“Baron Zero-Two-Foxtrot, the biplane ahead of you is in the pattern and will be turning on crosswind shortly. Turn inside and above him,â said the tower at SDL Airport in Scottsdale, Ariz. âPitts Papa-Bravo, when you turn, you’ll see a Baron inside your turn and above you, but he should be no factor.â
Read More “Aerial Road Rage”
Utility airplanes must answer to a different kind of owner. Unlike most personal-transportation machines that are dedicated to recreation or fun, utility models are most often working airplanes that must pay for themselves. Read More “Cessna’s All-New Stationair”
Let’s just say that you own a flight school in a huge and major market and you feel a need for a new multi-engine trainer. If you’re completely determined to buy new, you have only one choice, really, for a dedicated twin trainer, the Piper Seminole. (The diesel-powered Austrian Diamond Twin Star isn’t expected to be available until later this month.) Read More “Geronimo!”
For most pilots, the quintessential Cherokee always has been the Archer. Yes, there’s still the Warrior, and there were the 140, 150, 160 and Cadet before that, but the Archer always has represented perhaps the most generic of the Cherokees. Just as the Cub was the signature general-aviation single of the ’30s and ’40s, and the flawed but beautiful V-tailed Bonanza dominated the ’50s and ’60s, the Piper Cherokee has become one of the most recognizable aviation icons of the ’70, ’80s and ’90s, hardly the fastest or the most comfortable, not the most efficient to buy or operate, but an outstanding combination of talents nevertheless. Read More “The Archer Goes Glass”
Jimmy Leeward really never had much of a chance. His parents eloped in an Aeronca C-3. The couple settled down on a grass strip outside of Tarentum, Pa., and as soon as Jimmy could walk, he was at the airport, cleaning and eventually working on many airplanes. Of course, he, too, would become a pilot. |
Read More “The Leeward Air Ranch”
In 1947, the Aeronca Company was in trouble. A successful series of two-seater aircraft didn’t distinguish it in the slumping post-World War II aircraft market. Many manufacturers with new airplanes and thousands of surplus airplanes flooded the economy. Aeronca decided to put its eggs in the four-seat basket. The Sedan was its first and only entry into the larger airplane market. It reached production in 1948 and looked poised to take off.
Read More “The Very First Aeronca Sedan”
Have you ever wanted more from lightplane recreational flying than driving from point A to point B for the $200 hamburger? (Well, there’s aerobatics, but that’s another story.) So, instead of thinking of flying from A to Burger, how about A to Backcountry? Before you dismiss this with a âHey, my airship is a 172, not a Super Cub,â read on. |
Read More “Taking On Extreme Runways”
The sun isn’t up yet and Gary Chamberlain is already on the phone, talking to flight service. The news isn’t good. Circle City, a small checkpoint along the sled-dog race route based on the banks of the Yukon River, is reporting 20 to 30 knots of crosswind with blowing snow, the ceilings are low, and the temperature is stuck at 57 degrees Fâbelow zero. |
Read More “Flying The Yukon Quest”
By any measure, the sky around us is an aviation mecca. For one week each spring, the weeklong Sun ’n Fun Fly-In brings thousands of flying machines and several hundred thousand people to warm, comfortable central Florida. |
Read More “Socata Trinidad GT”
The sun has barely broken the eastern horizon, and the Dixie Chicks are just finishing the song âWide Open Spacesâ on the studio monitor. The on-air light flashes as Dan Stroud turns to his microphone, âYou know, Dave, when my wife got home last night, she asked me to take her bra off.â
Read More “Blue Angel Tomahawk”