Misc

Journalists who have covered wars have a saying: The first casualty is the truth. The same can be said of squabbles between customers and companies who try to sell them things, something we see a lot of around here.

As part of Aviation Consumers charter to its readers, we find ourselves as a neutral third party in many of these disputes. I wish I could say that being a referee is fun and rewarding but the fact of the matter is that its neither. But as the old clich goes, someones got to do it.

Fairness dictates that we listen to both sides of the sad story and try to draw some kind of conclusion that will prove useful to our readers. Very often, these disagreements degrade to finge…

Diamond Star
I enjoyed reading your review of Diamonds new DA40 Star in the May issue. It was interesting to read your review side-by-side with the one in AOPA Pilot.

Your perceptions appeared to be 180 degrees apart on entry/exit ease, stall behavior and landing characteristics. Left me wondering whether you had flown the same airplane. In my view you missed the most glaring ergonomic faux pas in the Star cockpit, the stick. If they had gone with a side stick, or at least a yoke, that would have been fine. But that between-your-legs stick is a deal killer right there.

Despite its sleek appearance, the DA40 is neither a Pitts nor an Extra, its a travelling machine…

Tachs, PC Sims
Some notes on articles in past issues: With reference to your piece on electronic tachs in the September, 1999 issue, most owners depend on the tachometer hour meter to determine when ADs, TBO inspections and so on are due.

The Horizon tach records hours at a constant rate beginning when the engine reaches 800 RPM, thus it essentially accumulates time like a Hobbs meter. As we all know from our airplane rental experiences, the Hobbs meter accumulates time more rapidly than the tachometer hour meter, often significantly so. Thats not good for the pocketbook because the faster running clock makes all of those pesky maintenance items come due earlier and more…

Mo vs. Bo
I enjoyed your article on the Mooney versus the Bonanza and which is better. I owned an interest in a new 1998 A-36 and it truly was a great airplane to fly. However, if youre looking at the market segment known as HPSE, I think you need to look at the Commander 114B. With the exception of cruise speed, I don’t think its a contest.

We (myself and two partners) just picked up our 1992 114B (TT-820 hours) in early November and are elated with the aircraft. I had about 90 hours in the Bonanza and I wouldnt trade it for the Commander for even money.

There are several advantages: Pilot door, cockpit roominess, trailing link landing gear, greater useful load and…

No Beef Here
I don’t have a beef, but a compliment and recommendation. I recently had a carburetor problem in my 1939 WACO AGC-8 (engine quit 6 miles out) at Birmingham, Alabama. I got it going again and got back to BHM.

Cant say enough about the good service by the folks at Raytheon Aircraft Services. Bob Hemm assigned a mechanic to change the carb and let me help. (They havent seen too many 330 Jacobs.) Both stayed late to get the work completed. Its nice to come into contact with a competent and helpful facility and these folks could not have been better.

Mel Richardson
Via e-mail

Forget AirCell, Try a Blackberry
I enjoyed reading y…

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In the September issue of Aviation Consumer, we reported on various hangar tugs pitched to the small airplane market. One we mentioned but werent able to test was the Nose-Dragger Dragger from Skyline Aviation of Swartz Creek, Michigan.

Last fall we obtained a Nose-Dragger Dragger and have been using it to tug the company Mooney in and out of the hangar in all sorts of weather. (No snow yet, however.) Herewith is a brief follow-up report.

Like the Taildragger-Dragger, the nosewheel model is powered by a 12-volt electric wheelchair motor driving a pair of wheels through a bicycle chain-and-sprocket arrangement. The entire assembly is mounted on a frame-like apparatus, w…