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December 2007

Aircraft

2007 Diamond Star DA40 XL by Staff
Diamond DA40 XL: Polishing The Diamond Star
The new Diamond DA40 XL incorporates new aerodynamics, an improved, composite prop and an advanced exhaust system to increase the knot count
Ask anyone who’s tried to wring more speed from an existing aircraft design, and you’ll learn that the task is very difficult. Hot-rodders have long been adding speed on cars and motorcycles by installing progressively more powerful engines, and that works great for machines that roll on wheels. Unfortunately, it’s not nearly as effective on airplanes.
Micco SP26A by Staff

This is that rare machine: a fun gentleman’s aerobat capable of cross-country travel or a Saturday-afternoon hamburger flight

Two-seaters have a special place in general aviation. The most common mission for two-place airplanes is pilot training. Say “two seats,” and most pilots automatically envision models such as the Cessna 150, Diamond DA20, Beech Skipper and Piper Tomahawk.

Sting Sport TL-2000 by Staff

TL-Ultralight: Sting Sport TL-2000

Yet another Czech Republic LSA is showing the world how to build a true economy machine

by Staff

It seems the Czech Republic is one of the world’s centers for LSA manufacturing these days. A multitude of light-sport aircraft are being built in the former Czechoslovakia and sold all over the world.

Proficiency

Icing Folklore

Avoid flying by rules of thumb

Icing is already a terribly complex topic without the many old wives’ tales and rules of thumb making it even more difficult. Rules of thumb generally plead ignorance. Ignorance often leads to bad decisions. When the weather is on its worst behavior, rules of thumb rarely apply and can actually be dangerous. Here are a few of my pet peeves when it comes to icing folklore.

Products

Buyer’s Guide: The Active Pilot’s Flight Bag

Consider one of these exciting new products

by Norm Goyer

Flight bags have certainly changed over the years, but what has changed most is what today’s pilots consider “must have.” My first flight bag was a military flying suit with pockets everywhere, each stuffed with some necessity.

December 2007 Readback by Staff

British race pilot Paul Bonhomme was victorious at the penultimate stop in the 2007 Red Bull Air Race World Series. More than 50,000 spectators gathered around the San Diego Bay as competing pilots sped around a challenging course marked by inflatable pylons. Bonhomme’s finishing time was 1:23:80; placing second was U.S. pilot and last year’s series winner Kirby Chambliss at 1:24:69, only fractions of a second behind. This year’s series champion will be determined in November at the final race in Perth, Australia.

Pilot Talk

Catastrophic Structural Failure
Focusing on maintenance programs
by Peter Katz The overwhelming majority of airplanes have the potential to keep flying until it’s no longer economically viable to keep them in the air, provided that they’re operated within established parameters, receive regular inspections to detect problems and undergo proper preventive maintenance. When there’s a catastrophic structural failure, such as a wing falling off, it understandably attracts attention from the industry, investigators and regulators.
Endangered Species?
Aviation is facing increasing pressure—is it time for an altitude change?
by Erik Lindbergh The end is near! For hundreds and perhaps thousands of years, humans have been making predictions about the end. The end of the earth, the end of cheap oil, the end of life as we know it, the end of free WiFi—I hate this kind of gloom and doom stuff.
From The Editor: Where Have All The Heroes Gone?
How times have changed
by Jeff Berlin For the past couple of weeks, In the Shadow of the Moon, a documentary film about the Apollo program, has been playing nearby in Hollywood. Knowing the longevity of aviation-themed movies in theaters, I figured I’d better go sooner rather than later, so a few nights ago, I sat in the dark, in awe of what we (mankind) accomplished in the late ’60s and early to mid-’70s. While nibbling popcorn (no butter, thank you) from a bucket bigger than my head, the words of Michael Collins, the command module pilot of Apollo 11, hit me like a sledgehammer.
Obituary For My Friend
You don’t know true sorrow until you lose a dog
by Budd Davisson It was early on the first day of the EAA Northwest Regional Fly-In at Arlington, Wash., and Marlene called me at the exhibit. She sounded strange, so I walked away from the booth for some privacy and stood in the middle of a wide and grassy fire lane with lines of exhibit booths on both sides. Then a voice I knew said words that I understood, but that my brain refused to comprehend: “Budd, Nizhoni died about an hour ago.”
The Odyssey Of Glacier Girl
The world's most famous warbird takes on the North Atlantic
by Bill Cox 1942: A flight of six P-38s and two B-17s departs Sondrestrom Fjord, Greenland, for Reykjavik, Iceland, on their way to the WWII European Theater of Operations as part of Operation Bolero. It’s an ambitious project, initiated by General Hap Arnold, tired of seeing his aircraft ride cargo ships to the bottom of the Atlantic, victims of Hitler’s dreaded U-boats.