General Aviation Aircraft

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.

March 13, 2019

Draco: The Coolest Airplane In The World?
Mike Patey built this heavily modded turboprop taildragger to show the world what STOL really means. How he created the ultimate fixed-wing helicopter.

What do you get when you put a turbine engine on one of the most versatile of all bush planes? A pretty epic race-winning STOL aircraft, and this year’s winner of the 2018 High Sierra STOL Drag competition. Brainchild of self-taught engineer and successful entrepreneur Mike Patey, Draco is the ultimate backcountry airplane. With its more »
February 28, 2019

Who Knew A Crop Duster Could Do This!

Where the Fire Boss is needed most, there are no runways. So how does this highly-modified crop duster, capable of delivering 800 gallons of water to remote wildfires, secure its H20 cargo?  Here’s the scoop: The Fire Boss, a revamped Air Tractor AT-802, stores its water load in about 15 seconds by skimming the surface more »
January 22, 2019

We Fly The Cirrus Vision Jet Generation 2
A couple of big improvements make the latest single-engine jet from Cirrus a whole new experience.
Cirrus Vision Jet Generation 2

Several upgrades to the Cirrus Vision Jet Generation 2 make the latest single-engine jet a whole new experience.

December 19, 2018

Premier Turbo Dakota
A highly regarded Florida shop takes 40-year-old Pipers and turns them into dream planes. Here's how it makes the magic happen.
Premier Turbo Dakota

When Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based Premier Aircraft Sales introduced its Premier Edition Piper Dakota in late 2017, the company was understandably curious to see how the market would respond. In theory, there would be great interest. The idea was compelling: By taking low-time PA-28-235 airframes and performing an extensive restoration, Premier could offer buyers an airplane more »
December 10, 2018

4 Ways To Avoid A Nightmare Annual
Lessons one pilot learned the hard way, hopefully so you won't have to.

It’s probably not all that often that an airplane owner brings their plane in for an annual inspection and leaves with a smile. However, for seven years I was lucky enough to have that experience. During that time, I lived in Delaware, and the shop I used for my annual was located a short flight more »
November 26, 2018

Maule MX-7-180: Barebones With Big Tires For Big Fun
Here's why those legendary taildraggers from Georgia keep flying out of factory doors.
Maule MX-7-180

In an iconic piece of aviation advertising, Belford D. Maule, universally known as B.D., used to tail his demonstrator ship deep into his Moultrie, Georgia, hangar. In a blast of noise and a cloud of dust, he shot out the front door with the nose angling sharply to the sky, the giant “MAULE” letters on more »
October 24, 2018

2018 Plane of the Year: The Mooney Ovation Ultra
Plane & Pilot recognizes the Mooney Ovation Ultra for the most impressive design in light GA.
Mooney Ovation Ultra

Plane & Pilot Magazine named the Mooney Ovation Ultra its 2018 Plane of the Year, a recognition given for the most impressive design in light GA.
September 27, 2018

Flying (And Building) The Titan T-51D Mustang
Team SocialFlight is building a three-quarter-scale P-51D Mustang. Here’s a peek at how it flies and how it will go together.

Team SocialFlight shares give a peek inside their build of a three-quarter scale P-51D.

August 29, 2018

Quest Kodiak Series II: Power Unleashed
This big bad bear cleans up nicely.
Quest Kodiak Series II

Plane & Pilot flew the Quest Kodiak Series II, find out why we love this plane and describe it as “hands down the best Kodiak ever.”

June 28, 2018

Is Buying A Used Turbine Right For You?
How much a plane costs and how well it performs are only small parts of the turbine aircraft ownership picture.
Eclipse 550

How much a plane costs and how well it performs are only small parts of the turbine aircraft ownership picture.

May 24, 2018

The State Of The Art And The Unlikely Rise Of Cirrus Aircraft

Are you an aviation enthusiast or pilot? Sign up for our newsletter, full of tips, reviews and much more! When Cirrus Aircraft launched its G6 model last January, I was impressed, and I’m not the kind of pilot to get easily impressed by an SR22. But the G6 was something different. Even with many of its more »
May 22, 2018

Rebuilding A Strut
You can save lots of dough doing this common overhaul with a little help from your shop.

 Sign up for our newsletter, full of tips, reviews and much more! When I bought my 1970 Piper Cherokee 180 and the pre-buy and annual were completed, it was time to introduce my wife to our new bird with a short flight around our area. I was hoping to make a good impression. The airplane more »
April 16, 2018

Bristell: An LSA Traveling Machine
This quick and slick LSA hits all the sweet spots

I’ve become a big fan in recent years of Milan Bristela, the Czech airplane designer who’s behind the shape of a few LSA on the market right now, including the BRM Bristell a carbon fiber sport plane that pushes the limits of the term “sport” with its list of quality (and quantity) of life features more »
April 13, 2018

Aviat’s Husky Adds New Tricks
At Sun ‘n Fun 2018, Aviat unveiled a number of substantial improvements to the Husky design.

Subscribe today to Plane & Pilot magazine for news, reviews and more! When the Aviat A-1 Husky first took wing in 1986, it was a pretty barebones take on the Piper PA-18 Super Cub design. More than three decades later, it’s a lot more than that, as the designers at Aviat have refined the Husky’s design, more »
March 23, 2018

Building A T-51D Mustang: A Journey
In conjunction with Plane & Pilot and its other partner companies, SocialFlight’s founder is documenting the coming together of a remarkable amateur-built experimental aircraft kit

Within aviation, the drive to create is infectious, and I caught the bug after my first visit to EAA’s Oshkosh Fly-In back in 1992. I spent the week with eyes wide open, amazed at the number of entrepreneurs and inventors touting new aircraft and technologies in the making. I knew at that moment that my more »
March 12, 2018

Turbodiesel Cessna 172 JT-A
The latest Skyhawk is turbodiesel powered and seriously ready to roll

We turned the corner and crossed the hold short line to the blast off section of Runway 17 in this new Skyhawk we were flying, N688CS. It was my usual haunt, San Marcos, Texas, and the November air was still too warm for late fall, though the stability of the air, luckily, could have been more »

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