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May/June 2004

Aircraft

Adding more power to a Beech A36 translates to more speed and fun

Hot-rodding is fundamental to the American soul, and it isn’t merely confined to car buffs. Pilots, too, have a need to go faster, farther and higher. It’s an unending quest for most of us, who want more out of our flying machines. And the best way to fulfill that need is by adding more power to an airplane that we already love to fly—which translates to more fun and more speed.

Products

May-June 2004 On The Radar by Staff

After being shoved out of the spotlight for the last year by the new gaggle of personal jets, the pistons are back. Liberty Aircraft’s XL2 earned final certification from the FAA, becoming the first GA aircraft to come direct from the factory with Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC). Developed by Teledyne Continental, FADEC puts power management into the hands of a computer, resulting in a 15% to 20% fuel economy.

Travel

Flying Vintners

Napa Wineries Put Some Aviation in Every Bottle

John Trefethen, whose name graces one of Napa Valley’s premier wineries, is standing inside an oak barrel room of his historic winery on his 600-acre vineyard. Neatly dressed in jeans and a mustard-yellow silk shirt, Trefethen is regaling his listeners with some hangar talk about a crop-duster that used to land on the one-lane entrance road when the winery started in the early ’70s. In those days, Trefethen was flying his Cessna 182 out of the Napa Valley Airport 10 miles away, causing the crop-dusting pilot to scratch his head.

Tuskegee Tradition

Named Double Vee for the victory over Europe and discrimination, this Texan is the only remaining AT-6 once assigned to the Red-Tailed Angels

Their legacy is one of courage in the face of a variety of adversaries—fierce anti-aircraft artillery fire, swarms of enemy fighters, some of the worst weather in Europe and constant derision and discrimination from many of their own comrades in arms during World War II.