Search Results for: Cessna 172

One of my favorite jokes about the airline pilot profession involves a mother who brings her wide-eyed, grade-school-age son into the cockpit for a visit. After the awestruck boy is given his tour, the mother asks her son if he would like to be an airline pilot when he grows up. The captain interjects and […]

On a cold night in ­early spring, I took off from Lunken Airport in 72B, my beloved (I think) Cessna 180. I came back to climb power at 500 feet agl and the engine began running rough, missing and losing power — which sort of caught my attention. So, I pulled on the carburetor heat […]

As the certification of the PC-24 Super Versatile Jet inches closer, Pilatus announced it is discontinuing the product that helped grow the company decades ago — the PC-6 Porter. The Porter has become known as a terrific short- and unimproved field performer and it’s seen one of the longest continuous production runs of any airplane […]

Most of us start our piloting careers in some sort of basic trainer. Some pilots flying purely for sport or recreation may stay with simple fixed-gear airplanes and stick to VFR conditions. Others learned to fly to travel somewhere for some purpose and on their own schedule. Nothing beats a personal airplane for that purpose, but trying to do it single-pilot in all-weather conditions can tax even the most capable general aviation pilots. As Dave Higdon explored in last months article, Entry-Level Travel, its possible to use simple fixed-gear airplanes for personal transportation, but a more-capable airplane makes it easier.

I read with interest the article NTSB Takes on Pireps (June 2017). What was not mentioned, and my primary reason to not submit Pireps, is the removal of Flight Watch and its common frequency, 122.0 MHz. Requiring the pilot to search for the flight service station within radio range makes it less likely a report is even started, and fragments the consolidation into the NAS. To me, the elimination of Flight Watch is going backward.

It started with a reader question about the RNAV (GPS) Y Rwy 28L at Monterey, CA (KMRY). The question seems simple on the surface: There is a feeder from the SNS VOR to HIXAR on a heading of 146 degrees. The inbound course is 235, meaning an 89-degree turn is required. Are you required to fly the HILPT? AIM 5-4-9 (5) and (6) seem to say yes, but 5-4-5 (8) seems to say a turn from the feeder of less than 90 degrees is implicitly NoPT.

Visitors to Dynon’s AirVenture booth last year asked the company to find an economical method to install SkyView HDX avionics in a certified airplane. With roots in light sport and Experimental aircraft, Dynon products have already been installed in over 20,000 aircraft, usually ones created by amateur builders. Dynon yesterday announced that a soon-to-be-approved supplemental […]

Last week after Garmin announced its first retrofit autopilots, the GFC 500 and GFC 600, the aviation community cheered — and then wondered if more products from other manufacturers would quickly follow. Boy did they ever. This week at AirVenture, the autopilot party continues as sub-$20,000 systems from Genesys Aerosystems (formerly S-TEC), BendixKing, TruTrak and […]

Thousands of legacy airplanes flying today are several decades old but still maintained in terrific working condition. A growing number of owners have updated or are updating their panels with new glass. But so far there have not been a lot of choices for those who have their minds set on installing an autopilot. Garmin […]

While in cruise flight, pilot noticed smoke coming out from under instrument panel. Pilot aborted flight but noticed landing gear extension much slower than normal. Aircraft was placed on jacks and gear retracted. Pump motor (p/n 98811281) could be heard grinding and working very slowly. Pump motor was too hot to be touched. Battery was disconnected, aborting retraction. New pump and motor were installed.