Full Issue PDF

Removing the old autopilot will leave holes in the left panel that would be too ugly if we just covered them, so were going to cut new metal. Since were doing that, the shop has suggested we might consider replacing the backup analog airspeed indicator, attitude gyro, and altimeter with an integrated electronic standby instrument. Yeah, thats probably a good idea, especially right now, as the vacuum attitude indicator has been slow to come alive recently and is probably about to die.

• Weather Treads
• 178 Seconds?
• Retractable Gear
• Tradeoffs
• ATC’s Expectations

After recounting some of his adventures as a military pilot, he went on to say, Anyway, during all of this time I always wondered what happened to her. Losing track of her was like losing track of an old friend. I hope she is well. Perhaps by now she has forgiven if not forgotten the times I ran her a little too rich or too lean, smacked that branch with her wingtip, or disparaged her tail number by having it reported to the authorities.

• The Big Picture
• Top Ten Tips
• Trim Runaways
• Disoriented
• Bounced Landings

You already have a transponder that transmits a dumb and blind signal in response to interrogation from other sources. Well, its not entirely dumb in that you can enter a four-digit base-eight (no 8s or 9s) code on the instrument and when the transponder responds to an interrogation, it puts that code and even your present altitude (to the nearest 100 feet) onto its outgoing signal. ADS-B Out keeps that but takes it a bit further.

• Fresh Out Of The Paint Shop
• Geographic Risks
• Shock and Yaw
• EFB Dependence
• There’s No Checklist

Thinking Id found a loophole, I told him the G500 was only about six years old. But your airplane is over 30 years old, he countered. But, I continued, the airplane isnt broken. Its the six-year-old G500. As youve already guessed, this fell on deaf ears. He walked away, seemingly glad to be rid of me, and simply added, Sorry. Its company policy.

• Truth In Icing
• How SAR Works
• Turbulence
• Checkride Paperwork
• FBO Fees

My motivation to write this right now is that my Cessna 340 is at the shop getting its annual. This year I chose what is arguably the best Twin Cessna maintenance facility in the world, TAS Aviation in Defiance, Ohio. Yes, Defiance is a long way from my Santa Fe, New Mexico home base-about 1100 NM and two legs, in each direction-but, I chose this shop for good reasons having far more to do with safe than just legal.

• Upset Recovery
• Engine Failure Risk
• IFR Takeoff Planning
• Engine MonitoringM
• Trajectories