When I heard a few years back that the folks behind the Europa two-seat kitplane were in the process of making what amounted to a certified version, I was excited but, frankly, a bit skeptical too. The Europa, a popular kit made in the United Kingdom, is a terrific little kitplane, but I wondered if […]
__”You’ve got JeppView on an MX20 and you’re still carrying paper charts?” Jim Miller asked. “Why?” Jim Miller is executive vice president of Flight Options, the company that offers fractional shares of new and pre-owned business jets. Flight Options went “paperless” by providing the pilots of its fleet of 200 airplanes with electronic flight bags […]
When governments buy airplanes, they face many of the same constraints that we do. If it is a new airplane, it takes a long time to develop. And, the fewer engines the airplane has, the more affordable it can be. The next generation fighters, the F-22 and the F-35 (Joint Strike Fighter) are perfect examples […]
In random reading about matters aeronautical I have twice come across essays in defense of rectangular wings. Not coincidentally, perhaps, both were by men who had taken part in the design of the Piper Cherokee, the airplane whose thick rectangular wing gave a new application to the name “Hershey Bar.” The first essay was by […]
Your article Pin Placement [Accident Probe, November] questions the pilot/owners non-compliance with a Beech service bulletin.
One of my former jobs was as an engineer at a major airline. One of my tasks was to review the steady stream of service bulletins that came in from the aircraft manufacturer and evaluate whether to comply fully, partially, or not at all with a particular bulletin.
Most of these bulletins had the word Mandatory across the top in red letters. My office was run by a stickler for safety who would stand up to any airline management for something that had a true safety impact.
We complied with relatively few of the mandatory service bulletins that came in. Th…
Your preflight planning should enable you to answer the question: Is the destination airport a friend or foe?
In this group of three airplanes, Beechs 36 series seems to shine, with an admirably low overall accident rate
Picking a runner-up spot for a landing should be an exercise for all flights, not just those poor-weather instrument flights
Visibility measurements at the airport dont mean you can see the field from that far away. The wicked world of slant-range vis
The potential for ice doesnt have to ground you for the winter if you understand the weather and consider your options
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