Maintenance
Article: Upgrading Your Instrument Panel
The majority of airplanes in the general- aviation fleet were built before glass panels and digital displays became standard equipment.
Article: Caring For Your Aircraft
The aircraft battery is a seldom-noticed and somewhat-ignored component of the machine’s life-giving systems.
Article: Caring For Your Aircraft
Oil is to an aviation piston engine what blood is to the human body: a crucial element in keeping it alive.
Article: It’s The Little Things: Refurbishing On A Dime
With recent news of declining new-aircraft sales, it's pretty clear that we may be in it for the long haul when it comes to a full economic recovery. ...
Article: Upgrade Your Plane! Part II
While having a modern, state-of-the-art panel may be a dream, this is no dream article. Given today’s economy, we’re taking a practical look at the best real-world solutions for getting maximum functionality without having to sell a kidney for fin...
Article: Upgrade Your Plane! Part I
From time to time, Plane & Pilot embarks on a proverbial aircraft-upgrade project and chronicles the progress for the enjoyment and edification of readers.
Article: Blocked Pitot Tubes
The crash of Air France Flight 447, an Airbus A330, in the Atlantic Ocean on June 1, 2009, during a flight from Brazil to Paris focused attention on pitot tubes, although many people had never heard of them before.
Article: The Go/No-Go Decision In Winter
It had been a long day. It...
Article: Project 182, Part III
Article: Understanding RPM
It was just after 6 p.m. when I turned...
Article: Airplanes, Cars—What’s the Difference?
What’s the difference between...
Article: Catastrophic Structural Failure
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...
Article: An Advanced Course In Engine Management
Today, bookstores have shelves of self-help and how-to books targeted at people just like me. You know, books like Brain Surgery For Dummies, Taxes For Dummies or The...
Article: Known And Unknown Deficiencies
While the FAA makes the pilot responsible for determining whether or not an aircraft that he or she is about to fly is airworthy, the pilot must rely to a great extent on what others have...
Article: Devastating Details
One consequence of the nation’s economic downturn and the accompanying slump in general aviation was that some...
Article: Money-Saving Maintenance
Those pilots who have ever...
Article: Wing Dings
It’s a problem most of us with metal airplanes face at one time or another—dings, those small dents that seem to go hand in hand with owning an aluminum flying machine. Unless you own a...
Article: The Derelicts
I’ve mentioned them before—those long-dead, thoroughly baked carcasses I taxi past each day that at some time in the past, were airplanes. Now they’re aeronautically shaped mounds of...
