Explore the world of general aviation aircraft with our reviews. Written from a pilot’s perspective, these reviews provide fantastic insight into what these general aviation planes are really like.
How many prospective aircraft owners would opt for the performance of an experimental homebuilt aircraft if it didn’t involve flying an airplane they had to build themselves?
Diesel Glasair Sportsman 2+2 SPECIFICATIONS & PERFORMANCE Price (Basic Two Weeks To Taxi Sportsman, 2017): $199,250 CD-155 Diesel-Engine Option: $89,000 Powerplant: 155 hp CD-155 Max Takeoff Weight (lbs.): 2500 Empty Weight (lbs.): 1550 Useful Load (lbs.): 950 Usable Fuel (gals.): 50 Fuel Burn: 5.2 @65%, 6.4 @75%, 7.3 @85% Wing Loading (lbs./ft. at gross): 17.9 more »
Things aren’t looking good at 6 a.m. on Monday, the morning my wife Theresa and I have planned a 10 o’clock departure from Hanscom Field, our home base near Boston, on the first leg of the trip of a lifetime to California and back.
There are many things in aviation that we’d all like more of: more runway in front of us, more altitude below us, more speed, more fuel in the tanks, more legroom for passengers, more useful load and more engine power all come to mind.
There’s a new Eclipse jet in the sky, and it may just be the one everyone wanted in the first place.
Eclipse 550 Engine Make/Model: Pratt & Whitney PW610F Thrust (lbf): 900 Fuel Type: Jet-A TBO—Hours: 3500 Standard Empty Weight: 3700 Max Ramp Weight (lbs.): 6034 Max T/O Weight (lbs.): 6000 Max Landing Weight (lbs.): 5600 Useable Fuel (lbs./gal.): 1698/252 Full Fuel Payload (lbs.): 636 DIMENSIONS AND CAPACITIES Wingspan (ft.): 37.9 Overall Length (ft.): 33.5 Height more »
Perhaps more than some aviators, I’m often reminded how essential good mechanical work is on an airplane.
Stemme S10-VT Base Price: approx. $400,000 As Typically Equipped: $446,000 Engine: 115 hp Rotax 914F Turbo Max Range: 928.7 nm MTOW (lbs.): 1,874 Empty Weight (lbs.): 1,423 Max Payload (lbs.): approx. 451 Wingspan (ft.): 75.46 Wingspan, folded (ft.): 37.4 Wing Area (sq. ft.): 201.3 Height (ft.): 5.91 Length (ft.): 27.62 PERFORMANCE Cruise Speed At 10,000 more »
If you’ve ever fooled around with a gravity knife, you can imagine the eureka moment Dr. Reiner Stemme likely experienced while trying to develop a motorglider providing both uncompromising soaring and outstanding powered performance.
The kit-built Raven light-sport bush plane was intended to become RANS’ flagship crossover into the LSA world.
S-20 Raven AIRFRAME SPECIFICATIONS Wingspan: 30 ft. 3 in. Area (sq. ft.): 152.7 Mean Chord (ft.): 5.05 Aspect: 6.0:1 Length: 21 ft. Height—Taildragger: 6 ft. 7 in. Height—Tricycle:: 7 ft. 11 in. Number Of Seats: 2 Doors: 2 Baggage Volume (cubic ft.): 21.2 Baggage Capacity (lbs.): 80 Fuel Capacity (gals.): 26 U.S. POWER PLANT Engine: more »
Acclaim S New Price: $699,000 Engine Make/Model: Continenal TSIO-550G Horsepower At Altitude: 280 @ SL Horsepower On Takeoff: 280 TBO—Hours: 2200 Fuel Type: 100LL Propeller: Hartzell 3 bld/CS Landing Gear Type: Tri/Retr Gross Weight (lbs.): 3374 Std. Empty Weight (lbs.): 2374 Useful Load—Std. (lbs.): 1000 Usable Fuel—Std. (gals./lbs.): 100 Payload—Full Std. Fuel (lbs.): 400 Wingspan: more »
Even if you’ve never flown one, Mooneys have a universal appeal as tough, quick-handling, economical, fast machines, often analogized as sport planes.
Beech Barons have always been among the best-handling twins in the sky, but they did have a curious anomaly.
No one makes it easier for a pilot to step up to a turboprop than Piper Aircraft.
Piper PA-46 Meridian Price (std. equip.): $2,219,850 Engine Make/Model: Pratt & Whitney PT6A-42A Horsepower On Takeoff: 500 TBO (hrs.): 3600 Fuel Type: Jet A Propeller: Hartzell 4-Blade, CS Max. Takeoff Weight (lbs.): 5092 Equipped Weight, std. (lbs.): 3436 Useful Load, std. (lbs.): 1698 Usable Fuel, std. (gals./lbs.): 170/1139 Payload, full std. fuel (lbs.): 562 Wingspan more »
When the FAA approved the LSA concept at Sun ‘n Fun in April 2005, many pilots saw it as an opportunity to get back into the sky at a price that wouldn’t bust the family budget.
Zenith CH 750 Cruzer Engine: UL350iS Horsepower: 130 Max Gross Weight (lbs.): 1320 Empty Weight (lbs.): 780 Useful Load (lbs.): 540 Fuel Cap (gals.): 24 Payload (lbs.): 396 Wing Landing (lbs./sq. ft.): 9.3 Power Landing (lbs./hp): 10.15 Load Limits (Gs): +6/-3 Cabin Width (in.): 42 Cabin Height (in.): 50 PERFORMANCE Cruise Speed (mph): 118 Stall more »