Ownership

Santa Clara County officials in California dug deeper into the leaded aviation fuel debate hobbling their local airport, and a study found the ground around the airport has acceptable levels of lead. However, it took some dogged determination by the local newspaper to bring the study to light. The $130,000 probe took samples from 32 […]

The Citabria is a proven design, based on the Champion 7-series airframe. The more rugged 8 series is the more fully aerobatic Decathlon. Pre-1990s Citabrias have wooden wing spars, and with that comes the possibility of strut corrosion. The aerobatic 7GCBC model, with slightly longer wings and flaps, is arguably the most popular with first-time […]

Rolls-Royce’s Pearl 10X engine has reached a new milestone in its development with the accumulation of more than 1,000 testing hours. According to the company, the Pearl 10X development program has so far included testing of the new ultra-low-emissions ALM combustor and accessory gearbox. Rolls-Royce says that one of program’s next big milestones will be […]

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 experience can be […]

A coalition of aviation companies and organizations is calling for regulatory changes aimed at supporting wide-scale commercialization of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). In a letter (PDF) to National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy, the coalition asked for five “fixes” to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) annual rule. The suggested changes include allowing SAF feedstock to be […]

Most existing round-gauge airplanes have instrument panels that simply weren’t designed for big-screen displays. That means your shop will likely be tasked with cutting a new metal panel to make it all fit. And even if your proposed upgrade doesn’t require lots of cutting, an avionics project is the opportunity to upgrade the panel’s aesthetics […]

For the first time in recent memory, the price of Jet A was higher than that of 100LL in April in some areas, in a huge spike in prices that has been building over the last couple of months. “This is our first time seeing anything like this,” said Jeffrey Carrithers, the CEO of GlobalAir, […]

Though often overshadowed by its big-brother SR22, Cirrus’ SR20 is a reasonable airplane for newer pilots, or for those looking to later step up to the faster SR22. Pick your engine and avionics. Earlier models have Avidyne suites and later ones have Garmin’s G1000. In 2017, Cirrus re-engined the six-cylinder Continental-powered aircraft with a four-cylinder […]

Blackhawk Aerospace announced on Wednesday that it has started FAA certification flight testing for its new Pilatus PC-12 XP67P Engine+ Upgrade program. The program replaces the PC-12’s stock Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-67B engine with the PT6A-67P model. The -67P offers higher internal turbine temperature (ITT) limitations and produces 142 more thermodynamic horsepower than the […]

Diamond Aircraft says the electrified version of its DA40 single will have up to a 90-minute endurance and charge time of 20 minutes. The company announced on Wednesday it has chosen Safran’s ENGINeUS electric motor to power the eDA40. “With Safran we are having an expert partner for electric propulsion systems aboard,” said Liqun (Frank) […]