A professionally applied ceramic coating protects and preserves a high-end finish, but stressing areas of body filler can make the finish come off in sheets.

Pick the wrong flight school and you can lose your entire training budget with nothing to show for it.

Being a superior customer can pay huge dividends when you need service the most.

Anti-collision lighting has never been better, but get a firm quote for installation before committing and expect to replace at least some of the wiring.

Pilots all over aviation social media have been touting the SureFly Ignition Module (SIM) mag replacement as the electronic ignition system of choice—and for some, it may be the best choice because of its simple installation. (That’s a drop-in SIM mounted next to a traditional mag in the photo to the right.) However, I’ve seen […]

With the Lycoming O-360 in my Grumman Tiger freshly overhauled, I decided it was time to replace one of the mags with an Electroair electronic ignition. At the time (I started shopping for it and a Garmin avionics package at AirVenture 2017), the investment in the Electroair EIS 41000 seemed risky. Generally skeptical of manufacturer […]

Wouldn’t it be great if we could clearcoat our airplane with a high-gloss finish and simply keep it shining by washing it several times a year? Enter ceramic coatings, which appear to be a step in that direction, but at a price premium and not without big effort.  For this article, I brought my Grumman—that […]

In an age of expanding battery technology, modern flashlights have generally moved away from alkaline power in favor of lithium cells. So why take a step back in time and choose a classic AA-powered model for the cockpit? Leading the list is convenience, efficiency and battery availability when you might need replacements in a pinch. […]

The paint shop survey report in the August 2020 Aviation Consumer was timely because I was ready to drop big money on a custom paint job for my Grumman.  In addition to reading all of the magazine’s paint shop articles over the past two decades, I came up with an involved planning process, and my […]