Ownership

There has been a change in basic business practices throughout the aviation industry when considering insuring one’s activities against loss. In fact, this new business phenomenon is surfacing in all industries. We are talking, of course, about refusing responsibility for your own actions if you can pass that responsibility on to someone else. It is […]

I had been suffering with the original frontseats in my 1977 Tiger since I bought the plane more than three years ago. I really didn’tlike those seats. Since I was refurbishing the interior, I decided to make a change. As a first step, I had a well-known Grummanaficionado upgrade my seat backs to the 78-79 […]

Here’s the issue: Suppose you want to refurbish the interior of your FAA-certificated light plane with new carpet and upholstery. Further suppose that you have found a reputable auto upholstery shop that does great work and will reupholster your seats and cut you new carpets if you bring the stuff to them. What does the […]

Winters in northern states like Montana can be brutal which is why theprincipal means of maintaining controlled flight is with the heater knob.Freezing temperatures can begin in late September and are last seen sometime inApril. This is quite a chore for the lowly aircraft heating system, akin to theold Volkswagen beetle’s air-cooled engine and non-heater. […]

Painting anythingwell-especially an airplane-is as much art as science. It takes experienceand skill to get it right and, in the end, the customer might not appreciate thework because many owners have never seen a good paint job. Yet it doesnt takea trained eye to separate good paint from bad, a well-detailed master work from what one […]

AVweb Special Projects Editor Dave Higdon adopted a Comanche 180 a few years ago. He approached the purchase with all the warmth of a bill collector. Efficiency … payload … performance … bang-for-the-buck. Now he’s fallen in love. If you’re not going to see A Christmas Carol this season, read Dave’s story instead and enjoy […]

Somewhere north of Cape Girardeau, Missouri … Normally, by this point on a trip like today’s my fuel situation never generates a thought. We’ve logged around 700 hours in the Comanche in the four years we’ve owned it, and we’ve flown this trip more times than any other; about 15 or 20 times in the […]

Thepreparation leading up to my first flight in a new aircraft design always renewsmy sense of adventure and stirs a bit of trepidation, as well. The promise ofsome new adventure, rooted in my hedonistic curiosity about airplanes, generallyoverwhelms any degree of anxiety attached to the coming flight. Nonetheless, arriving at the main gate of The […]

Lookingback, we waited far longer than wise to decide to equip our heads with active-noise-reduction headsets; even with a significant amount of sound insulationinstalled in our classic Piper Comanche, the physical impact of segments lastingthree and four hours usually left us tired beyond necessity. Money – actuallythe shortage of it, as is usually our case […]

“Life insurance.” These are two words almost guaranteed to glaze the eyes of even the most attentive pilot and cause many others to look for a way — any way — to quickly change the subject to something more stimulating — like wall paint or 8-track tape players. They conjure up, in my mind anyway, […]