Home : Pilot Journal : March/April 2006

March/April 2006

Aircraft

Adam A500
Customer deliveries have begun!
There has always been some debate about the justification for piston twins. True, the second engine may get you home if one mill quits, but standard asymmetric-thrust multis haven’t exactly enjoyed a sterling safety record. In too many instances, directional control is so tenuous and single-engine performance so marginal that a safe landing on one engine demands that the pilot be flying a perfect airplane and be doing absolutely everything right.

The Howard DGA

Still the ultimate handmade aircraft

by Charles H. Stites

The best way to experience a Howard DGA is to imagine it from the eyes of a 1930s pilot, who would have witnessed years of increasingly sophisticated single-engine, cabin-class aircraft. For a decade, airplanes had been growing in size and speed. Stinson Aircraft had introduced an endless stream of Reliant variants to the market to compete with cabin Wacos, Fairchilds and Bellancas.

Products

Mar-Apr 2006 On The Radar by Staff Sino Swearingen Aircraft Corporation is celebrating a well-deserved FAA certification for its SJ30-2 business jet. Approved for day/night/VFR/IFR single-pilot ops, the new speedster reports a cruise speed that exceeds 460 knots. Passengers will enjoy a sea-level cabin pressure all the way to FL410, and the SJ30-2’s max altitude is another 8,000 feet higher. The “entry-level” jet will compete with the Cessna Citations and Raytheon Premier I. Sino Swearingen says that customer deliveries are forthcoming. For more, log on to www.sj30jet.com or call (949) 851-0900.

Travel

See Italy By Seaplane
Talk about fantasies on floats…
by Lyn Freeman Cesare Baj dropped the first notch of flaps on the Lake Buccaneer as we circled Castelli di Cannero, a castle from the 13th century. The amazingly intact structure was built on a rocky outcrop in the middle of a lake 600 to 700 years ago as a means of discouraging unwanted visitors. That philosophy can be evidenced today as this late-medieval castle remains virtually inaccessible to almost all tourists who visit Italy.