Aircraft

The hope is that, as a product develops, it will mature. And I mean “mature” in the good way, you know, like expensive wine, fine Swiss watches and very fast airplanes, like the Cirrus SR22. I was the first journalist to fly the original SR22, and I’ve flown every new one since, some of them […]

Storm clouds are gathering over the issue of using factory-built Special Light Sport Aircraft (S-LSA) for instrument flying. Since LSA standards are set by ASTM, not the FAA, the issue is complex, and the ASTM IFR subcommittee grapples with reaching consensus findings. Dan Johnson is president and chairman of the Light Aircraft Manufacturers Association (LAMA) […]

Comments will be accepted through Oct. 12 on a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) regarding the rear passenger doors of Diamond Aircraft DA40 and DA40F piston singles. The NPRM calls for instituting an Airworthiness Directive to alter the procedure for opening the doors in an emergency, and also require replacing the retaining bracket for the […]

Having read about and studied the North American P-51 Mustang for as long as I can remember, how on earth could I have been surprised by anything when I had the opportunity to fly it? I think a lot of it comes down to the fact that most of those other writers were so used […]

Guess what? Not much of what has been written about the old fighter is true.

The simple logbook entry read “installed rectifier in alternator test circuit, flight tested OK.” We’d had a problem with our alternator-out light that was corrected on a Monday prior to a flight planned for Saturday. The briefer was right; we arrived at our hangar at Lee Gilmer Memorial (GVL) in Gainesville, Georgia, with less than […]

AUGUST 2010 The more you think about it, the more the economics of the Cessna 206 make sense. Unlike some of the airplanes, such as Otters and Caravans, that ply the same missions as the 206 does, the Stationair is a true light airplane. It is powered not by a turboprop but by a conventional […]

There were no firetrucks spewing plumes of water arching over the airplane as I taxied in after our final flight together. It wasn’t my retirement flight, but the delivery flight to turn over the Cardinal RG I’d flown for almost 24 years to its new owner. The Cardinal that I’d originally bought with a partner […]

The Mooney 201’s durable and efficient reputation still endures.

One woman’s look back at how the Douglas has lived to fly for 75 years.