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.
You know the sound. You get in your vehicle, put the key in the ignition, turn the key, and hear the starter turn over in a slow, ow, ow, ow growl…until it dies. You have a dead battery, and you need a jump to get going. So you jump it. Once you have it started, more »
Want to learn more about electric aircraft? Read our article about the Hamilton aEro.
The Mooney Ovation Ultra we flew for this report is the 2017 certification model. It features the Garmin G1000 NXi with integral keypad, GFC700 digital autopilot, dual solid-state attitude and air data sensors, traffic and terrain awareness utilities, Garmin ESP envelope protection, Garmin ADS-B In and Out, Sirius XM weather and entertainment, and more. Price more »
Here are the winners of the 2017 Plane & Pilot Plane of the Year, but before announcing the winners, a few words about what this is and how it happened. Once upon a time, it was easier to assemble of field of contenders, what with the slow rate of new airplane introduction we’ve seen these more »
We recently asked you, our readers, for some help filling the last spot on our list of the ten most beautiful general aviation airplanes around. The response was amazing, but left us with a bit of a problem—tallies for the top four most-voted-for planes—the Piper Aerostar, Rockwell Commander, Piper Comanche and Spartan Executive—were too close more »
We recently published our list of the nine most beautiful planes in GA history, leaving it one short of a Top Ten so you, our readers, could nominate the final plane in the list. The response to our call for your nominations was phenomenal. And after tallying the hundreds of votes we received by email more »
Sometimes getting around to doing something isn’t as much a matter of planning or decisiveness as it is pure circumstance. Such was the case for me when I got the message that it was time to do some transponder work on my vintage Cherokee. Like many VFR pilots, I request flight following whenever I fly more »
When CubCrafters of Yakima, Washington, built a Light-Sport Aircraft version of the classic Cub design and installed the industry’s most powerful engine, it resulted in the company selling a lot of planes. It’s still selling a lot of planes. It’s not the only LSA maker selling what are often referred to as Cub clones. There more »
The airplane flown for this report was the first production model in the United States. It was outfitted with all equipment as seen in the accompanying photos with commonly ordered avionics (a wide variety is available and can be installed in the USA). Exterior paint and interior finish are standard for the Outback Shock, though more »
For those of you who have actually finished an amateur-built plane, you get the old saying that the last 20 percent of any big job takes half the time. When it comes to homebuilding, that last 20 percent of the job is typically associated with installing the engine, applying paint and, yes, installing avionics. That more »
The Piper Cub is coming up on 80 years young. Expect to see lots of them, plus a number of Cub-related special events, at this year’s Oshkosh AirVenture. As you know if you’ve been reading my views on things for very long, I’m not a big fan of anniversaries, but if there’s a purpose to more »
It’s no secret that we pilots love airplanes, though the reasons why we do are, well, not so much mysterious as wide ranging and, at times, hard to pin down precisely. We love airplanes for what they are, where they can take us, and for reasons that are more related to aesthetics than utility. We more »
Even though we’re less than halfway through it, this year’s Oshkosh AirVenture has been one for the ages. There are some incredible airplanes…see them here…for sure, but even more than that, this year’s show has been characterized by an enthusiasm for personal flying, from ultralights to single-pilot jets, that defies easy understanding. Despite challenges for more »
The 2017 edition of Oshkosh AirVenture is off to a great start, and we’ve got the numbers to prove it. EAA president Jack Pelton said that general aviation camping…and the rest of the airplane camping areas at OSH, had filled to the brim by early Sunday, the earliest he’d ever seen those areas fill up. more »
Up where we were, it was smooth, cruising along at Flight Level 270, Utah’s Painted Desert, swaths of reds, browns and golds panning behind us as we flew. Just like the light, we were, as they say, golden, with pilots in other planes at altitudes both below us and above squawking nonstop about the rough more »
The Cirrus SFR50 Vision Jet we flew for this report was a nicely equipped 2016 factory demonstrator outfitted with TCAS, TAWS, Vertical Situation Display, Garmin color weather radar, Iridium satellite communications, envelope protection, and much more. Price: $1.96 million Main Construction: Composite Engine: Williams International FJ33-5A, 1,800 lbs. thrust Avionics: Cirrus Perspective Touch by Garmin more »
This article is the first in a series about bringing a good used airplane up to more modern standards. Our test subject is a 1964 Cessna 182G with a beautiful airframe, passable but old interior, avionics in dire need of updating and the original engine that has good compression and relatively low time since an more »