Pilot Reports
Article: Turning Airpark Dreams Into Lifestyle Realities
They may have roads and utilities, homes and happy families, but residential airparks are far from your typical American community—unlike, say, a Muncie, Ind., celebrated and studied by social scientists for its averageness.
Article: An Old Stalwart Gets New Attention
Scott County Airport (SCX) in Oneida, Tenn., was readying for its ninth annual autumn air show, and vendor trucks and booths were starting to fill the perimeter of the ramp.
Article: The Alpha Bet
Yet the Alpha story goes way beyond economics.
Article: The Epic LT
Sometimes, a name says it all, and the story of the Epic LT is nothing if not, well—epic.
Article: The Sleeper
I'm already at ease with this unique, stylish little S-LSA.
Article: Mustang Teaching Machine?
For many pilots, speed is the narcotic that attracted them to the discipline in the first place.
Article: The Lively Bird
The Rans S-7LS Courier, newly reworked for 2012 by its brainy, creative, airplane-loving designer Randy Schlitter, has been around for a number of years. ...
Article: Diamond's Family Star
Fixed-gear singles have assumed the mantle that once belonged to retractables.
Article: The Look-Homeward Angel
The Comet carries the DNA of all those ships, yet the biplane sportster/aerobat represents a breakthrough of sorts as the first fully aerobatic two-seat SLSA and the first biplane.
Article: Big-Time Adventure
It only takes one low-level flight through southern Utah to see why many consider it to be one of the most beautiful places on the planet.
Article: Cirrus SR22 GTS: The Perfect Plane?
Some aircraft change the game. Looking back, designs like the Cessna 172, the Beechcraft Bonanza, Piper Cub, Mooney M20 and a handful of others have changed the way aviators—and outsiders—perceive general aviation.
Article: Drinking, Driving And Flying
When FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt resigned after being arrested by police in Fairfax City, Va., on a drunk-driving charge, some of my pilot acquaintances were quick to express astonishment at the irony of Babbitt himself likely having to face the...
Article: Carbon Dating
So what draws him, with all his aviation experience, to the cockpit of the CubCrafters Carbon Cub SS?
Article: Sweet Harmonizin’
One of the very first LSA I flew was the Evektor SportStar, an all-metal, low-wing monoplane with a cute bubbly profile and a stable, confidence-inspiring, long-distance-comfortable, easy-to-fly flight personality.
Article: Pipistrel Virus: Triple Your Pleasure
Maybe she dressed kinda funny. Maybe he kept to himself. She was a little eccentric, joined after-school clubs and was an A student.
Article: Piper Meridian: Everyman’s Turbine
The benchmarks of speed in general aviation have traditionally been easy to define.
Article: An Extra For The High Road
Single-engine turboprops are a relatively recent development in general aviation.
Article: Skylane For The Flight Levels
Back in 1979, I purchased one of the very first Mooney 231s, my first-ever new airplane.
Article: Diamond DA40 XLS: Premier Edition
Those of us in the aviation press privileged to review new aircraft are sometimes taken to task for not being appropriately critical.
Article: Phoenix Motorglider: Chase The Shouting Wind
Cruising under power through footless halls of air, Jim Lee and I thread our way between vaulting rises of cotton-edged clouds. Under one big cumulus high-rise with a flat, dark-gray bottom and a wispy penthouse, we feel a promising bump of lift. ...
Article: 2011 Cirrus SR22T: Commemorating 10 Years Of GA Innovation
It’s hard to believe it has been 10 years since Cirrus launched the SR22. It’s doubtful that many people had any idea that, from its humble beginnings in 1984, the company that brothers Alan and Dale Klapmeier built would produce what would become the...
Article: Evektor Sportstar Max: An LSA For All Seasons
I stand by the Evektor SportStar Max at the 2nd Annual Midwest LSA Expo in Mount Vernon, Ill., talking with a gentleman (let’s call him Gary), who epitomizes the typical “hot prospect” to buy a high-end S-LSA.
Article: DA 42 In The Second Generation
In seeming obedience to the time-honored directive on how to make a small fortune in the airline industry (start with a large one), the major people movers of the world are having a progressively more difficult time staying in business.
Article: The Single-Engine Jet From Diamond
I want one. And if you’re thinking about stepping up to your first jet in the next few years, you will, too, once you fly it. I want one. And if...
Article: Cessna 162 Skycatcher: It’s Here!
The proliferation of LSA since the FAA announced the first approval at Sun ’n Fun 2005 has been little short of amazing.
Article: Hawker Beechcraft Premier 1A: Little Big Jet
Thirty years ago, in what turned out to be a career mistake, I abandoned objective journalism and essentially sold out (for a pile of money, a big expense account and a twin-engine company airplane) to edit a group of corporate magazines for a major...
Article: Cubbing Around
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