Search Results for: gn aircraft inc custom engine overhaul

In 1991, Bobby Bishop and his father were operating a skydiving operation out of Celina, Texas. They had a Cessna 182, a Pilatus PC-6 Porter, a DC-3 and a de Havilland Caribou. But they wanted something in between the Porter and the DC-3/Caribou size aircraft. A de Havilland Twin Otter didn’t seem cost-effective, and the […]

What a world. I had just landed the Dornier Seastar flying boat in the Gulf of Mexico a few miles off the Florida coast. We shut down the engines and were sitting on top of the Seastar cabin enjoying the view and wishing for a fishing pole when Dornier Seaplane Co. CEO Joe Walker called […]

Diamond is selling a pair of brand new twins based on the company’s innovative DA42 design. The Austro diesel-powered DA42 NG is certified in Europe (EASA), with U.S. certification coming soon, and the Lycoming-powered DA42 L360 has just earned the FAA’s OK. I had the chance to fly both airplanes recently at Diamond’s North American […]

New King Airs are wonderful airplanes, but they do cost what new airplanes of that caliber cost. As with any new model, a factory-fresh King Air gives you a lot of things you can’t retrofit affordably, if at all, into a 20- or 30-year-old airplane. That’s why people keep buying new King Airs. While there […]

It was one of those things that I knew I’d remember. I was a guest of Robinson Helicopter at a reception for customers and the press in a large, immaculate hangar at the company’s factory in Torrance, California, when we all heard it, the unmistakable sound of a turbine helicopter approaching. It was, of course, […]

The Cessna 441 and 425 Conquest turboprops have been among the hottest turbine airplanes on the used market for several years. Both the higher flying, bigger and faster 441 Conquest II and the smaller PT6-powered 425 Conquest I have been selling for near their new prices, even though they are 23 or more years old. […]

My grandmother loved an adage. “Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today.” “A stitch in time saves nine.” “If you dont find time to do it now, when will you find time to do it later?” All fine words to live by, but my grandmother never paid for an aircrafts annual inspection. With the base price of a straight-leg single-engine airplane annual at some shops hovering around $1500-thats the price if nothing is actually wrong with the airplane-some of the adages heard around the shop are “It flew in, itll fly out.” “You said it was fine that way last year: why is this year different?” and the most common, “I cant afford that-just sign it off now and well get it on the next annual.” To fix or not. What will it cost now versus the price later? Does it affect airworthiness? What does the FAA say about it? Whats the worst that can happen?

Four to five years ago it looked like the turboprop was on its way out. Prices of used turboprops were in freefall, and the sales of the few turboprop twins still in production were slumping. Vref, a leading aircraft value reference, reported that an index of average selling prices forpopular used turboprops lost 25 percent […]

We were headed back toward Austin’s Class Charlie airspace from our demo flight out to the west in a Commander 115, though it wasn’t just any Commander 115. At the time it was the only one like it in the world. The frequency was pretty quiet. We were at 5,500 feet, about 25 miles out […]

If you’re looking for a bargain on a 30-year-old piston single with a run out engine, well then, you could be in luck; the prices are down and the inventory’s up. It’s a classic example of supply and demand. But assessing the market for used (or if you prefer “pre-owned”) piston singles is a lot […]