Search Results for: Lear 45

It’s not fun trying to make a left turn out of my neighborhood. It exits onto a busy, six-lane road. There’s no traffic light, just a gap in the median. Cutting across steady traffic demands patience, timing, and good judgment. Mistakes can be costly. The asphalt is littered with shrapnel from cars whose owners tried […]

One friend of mine is a former Navy pilot who flew S-3 Vikings off carriers and commanded P-3 Orions. Despite such experience his transition to civilian light GA was full of new experiences—like mixture controls. He texted me one day thrilled over a bit of old school buried in the glass-panel display options. “This thing […]

RNP stands for “required navigational performance,” and it indicates a special level of RNAV instrument approach made possible by a collective effort between the approach designer—in this case, Honeywell—the operator, the airport, and the FAA. Alaska Airlines was an early pioneer of the concept, which helped open up airports in its route structure such as […]

The 1960s were a time when young people growing up during those years were pretty skeptical of authority. The motto I remember was: “Never trust anyone over 30.” I never figured out if that actually made sense, not even after I passed through my 30s and beyond. What I did learn for sure as I […]

Automobiles with gull-wing doors are rare. For me, a Mercedes-Benz 300SL immediately comes to mind. Aircraft with gull-wing doors—such as the Cessna TTx and Socata Trinidad—are even rarer still, so when I first saw the Pipistrel Panthera from a distance at Chicago’s Waukegan National Airport (KUGN), I knew this airplane was something special. The company’s […]

Arlington, Washington-based Eviation has unveiled the production design configuration for its Alice all-electric commuter aircraft on track for a first flight later this year according to the company. The production configuration was optimized from real-world lessons learned and customer feedback. Alice is projected by the company to be certified for entry into service by 2024. […]

This diesel-powered gem has undergone so many design enhancements and improvements it should be called ‘Diamond DA40 NG 2.0.’

It’s a cloudy, breezy day, and you’re flying the family from northern Iowa to Chanute in southeastern Kansas. Other than a headwind and a Convective SIGMET covering part of the way, there’s no significant weather occurring, and the forecast is steady. So the concern at hand is the approach: Which one? There are two choices, […]

Since starting in 1984, I’ve logged over 1800 hours in more than 45 aircraft types. As much of this has been in the past four years under the employ of a major avionics shop, the recent experience factor provides a bit of confidence, especially since I’m quite familiar with most avionics offered today. A trip […]

Garmin announced a series of updates in advance of the Aircraft Electronics Association convention in Dallas, Texas, with transponder functionality added to its GI 275 instrument replacement unit, a new TXi engine indicating system for twin turboprops, and the Pllatus PC-12 and Cessna 441 added to the STC list for the GFC 600. Enhancements to […]