March 2009
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Aircraft
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2009 Liberty XL2 Vanguard Edition
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King Katmai
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King Me!
Down & dirty in the spectacular Utah Canyonlands
by James Lawrence
 If you’re coming down that canyon thinking, “I can do this three out of five times,” you’re going to be scared to death. Because you don’t know if this is one of the three—or one of the two.—Todd Peterson |
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Liberty XL2 Vanguard: The Soul Of A Tiger
The FADEC-equipped two-seater makes training and cruising fun again
The mission was an intriguing one: I would fly the brand-new Liberty Aerospace XL2 Vanguard Edition for a pilot report along California’s Malibu coast. ...more »
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Remos GX
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Up-And-Comer
The new Remos GX rises to satisfy sport pilots
 An LSA that was 10 years in the making may aptly be called a “mature design” within this nascent sector of piston aircraft. A few others share a similarly “ripe, old” heritage, but most are far newer than the trusty GA models in which many of us learned the art of flying. |
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Proficiency
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Going The Distance
Tips for planning a long cross-country
by Joe Shelton
 As pilots, we’re used to flight planning. Flights are usually straightforward and easy to plan, but occasionally, they involve multiple legs and traversing congested or complicated airspace. Longer flights require more-than-normal flight planning. I recently completed a 1,600-mile flight in my Garmin G1000–equipped Columbia across seven western and midwestern states and three time zones. It was apparent to me that, to do it right, longer flights entail more than just sitting longer en route and making additional fuel stops, particularly when the flight is more than 1,000 miles. ...more »
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Learn To Fly: Fun Things You Can Do With Your Certificate
Flying an airplane is an unmatched experience, and you can do some amazing things once you earn your certificate
by Marc C. Lee
 Ah, if only you knew how to fly! You could escape the shackles of your humdrum life and soar above its stresses. You could wake up in Nebraska, eat a cheeseburger for lunch in Colorado and settle in for the night on a crystal lake in Idaho. You could fly biplanes or jets or spiffy little yellow Cubs with smiling bears painted on their tails. But how much will it cost, how long will it take and how safe is it? What can you do with a pilot’s license? |
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Products
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Garmin 696: A Giant Leap Ahead
In a remarkable paradigm shift from past portable GPS devices, Garmin produces a larger knee-pad version with new talents
by Bill Cox
 If you hadn’t noticed, the Garmin 696 is bigger. Anyone who has seen the advertising for Garmin’s new world-beater 696 GPS navigation unit knows it’s a definite departure from Garmin’s traditional philosophy of thinking small. Garmin entered the market back in 1989 by producing a small, high-quality, portable GPS unit; but the new system’s most obvious talent is simply its size. (In fact, the 696 isn’t the first larger-format Garmin portable GPS.
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JH Audio Aerous VX-Series Headsets
In-the-ear sound for audiophile aviators
by John D. Ruley
 For most pilots, aviation headsets are a necessary evil. They protect your hearing from long-term damage due to engine noise and make it easier to hear passengers, other pilots and ATC on the radio. But most do so by clamping down hard over your ears to block out sound; if worn for more than a few hours, they can give you a headache. I started with the generic passive headsets sold at my flight school, and when I started making long cross-country flights (up to 10 hours in a day), I upgraded to somewhat lighter and more comfortable automatic noise reduction (ANR) models. With those, the clamping pressure is less, the background noise is cut down, and it takes longer for me to get a headache—but I still get it.
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March 2009 Readback
A Diamond In The Rough
by The Editors
 In spite of the difficult economy, Diamond Aircraft has announced large new orders. Saint Louis University’s Parks College of Engineering, Aviation & Technology has added nine new Diamond DA20-C1 aircraft to its flight-training department. Parks College, founded in 1927, was the first certified school of aviation in the United States.
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Pilot Talk
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Always The Weather
Fall, not winter, is the tough time in some parts of the world
by Bill Cox
 If there’s one absolute truth about flying the North Atlantic in normally aspirated piston aircraft, it’s ice. Those pilots who’ve been flying the ocean at low level for a few years recognize airframe icing as perhaps the most dangerous threat.
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From The Editor: From Dream To Reality
We all started at the same place: the beginning.
by Jessica Ambats
 There was a time when aviation seemed to be a distant world, out of my reach. I didn’t know any pilots, and as far as I knew, you had to be in the military or have millions of dollars to become one. While my classmates forged ahead on paths to become doctors and lawyers, I stumbled around, sneaking peeks at airplanes passing overhead and memorizing the aviation alphabet. But, one day, everything changed.
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Gaining Your Pilot’s License
An opportunity to see the world from a different perspective
Leonardo da Vinci once said, “For once you have tasted flight, you will walk the earth with your eyes turned skywards, for there you have been and there you will long to return.” There are more than 600,000 registered pilots in the United States, and each of them can relate to this quote. ...more »
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Icing Awareness
The quantity and quality of information have improved, but icing is ever a deadly foe
by Peter Katz
 Ten years ago, the National Aviation Weather Program Council met in Washington, D.C., to develop ideas that could be turned into practical steps toward reducing the number of weather-related aircraft accidents. Regarding in-flight icing, the group—which included FAA, Department of Defense, NASA, Department of Commerce, Department of Agriculture and NTSB representatives—concluded that better observation systems were needed for detecting icing, and weather forecasts should present icing hazards in clear, easily understood formats.
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Light-Sport Chronicles: Questions! So Many Questions!
The sport pilot rule is clear and easy to understand...except when it isn’t. Let’s dig a little deeper.
by James Lawrence
 The sport pilot rule under which LSA pilots fly was intended to cover a broad array of recreational vehicles and conditions, gently wrapped within a beneficent, safety-minded envelope of permissions and restrictions.
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Pleasure, Pain & Southern Hospitality
An unforgettable weekend
by Jeff Seebeck
Skylane 250CW, cleared to land, runway two seven.” Those words marked the start of my anniversary weekend in historic Savannah, Ga. The VFR flight to Savannah from Lawrenceville, Ga., on the morning of August 1, 2008, was smooth and uneventful, as was my first-time arrival into Savannah International Airport. Plane parked and rental car obtained, my wife and I headed off to the resort. ...more »
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Retreads & Me
We’re wearing out more than just our airplanes
by Budd Davisson
 I’m not sure what it means, but this morning I glanced down at the Tail-Dragger Dragger dolly that I use to push/pull my bird from its nest, and I realized that the tires are wearing out. Bald, as it were. I was a little surprised and asked myself, “Exactly how much mileage should we expect from the accessories we surround ourselves with while flying?”
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Travel
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Fly-In Dining Grows Up
by Marc C. Lee
 Few things go better with aviating than eating. There’s something supremely magical about liberating yourself from the bonds of terra firma to land at a destination where a hot meal and good conversation await you. Unfortunately, pilots think about eating in the most boring and mundane terms. We fly more for the experience—not the food—and we accept mediocrity. |
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News
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March 2009 NOTAMS
Plane & Pilot’s guide to aviation's most current promotional deals
by Staff
From free training to discounts and rebates, this is the place to find great promotional deals from the aviation industry’s leading companies. Be sure to check this page every month for the latest offers. ...more »
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