Innholdsfortegnelse for January 2025 i Flying

AVIATION HAS been evolving since the first overly enthusiastic bird-watcher strapped on a set of homemade wings and made the leap of faith into thin air. With breakthrough advancements happening with increasing frequency, this is an exciting time in aviation’s evolution. Automation that can avoid terrain, traffic, and weather, and autoland an aircraft safely should the pilot become incapacitated is a reality. Reusable rockets carry astronauts and payloads into space almost as routinely and uneventfully as going to the grocery store (most of the time). Supersonic flight is possible without the window-rattling and goat-scarring sonic boom. Alternative fuels are made from renewable organic sources including animal waste and byproducts. Cordless electric aircraft are here. And on and on. Sometimes, a pioneering vision exceeds the technology needed to make it a…

ON NOVEMBER 3, 2019 (coincidentally, my son’s birthday), I was flying with my fellow co-owner and pilot in our Beechcraft B55 Baron. We both had hundreds of hours and landings in that plane. It was a beautiful CAVU day. Jim was in the left seat; I was in the right seat. The plane was current and legal, and I was current and legal. Jim, however, was out of his medical due to some recent surgery, but due to get it back soon. So, of course, that made me PIC, which was fine. We were flying—and had done so several times already—to help keep Jim current in anticipation of him getting his medical back. We did what we thought was right for the good of general aviation, ourselves, and our fellow…

SEDONA, ARIZONA IS FAMOUSLY surrounded by postcard-perfect red sandstone formations. These geologic marvels, rising nearly several hundred feet above the desert floor, look as if they were painstakingly placed by the brush of a skilled painter. The unique array of cliffs, rock formations, and canyons that frame the idyllic destination were formed eons ago, molded by the formative hands of Mother Nature. This masterpiece has been in the making for over 350 million years, and few would argue that visually appealing scenery is Sedona’s only allure. The breathtaking splendor of the colorful terrain makes it an attractive location for those looking to experience diverse recreational offerings—ranging from riding ATVs to golfing and mountain biking, and more. Inspired by the surrounding landscape, the city offers a vibrant arts scene and numerous…

There comes a time in every aspiring pilot’s life when he or she wants an aircraft of their own. For many of us, that means buying a pre-owned one. Perhaps you’ve seen one advertised online or in a magazine, or on the ramp, or even a faded handwritten advertisement on an air bulletin board. They are out there to be found. But with the exception of stories about wasting time and money with the wrong-for-you flight instructor, there is perhaps no more painful tale than that of the first-time aircraft buyer who made a poor (and costly) purchase decision simply because they were not aware of the pitfalls associated with buying a used aircraft. Caveat emptor is Latin for “let the buyer beware,” especially when it is a big-ticket item…

AS A new comer to Tampa years ago I looked for a good maintenance shop to care for my Cessna P210. At the hospital where I worked I met a young neurosurgeon in the doctors lounge who recommended Aircraft Engineering in Bartow, Florida. It proved to be an excellent suggestion, and soon we were constantly talking about airplanes and giving each other rides to Bartow to pick up or drop off our planes. Within a few years, a plastic surgeon arrived and joined the group of doctors who would fly to Bartow on a Saturday for lunch with maintenance folks. While I bought a Cessna 340, the plastic surgeon and the neurosurgeon bought a Beechcraft P-Baron together. These guys struck me as serious pilots. Each had several thousands of hours…

WE ARE thrilled to unveil the redesigned look of FLYING. The new look offers a fresh, dynamic approach to how we connect with our readers. The modern aesthetic offers vibrant imagery, streamlined layouts, and creative elements aimed to enhance the overall reading experience. At FLYING, our goal is to not only feature the latest products, technologies, and stories from the world of aviation but also to provide a visually engaging platform that makes each issue feel as exciting and innovative as the industry we cover. We hope you like what you see. Along with a fresh appearance, you will notice new voices across our pages in the coming months. We’re enlisting additional pilots, aircraft owners, and industry experts to bring diverse insights and perspectives from across the aviation spectrum. We…

I WILL call the three participants in this narrative Andy, Barry, and Chuck—not their real names. The airplane was a kitbuilt, all-metal two-seater powered by a commercially available 110 hp converted auto engine. Andy, 83, had built the airplane with help from his friend Barry, 38, a commercial SMEL pilot with a little less than 1,000 hours. The airplane was completed in 2021, and Andy logged some of the 40 hours of “Phase 1” flight testing required for the airplane to be licensed as an experimental. He then moved to another state, leaving the airplane behind. In 2023, having lost his medical and desiring to sell the airplane, he arranged with Barry to complete the Phase 1 flying. Barry was joined by Chuck, 52, also a commercial SMEL pilot…

