Inhoudsopgave van November 2020 - Flying

Your first airplane, the one you have the key (or fob) to on your ring—that’s your ticket to a special place, one where you have access to the sky on your schedule. You can choose—up to the limits of your bank account—how and when you make avionics and engine upgrades. You can change the paint scheme, the interior colors, even the registration number (within certain parameters) according to your taste and discretion. I came into aircraft ownership in my early 30s, as the result of a unique partnership: I married into it. In fact, I knew the guy was serious when he put my name on the aircraft registration; the engagement ring was a mere formality. The airplane in question was a Nanchang CJ-6A, a decommissioned Chinese warbird that we…

In a milestone that marks the first certification of a modern autoland system on a light, personal jet, Cirrus Aircraft and Garmin Aviation announced in September the approval of Safe Return on the Cirrus Vision Jet. Cirrus also celebrated the 200th delivery of the Vision Jet this summer, solidifying its position as the bestselling general aviation jet as indicated earlier this year via the General Aviation Manufacturers Association 2019 report. “With Safe Return, we are making personal aviation more accessible, elevating the passenger experience and taking the next step towards autonomous flight,” said Zean Nielsen, CEO of Cirrus Aircraft. “The Vision Jet sets a new standard in personal travel with the combination of Safe Return and [the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System], offering the ultimate level of safety, control and comfort…

The “winds of change” blowing through the aviation-insurance industry when I wrote about insurance for Flying in the 2019 Buyers’ Guide (“Winds of Change Are Blowing in Aviation Insurance”) have now reached gale-force speeds. I worked in general-property and casualty insurance long before becoming an aviation-insurance specialist, and I have never seen anything like the rate volatility today. Just a few years ago, aircraft owners—and especially commercial operators—were seeing decreases year after year, sometimes as much as a 30 to 40 percent, as insurers competed against each other to vie for business. Now, we’re seeing increases across the board from moderate to severe, depending on the class of business and loss history. Insurance is built around a statistical concept in probability theory called the law of large numbers, which states…

Did you ever fly out of Meigs Field in downtown Chicago before it closed? It’s one of those airports you will never forget—if you were lucky enough to visit before the painful closure in 2003. But ask just about any pilot today who learned to fly in the late 1990s or early 2000s, and memories will flood back to the view from the departure end of Runway 36 at KCGX—preparing for takeoff in Microsoft Flight Simulator. For many, including me, this was the first introduction to the excitement and freedom of general aviation. After mastering the traffic pattern over Lake Michigan and buzzing the Hancock building and Sears Tower, it was only natural to switch over to Patty Wagstaff’s Extra 300S and fly the BFGoodrich-sponsored aerobatic airplane for some high-performance…

Epic began the process toward the production certificate at virtually the same time as it progressed toward the original type certification. The company was positioned to complete the final audit required by the FAA earlier in 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic temporarily pushed aside those plans. However, by working diligently with the FAA to devise new collaborative processes, using remote technologies, Epic was able to step through the last of the reviews prior to the final assessment at the Epic facilities The fast (333 ktas maximum cruise speed), efficient (1,560 nm maximum range) and flexible (2,254-foot takeoff and 2,399-foot landing distances) E1000 could change a pilot’s ideas about what a turboprop can do. Unique safety additions also come with the package, such as the Wedge Annunciator Panel, which serves as…

While there are more low-cost ways to fly than the average pilot considers at first—ultralights or gliders, anyone?—psychological barriers to entry may exist, including the acceptance of low-tech equipment, or the need to obtain a new rating to fly those models. This is not the case for the light-sport category of airplanes, which can be flown readily with a private pilot airplane certificate—and they often feature the latest technology in both the panel and their overall construction. Their relative simplicity in certification tends to keep acquisition costs down, as well as operating costs, even for the newest aircraft on the lineup. New Arrivals Flight Design introduced the F2 at Aero Friedrichshafen in April 2019. The F2, powered by the fuel-injected Rotax 912iS, is classified as an Ultralight (600 kg) in…

