetown, Delaware, state officials have begun to scrutinize the state’s non-public airfields. The accident killed a man and his daughter, who were driving past the runway’s end at the time. The threshold is only about 18 feet […]
Sometime Senate GA boosters now call for user fees
Senators John Rockefeller (D-W. Va.), and Trent Lott (R-Miss.), both long-time supporters of general aviation, now say they are determined that GA will pay more in fees to support modernization of the air traffic control system. During recent Senate Finance Committee hearings on the FAA reauthorization bill, Rockefeller threatened to restrict GA access to congested […]
Eclipse flies single-engine Concept Jet to Oshkosh
Eclipse Aviation pulled off the most dramatic surprise at this year’s EAA AirVenture, introducing its v-tail, single-engine Concept Jet which, until that moment, had been a carefully-guarded secret. As the company’s Chief Operating Officer, Peg Bilson, introduced the Concept, a curtain dropped revealing a cloud of mist, flashing lights and a mockup. The press corps […]
A little off the top, please: San Diego developer told to reduce height of building near airport
A Southern California development company has until Aug. 25 to reduce the height of a newly constructed building near Montgomery Field Airport (MYF) in San Diego. On June 22 San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders issued a stop-work order to Sunroad Enterprises to remove the top 20 feet of the building — or two floors — […]
Is your airport in danger? Is your airport in danger?
Airports do not close overnight. Usually there is a string of events, often taking place over several years — perhaps decades — that put the existence of an airport in jeopardy. What should you watch out for? Here’s a short list with some suggested solutions. Problem: Lack of an updated Master Plan for the airport […]
P-51s crash at AirVenture
The Friday air race demonstration at EAA Venture came to a tragic ending when two P-51 Mustangs collided during landing. Gerald S. Beck, 58, of Wahpeton, N.D., was killed when his aircraft flipped over. The other pilot, Casey Odegaard, 24, was able to walk away from the accident although his aircraft landed on its nose. […]
Getting the story: Shooting air-to-air
“It’s refreshing to have two pilots on board,” said Dr. H. Jay Bruninga as he walked with GAN publisher Ben Sclair and me onto the ramp at Tacoma Narrows Airport in Washington State. We were going to see the turbine-powered Bonanza that is the photo airplane for Tim Weber Airshows Inc. We were going up […]