Search Results for: bellanca

We pilots love engines and with good reason. We rely on their continued trouble-free operation to keep us flying safely. Perhaps more to the point, without engines, flight would never have gone far, and it can be argued that every noteworthy advance in aircraft performance was preceded by a noteworthy advance in power-plant design. There […]

Flying behind air-cooled powerplants, free of radiators or coolant tanks, it’s easy to forget most aircraft still need liquids of some type to operate safely and reliably. When those fluids are put under pressure to actuate a mechanism, we’ve created a hydraulic system, sometimes defined as something “using pressurized fluid to drive machinery or move mechanical components.” It also can be defined as transferring “energy by pressurizing fluid to force movement of a slave to produce the action sought.”

One of the universal attractions of flying is the personal freedom it gives us to get out and explore the world. Whether we’re headed to a favorite camping spot deep in the woods of Maine, want to bask on an island in the turquoise-blue waters of the Caribbean or are planning an adventure somewhere in […]

Here are some of the distinctive airplanes that made Flying’s Top 100. For the full list, see the gallery at the bottom of the page. Flying Magazine is proud to introduce Flying‘s Top 100 Airplanes, a web-based compendium that names the 100 best, most significant and most compelling aircraft designs of all time. The list […]

The swath of multiple tornadoes that ripped through three states on October 4 hit Wayne Municipal Airport (KLCG) hard. Thankfully, no one was injured at the airport, about 35 miles southwest of Sioux City, Nebraska, but two rows of T-hangars were destroyed along with nine airplanes. Only the middle row of three was spared, though […]

I watched a demonstration by the pilot of a U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptor on one of the nicer weather-days at this years Sun n Fun International Fly-In and Expo (the day before the tornado hit). The Raptors most unique characteristic-from an observers standpoint and in addition to its efficient conversation of fuel into noise-is its ability to maneuver at extremely high angles of attack-maintaining a constant AoA of over 60 deg. in sustained flight. Watch an F-22-or any other high-performance aircraft-maneuver, however, and you may notice an interesting pattern. Any time the fighter changes attitude under a G-load, the pilot does so incrementally. He or she changes pitch, then changes bank, or the pilot changes bank and then changes pitch. You never see a radical pitch and bank change simultaneously.

Upon opening the instrument air, pressure regulator and manifold check valve assembly for inspection, heavy corrosion of the ferrous components were noted. Large rust particles were contaminating instruments. The submitter recommends Beechcraft develop a service bulletin or kit installing an inline filter after the instrument air regulator but before the instruments.

It was a beautiful fall morning, with clear skies. My five-year-old son and I wanted to get back in the air after annualing my Bellanca Super Viking a few weeks prior. We were feeling good about the airplane. Our adventure that morning: a simple sightseeing flight. As we established a positive climb rate, I cleaned up the airplane and adjusted power. But when I slid the gear lever to the “up” position, nothing happened.

During a scheduled inspection, the wire bundle mount (p/n S2606-2) holding the flap motor wire harness was found detached from the rib in the right wing, allowing the wire bundle to chafe into the inspection panel support on the wing. The wire bundle had two wires which were chafed completely through the insulation, allowing contact with the inspection panel support. Inspecting these mounts and replacing them as needed is recommended.

At about 8:25 A.M. on Sept. 3, 2007, Steve Fossett took off from a friend’s ranch, about 60 miles southeast of Reno, Nevada, in a borrowed 1980 Bellanca Super Decathlon. A few minutes later, about nine miles south of the airstrip, an employee of the ranch who knew the airplane well saw the Decathlon fly […]