BACKCOUNTRY ADVENTURE A Alaskan Bushwheels Alaskan Bushwheels are one of the most ubiquitous backcountry and off-airport mods available. They’re popular for good reason: The rugged, low-pressure tires provide a huge footprint and increased flotation, enabling operation on soft, loose surfaces such as sand and gravel. Many pilots lower their tire pressure to the single digits to provide an exceptionally plush dose of shock absorption over particularly rough surfaces. Available in several dimensions to suit single-engine aircraft of most sizes and weights, Alaskan Bushwheels also elevate a taildragger’s nose, protecting the prop from rocks and vegetation during backcountry adventures. When paired with a Baby Bushwheel from Airframes Alaska, a taildragger can be equipped to tackle even the most demanding terrain. B Hartzell Trailblazer Propeller One easily overlooked opportunity to improve backcountry…

What a salesman! With one phone call, this Cessna 180 owner and regional director of the International 180/185 Club had sold me on joining the organization and speaking at their convention next year. And by now, you’ve probably gathered that “joining” and “speaking” are recessive genes in my DNA. But I was intrigued when Eric Gardner described the cabin he and his wife, Shannon, had built on a mountain strip in the heart of West Virginia—a “mountain mama, almost heaven” spot (thank you, John Denver) that author Stephen Coonts wrote of as his Shangri-La. Eric said to think about joining the gaggle of 180 drivers who’d be there on Labor Day weekend. Rather than waiting, my friend Joe Loewenstein and I flew my ’56 Cessna 180 to this 3,300-foot grass…

My friend Longbridge has been working for years—these things always take far longer than you think they will—on a Lancair 320 with a lot of airframe mods, the most conspicuous of which are a double-slotted Fowler flap, enlarged empennage surfaces, and leading-edge cuffs on the outer panels of the wings. And then there are the powerplant things—some engine and cooling mods, electronic ignition and so on. He finally got it finished a few months ago. Then he hired another pilot to do the first flights. I was surprised. First of all, Longbridge is an experienced pilot himself. He has modified and tested a series of airplanes, all of which he got to go faster and stall slower. So it’s not as if he were a stranger to flight testing. But,…

Flying the Vineyard [I] enjoyed Sam Weigel’s “Airport at the End of the World” (September), which brought [back] many memories. I was a lineworker in the early ’60s at another (now-defunct) grass strip on Martha’s Vineyard, Oak Bluffs Airport in Massachusetts, where $5 (25 percent of my $20 weekly pay) went to a 15-minute lesson in a [Piper] J-3 taught by the airport’s owner, Carolyn Cullen, a former member of the World War II Women Airforce Service Pilots. The real fun was hitching rides with a fish spotter in his T-6 Texan. As [to] Nantucket, my family visited often during the ’50s, long before the “Gray Lady” became a destination of the rich, famous, Gulfstreams, Dessaults and Citations—when the big transportation thrill was taking the beautiful old steamers, “Nantucket” and…

NO.955 I’ve been flying for 30 years and never experienced a hiccup from an airplane engine while airborne. That changed a few minutes into a recent flight. This story can’t rival a sudden engine stoppage and forced landing—it’s a story of an engine that seemed on its way to quitting—but I hope it provides some useful lessons. It was unseasonably warm on February 23 in the Upper Midwest, with a bell-clear, blue-sky day beckoning for some flying. I never have to worry about finding something to do in an airplane because I have an ongoing project of landing at every airport in North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Wisconsin, the four states neighboring Minnesota, where I’d already landed at all 135 airports. If there’s flyable weather at my home base…

Frenchman Henri Fabre’s name might not ring a bell to most people. But it just might to pilots operating aircraft that use lakes and rivers as their runways. In 1910, Fabre was credited with the first flight of a powered seaplane at Martigues near Marseille, France. Oddly, Fabre was not even a pilot when he flew his gangly looking Hydravion aircraft just over a mile. The airplane’s plywood floats were so elegantly designed more than a hundred years ago that they created additional lift once the aircraft was airborne. Fabre’s seaplane flight was followed a year later by another similar event, this flight by American aviation pioneer Glenn Curtis at the controls of his Curtis Model D. Curtis’ airplane employed a central float and outboard sponsons for stability. So radical…

