Cirrus and smart pitot heat I read the Cirrus SR G7+ flight trial in the June 2025 issue of Aviation Consumer and see that the pitot heat rocker switch has been removed from the bolster panel in favor of Cirrus’ Smart Pitot Heat system, which automatically comes on (under engine power) when the temperature is […]
Check the Lycoming engine for rust with oil analysis and borescope; update vintage Cessna panel with ADS-B Out.
Unleaded avgas at Sebring hits $8.10; UL94 averages lower. Starlink sparks FAA questions. Cessna tech issues draw expert advice.
LSA limitations, standby alternator options, and evolving Rotax tech spark sharp reader feedback in the May 2025 inbox.
ADS-B data used for tax enforcement sparks privacy backlash, raising concerns about safety tradeoffs and unintended consequences.
Firing your flight instructor I found Rick Durden’s article “Upgrading Yourself: Make a Training Plan” in the February 2025 Aviation Consumer on point, except for the one-page sidebar: “Fire Your Instructor.” While I agree with his CFIs’ obligations, he puts most, if not all, the onus on instructors. He should follow up with some thoughts […]
More on the Bose Thanks for Sy Pinkert’s insightful user report on the modified Bose ProFlight and Clarity Aloft in-ear headset in the January 2025 Aviation Consumer. It’s of course idiosyncratic, being one man’s experience, and I’d like to offer my own idiosyncrasies to the comparison. First, what are the essential purposes of an aviation […]
How safe are those batteries, anyway? I just read the True Blue Power TB-50 lithium-ion main starting battery article in the December 2024 issue of Aviation Consumer. Now this battery won’t be going in my Cessna 150 or Van’s RV-9A, but I think you should be much more specific about the battery chemistry in these […]
Another VOR Believer I read Larry Anglisano’s commentary on GPS outages in the November 2024 Aviation Consumer and can weigh in. I have had GPS just go away on me while flying several times and even while flying IFR. Sometimes it is the military jamming GPS for testing. Other times there was no obvious explanation. […]
Unleaded AVgas Holdup I just received my October 2024 issue of Aviation Consumer and went straight to Rick Durden’s unleaded avgas update article. I operate an U.S.-registered Cessna R172K with a Continental IO-360-KB, based in Switzerland, and have been an Aviation Consumer subscriber since the 1990s. I am hugely frustrated by how little the normally […]
If the tech fixed three items, one of them will try to kill you.
Insured hull value I am in the process of renewing the insurance for my 1968 Cessna 182. I previously had $95,000 hull insurance, since that was about what I thought I could sell it for. Early this year I put the plane on the market at $105,000, and then steadily dropped the price until I […]
