Aircraft

When I wrote my flight report/review of the new Piper Matrix, I knew I would be in for some grief. Moreover–unlike in real life–this time I knew precisely what form that grief would take. The biggest complaint would be that the Matrix was an unblown Mirage. This is largely true, but it’s funny how people […]

When Piper announced back in early November that it was going to produce an unpressurized, roughly $750,000 version of its Mirage six-place pressurized piston single, the reaction from the media was, well, downright tepid. At face value it seemed as though Piper was merely trying to lower the price point of its million-dollar-plus, cabin-class, pressurized […]

It’s the calmness with which they tell the tales that’s most striking. “One time I flew unconscious for an hour and a half. I lost my oxygen from shrapnel and passed out. I came to out of gas, with the engine dead, and in a spin.” “When I got shot down the second time, I […]

The manifold pressure and propeller rpm wound down abruptly on the engine in front of me. I lowered the nose a little and continued to climb. There was no roll or yaw change, and the only pilot task was to stay on climb airspeed, the same value I had been holding before the power loss. […]

The sun is not up yet in Afton, Wyoming, and the last I checked, the temperature was reading 10 degrees. Fahrenheit. I pull on two layers of long underwear, ski pants, turtleneck, a wool sweater, two pairs of socks and the Sorel boots and huge down parka-remnants from my old Minnesota days-that I dragged out […]

A decade ago when Piper introduced its new single-engine turboprop, the Piper Meridian, nobody was quite sure what to make of it. How would it coexist in Piper’s lineup with the popular pressurized piston single Malibu Mirage, on which the Meridian is based? And perhaps most importantly, would a new, expensive-to-develop turboprop single save Piper […]

The plan was simple. I would be transitioning from an unpressurized, high-performance single to a Piper Meridian. While I have a little experience in turbine airplanes, the idea was for me to make the leap in a week and to get to the point in that short time where I could handle the airplane on […]

I swapped frequencies on the 430 and made my call to the controller. “Austin Departure, Cirrus Two Four Seven Sierra Romeo out of one-point-six for 4,000, one-five-zero on the heading.” “Cirrus 247SR, roger, climb and maintain 4,000. And Seven Sierra Romeo, uh, we have you down for 25,000 feet for your final altitude. Is that […]

It takes time to work the bugs out of most all-new airplane designs, and the Beechcraft Premier is no exception. The Premier’s design goals of being the fastest light jet with the largest cabin cross section were accomplished when it entered service in 2001, but it is now, with the IA version, that the Premier […]

A dream had just come true. Cessna invited me to spend a couple days with its new Mustang. I would pick the trips that looked interesting, and do the flying on my own. Cessna’s top instructor and Mustang designated pilot examiner, Kirby Ortega, would be in the right seat to offer the occasional suggestion, and […]