An indication of just how important the Global 7500 is to the Bombardier business-aviation product line emerged in early July when the company announced that the aircraft had earned the first bizav environmental product declaration. Bombardier Aviation and the International EPD System, an environmental-declaration group based in Sweden, published the environmental product declaration for the 7500 jet that provides detailed information about the Global’s life cycle as it relates to carbon dioxide emissions, noise, water consumption and other key environmentalimpact indicators. The International EPD System is a program for voluntary and transparent communication of the life-cycle environmental impact of goods and services. With more than 15 years of experience, and a library consisting of certified environmental product declarations from 31 countries, the International EPD System serves as a credible choice…

Key among these upgrades is the Innovative Solutions & Support ThrustSense autothrottle, which supports the pilot throughout the flight regimes—including takeoff, landing and go-arounds—computing and controlling power settings. The system provides envelope protection that adjusts the power output of the engine during engine-out operations, granting better pilot control and allowing the airplane to accelerate and climb on one engine. The new digital pressurization controller automatically schedules cabin pressurization throughout the flight, taking this task from the pilot’s workload during busy climbs and descents—and improving passenger comfort in the process. The airframe went through structural updates to increase the maximum cabin pressure, resulting in a 10 percent decrease in cabin altitude compared to the King Air 350i. At 27,000 feet, for example, this translates into a cabin altitude of 5,960 feet.…

I have to confess that I have a very love-hate relationship with the state of Florida. On one hand, this upper-Midwestern country boy has come to crave white sand, salt water and warm winter sunshine, all of which Florida is blessed with in great abundance. On the other hand, I am decidedly not a fan of angrily snarled traffic, endless bleached-concrete sprawl, and the “Florida Man” drama that continually emanates from America’s third-most-populous state. I’ve spent a lot of time here for work and pleasure over the years, and have come to appreciate Florida’s diverse flora and fauna, and understatedly beautiful wi lderness in its yetuntouched spots (generally those too soggy to build another strip mall on). But most every mark that man has made upon the Sunshine State is…

I coasted the rental car into the parking lot of what remained of Camillus Airport (NY25) in New York and attempted to transport myself back in time. The view before me was disorienting. Surrounding structures and driveways had been added. The FBO office and hangar locations appeared to have been relocated. I knew that the relocation resided only in a portion of my brain that held memories from 45 years prior. It was difficult to connect the memories of the past with the realities of the present. Perhaps it was the visceral absence of my bicycle tires rumbling across the large-stoned gravel of the parking lot—which was now worn and cracked asphalt—that was preventing my brain from reminiscing. Surely, I could coax a few synapses into recall mode. This place…

As is the case with all pilots, beginning flight training or earning a pilot certificate is really a license to begin shopping for new gear. Anyone who has ever graced the left seat of a general aviation airplane or rotorcraft will no doubt need the prerequisite flight bag and possibly headsets, and most pilots using electronic flight bags will stay digitally connected with a variety of mobile devices and connectivity interfaces. No matter what you fly, you need the right tools to support your mission. Here are a few of our current favorites. 1 X-NAUT IPAD COOLING CASE For anyone who has ever flown with their iPad in hot, sunny conditions, the threat of your device shutting down because of overheating is an issue that can come at the most…

In February 2019, a Boeing 767 freighter arriving from Miami was approaching George Bush Intercontinental in Houston. Forty miles from the airport, as it crossed the shoreline at 6,000 feet, the jet suddenly pitched down. In a 45-degree dive, it plunged into Trinity Bay with an airspeed of 434 knots and a descent rate of almost 13,000 feet per minute. The three airmen aboard, two flying pilots and a deadheading third, died; scraps of the shattered airplane and its cargo were scattered over a mile of shallow water. The black boxes were recovered, and the National Transportation Safety Board was not long in explaining the bizarre event. A few seconds before the start of the dive, the airplane, which was flying on autopilot and autothrottles, had shifted into go-around mode,…

