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Plane & Pilot Past Issues


Aircraft

  • 2008 Beechcraft Baron G58
  • 2008 Diamond DA20-C1 Eclipse
  • A Trainer With Attitude

    The Diamond DA20 brings fun and enthusiasm to flight training

    by Bill Cox
    DiamondAs of two years ago, the training market became a little more complex with the official introduction of a dozen or more light-sport aircraft. Today, the number of different LSA models has swollen to well over 60, and that figure increases on practically a daily basis. Many of these airplanes are fine little two-seaters, easily capable of handling the training mission despite their occasional performance limitations, and that’s exactly the market their manufacturers are targeting.
  • LSA Lineup

    With more than 1,400 aircraft registered in the States, the phenomenon keeps growing!

    by Tim Kern
    LSAsWhat exactly is a light-sport aircraft (LSA)? To qualify as an LSA, an airplane must be a maximum two-place, single-engine, fixed-gear machine that weighs no more than 1,320 pounds (1,420 for watercraft). It must have a level, full-power speed of no more than 120 knots, a clean stall speed no faster than 45 knots and a fixed-pitch propeller.
  • The Mystique Of The Baron

    The basic design may be 40 years old, but the 2008 Baron G58 flies with a newborn’s enthusiasm and

    by Bill Cox baronI was at Sun ’n Fun two years ago when a subscriber walked up to me and asked a question I wasn’t quite ready for: “Why don’t you ever write stories about airplanes you don’t like?” As the resident “primary” pilot reporter for Plane & Pilot/Pilot Journal, that stopped me cold, but not for long. The answer is that there are few airplanes I don’t like. In fact, I’ve never personally met an airplane I didn’t like.

Proficiency

  • Making ADS-B Work

    The technology looks promising, but there are still unanswered questions about its implementation

    by Charles H. Stites
    ADSWhen it comes to owners being told they must install expensive new equipment in their planes, it’s always better to offer them more carrot and less stick as an incentive. For now, the FAA’s proposed mandate on Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) is looking like too much stick and too little carrot.
  • Wingipedia, Part III

    In our final installment, we conclude with “Alberto Santos-Dumont” through “Zulu time”

    by Budd Davisson
    WingipediaWe’ve finally reached the end, my friends. In “Wingipedia, Part I” [March 2008], we covered “acrobatics through “induced drag.” And in “Part II” [May 2008], we took care of “Jenny” through “roll.” It has been fun, but our aviation version of Wikipedia has reached the end of its line. Wikipedia, which asserts that its name is “a portmanteau of the words wiki (a type of collaborative website) and encyclopedia,” is an online encyclopedia that’s written and edited by its visitors, i.e., people like you and me.

Products

  • Apex Edge Series KSN 770

    Bendix/King strikes back with its Integrated Communication Navigation Display

    by John D. Ruley
    tech talkFor many years, Bendix/King (a division of Honeywell) had a virtual lock on avionics in general aviation (GA). Get in a 20-year-old airplane with a panel that hasn’t been upgraded and you’ll probably find at least one Bendix/King NAV/COM, ADF, transponder or audio panel (on many airplanes, you’ll find a complete Bendix/King radio stack). Even today, many used airplane ads list “King panel” or “King radios” among their selling points.
  • August 2008 Readback by The Editors
    readbackL-3 Avionics has received STC and TSO authorization from the FAA for its SmartDeck Integrated Flight Controls and Display System. The STC has been awarded for the Cirrus SR22-G2, and L-3 will offer the STC through authorized dealers for retrofit. The system’s menu structure is designed to support pilot functions in three clicks or less, making pertinent flight information more rapidly accessible. SmartDeck includes a display dedicated to flight-plan management and communication information in its standard configuration.

Pilot Talk

  • Why I Go to Oshkosh

    It’s personality, not flying skills

    Every other summer or so, as I fly north with friends over the lush immensity of southern Wisconsin, find Ripon and then push along the railroad tracks, a sensation of satisfaction and memory overtakes me as the skyline of Lake Winnebago fills the windshield. I realize then that I don’t fly into Oshkosh just for the usual reasons—the air shows, strolling the avionics bazaars, enjoying the epic storytelling of Rod Machado. To me Oshkosh is a celebration of personality and spirit.
  • From The Editor: Lessons Learned

    In and out of the air

    by Jessica Ambats I can only imagine the first day back to school for Rinker Buck in the fall of 1966. As his classmates recounted tales of riding bikes around the block and jumping in the neighbor’s pool, Rinker’s version of “what I did this summer” must have been a showstopper. “Well, my brother and I flew an airplane from New Jersey to California in only six days,” the 15-year-old could have said.
  • How To Blimp

    Goodyear proves that low and slow can be fun

    by Bill Cox
    How To BlimpAfter a takeoff run of about one foot, the attitude pitches up to 10, then 20, then 30 degrees. I know we can’t maintain this pitch angle very long, but the pilot holds the nose up with no apparent concern for impending disaster.
  • My Bucket List

    Start early on your list, it makes for a wonderful life

    by Budd Davisson
    grassrootsThe other day, a student called to book some flight training, explaining that flying a Pitts has been on his bucket list. I haven’t seen the movie by the same name, but I love the concept: You make up a list of things you want to do before you kick the bucket, and little by little, you whittle it down. Naturally, when I heard that, I thought about what I’d put on my own such list. After a few minutes of thinking, however, I didn’t know whether to be happy or sad that I couldn’t come up with many items.
  • The Accelerated Stall

    Stalling at higher speeds than a normal stall

    by Peter Katz
    NTSBThe accelerated stall usually surprises a pilot because it occurs at a higher airspeed than a normal stall (in which a wing loading of 1 G is maintained). Remember, a wing can be made to stall at any speed—all that has to happen is for the angle of attack to get high enough. As G-loading increases, so does stall speed. If a wing reaches its critical angle of attack when the wing loading is 2 G, twice normal, the stall will occur at a speed that’s proportional to the square root of the wing loading.

News

  • August 2008 NOTAMS

    Plane & Pilot’s Guide TO AVIATION’S most current PROMOTIONAL DEALS

    by Staff More than 14 hours of video! It doesn’t matter whether you’re a student pilot or an ATP—in aviation, the learning process never ends. Sporty’s Air Facts DVD series is hosted by Richard L. Collins, a renowned aviation journalist with thousands of hours of experience in a variety of general aviation aircraft. In each program, Collins presents the knowledge and ingenuity acquired through years of real-world flying, teaching you how to apply the same veteran skills and hard-learned techniques.
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