Weather is by far the single biggest physical factor that limits or affects your flying activity. Frankly, that’s even a bit of an understatement. It’s probably what worries you the most with any proposed flight when confronted with a decision to go or stay, especially when there’s challenging weather in the forecast. The plane and the pilot are ready to go…it’s that darn weather that’s so unpredictable creating a ton of anxiety. I am still a student of weather even though I have been a meteorologist for nearly 45 years and a flight instructor for the past 25. Although it’s not something I’ve ever truly mastered, weather is a force of nature that I deeply respect. In fact, when there’s an aviation accident that may have been related to weather,…

I DIDN’T set out to promisemy 92-year-old grandmother that I’d fly my Stinson 108 across the country to take her flying one last time. It was a spur-of-the-moment offer made in an emotional moment—perhaps because I didn’t think she’d be alive much longer to collect her due. In fact, I was under the impression that Marge Dellwo was knocking on death’s very door, which was what prompted the hasty wintertime trip home to Minnesota to say goodbye. My mother tried to steel me against the shock of her condition: “Mom is semicomatose, and mostly nonverbal. She might not recognize you.” I should have known better. When my brother Steve and I cautiously entered her hospital room, Grandma Marge was not only awake but startlingly alert. She greeted us effusively, her…

FLAPS, OR more properly “trailing edge high lift devices,” have two functions—they increase drag and enable the wing to sustain lift at a lower speed. The purpose of increasing drag is not so much to steepen the approach as to require you to use some power to maintain a desired approach angle. If you carry a moderate amount of power during the approach, you can adjust the aim point with small throttle movements. Airplanes that approach at idle power, as ones with low-wing loadings like old taildraggers do, have to use the somewhat less delicate forward slip to steepen the approach. There are other ways to increase an airplane’s drag that have fewer side effects than trailing edge flaps do, and so the major reason for flaps is lift, not…

Downtime With warbirds, getting ready for the next great flight often requires hours of painstaking maintenance and preflight preparation. This P-51, named Bunny, was restored and returned to airworthiness by the Palm Springs Air Museum in California. It pays tribute to highly decorated U.S. Army Air Corps Lieutenant Robert “Bob” Friend of the famed Tuskegee Airmen. Friend, who retired as a lieutenant colonel after 28 years of service, died at the age of 99 in 2019.…

LOW-WING, HIGH-WING, single-engine Piper, Cessna, Diamond, Cirrus, Tecnam, Beechcraft, and a handful of light sport designs—that pretty much sums up what you can find on the rental ramp at most airports. It’s easy to get in a rut where you only fly one or two designs, but if you want to increase your options and add to your aviation résumé, make it your mission to be checked out in every aircraft you can. How It Begins The first step when getting checked out in a different aircraft should be reviewing the POH or AFM. Note the gross weight, useful load, V-speeds, physical dimensions and procedures, especially best glide. If appropriate, compare it to the aircraft you have the most experience in and note the differences. For example, a late-model Cessna…

Let’s now take a look at what’s involved in swapping your family piston-pounder for an aircraft where the engine(s) go whoosh. Aircraft sentiment: “It’s a great airplane, but I just wish it were a little faster…and could climb above the owners at one point or another have all uttered a common weather…and had pressurization…” Aircraft manufacturers heard that pilot’s lament long ago and have made most satisfying piles of cash by responding to it. Strategically, they’ve sold new pilots one of their more modest models, and then made it easy and reasonable to step up to more performance, larger cabins, deicing, turbocharging, pressurization, turbine power, and cruise speeds well above 200 knots. During the 1970s, Cessna even came to offer the first single-pilot jets with the Citation I and II…

OFTEN, WE can choose between flying an ILS or RNAV (GPS) to a particular runway. But when the minimums are the same, how do you choose? Like many aspects of aviation, it depends. Generally, though not always, I prefer RNAV approaches. ILS signals, which require transmitters and antennas on the ground, seem more susceptible to issues than GPS. For example, in March 2019, signal issues, caused by 2 to 5 feet of snow around the localizer antenna, led CommutAir Flight 4933 to touch down in snow to the right of the runway at Presque Isle, Maine (KPQI). Also, notes on ILS charts sometimes state that an autopilot cannot be used below some altitude on the approach. Those usually originate when problems are detected during routine test flights by an FAA…