Aircraft owners probably fear discovering corrosion on their landbased airplanes more than just about anything else, short of bending their airplanes along the way. When an airplane regularly operates in the water, operational and maintenance risks increase. Steve McCaughey is pretty straightforward about it. “Every day you take your seaplane out, you’re risking that being a very expensive day.” McCaughey is the longtime executive director of the Seaplane Pilots Association and a pragmatic observer of the industry. Remember that old proverb, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”? Harry Shannon thinks there’s no better strategy for maintaining a seaplane. As an experienced A&P seaplane technician, Shannon knows corrosion can be the kiss of death for any seaplane, even when the airplanes are washed down after a flight.…

The CC393i eschews traditional magnetos in favor of Lycoming’s new dual electronic ignition system, a solid-state design with no moving parts or scheduled maintenance requirements. Compared with magnetos, the system is claimed to be lighter and more reliable while offering more power and reduced fuel consumption. The engine was type-certificated in February, and this will be the first example of a dual EIS being used in an airplane certificated by Cub-Crafters. It was developed as part of an entire firewall-forward package that encompasses Hartzell’s new three-blade Pathfinder propeller. The Pathfinder utilizes composite blades and Hartzell’s new compact Raptorhub. The new hub design reduces the three-blade propeller’s weight to approximately that of the existing two-blade Trailblazer. Initially exclusive to the XCub, the propeller is optimized for the lowspeed, high-power STOL flight…

WHEN FLYING REGULARLY takes a course over inhospitable terrain or open water through instrument meteorological conditions in the dark of night, that’s when many pilots depend on the safety and security of having a second engine in case of trouble. Today’s multiengine piston aircraft are extremely capable, and with advances in both engine and avionics technologies, even an engine failure can be a managed incident with a safe conclusion. Let’s take a look at a few of the twins available in 2020. If an owner-pilot wants a safe and stable IFR platform with a well-deserved reputation for high quality and a smooth ride, Beechcraft’s Baron G58 is a smart choice. With two Continental IO-550-C engines, Garmin’s G1000 NXi avionics suite, room for six people and convenient aft cargo doors, the…

When people are madly in love, they usually want to share their joy and passion. When those people happen to be pilots and their passion is an airplane, they join a type club—in which others share their love for the Bonanza or a Cirrus or a Cessna 120 and also to soak up the latest technical, operational and safety tips. A type club in which pilots seek camaraderie around a series of machines probably sounds a little nuts to nonpilots. The drive to do so is actually pretty simple. Imagine trying to restore a 1967 Jaguar XKE. Who wouldn’t want to connect with other people around the world ready to help you avoid the pitfalls that caught them over the years? Just think airplanes. In his work “The Efficacy of…

The title of Ernest K. Gann’s memoir—“Fate Is the Hunter”—about his aviation career in the first half of the 20th century grabbed hold of me the first time I read the words. It’s an evocative phrase with many exertions, but they all point to the same conclusion: If you do something dangerous and you do it repeatedly, you’d better be very good at it. Or, in the words of World Boxing Council world-champion heavyweight boxer Deontay Wilder: “My opponent has to be perfect for 12 rounds. I only have to be perfect for one second.” His knockout-to-win percentage stands at 98 percent. He sits and waits as his opponent tries to make a dent. He bides his time. When shown just the briefest moment of miscalculation, Wilder levels his opponent…

From the very beginning, my children were instructed to greet each landing with praise. As long as the crash didn’t dislodge any loose teeth—or, later on, their retainers—it was expected that they would utter an obligatory congratulation. Today, my grandchildren make a big point out of yelling, “Nice landing, Pop,” as I shut down. They may actually mean what they say. This custom began out of desperate need. I have never been a good “lander.” Though I pored over articles by Richard Collins about how a stabilized approach produced soft landings, I never seemed to master that last inch and a half of touchdown. While in the Army, I bought a used Beechcraft Musketeer in 1971. I was so sorry at landing that I commissioned a friend to stand next…