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For newcomers…

I share in an informal “tool co-op” with a friend. We moved into the EGO ecosystem and it’s really nice for most things. We have their chainsaw, weedeater and blower so far. Also a Ryobi pole saw. Wonderful for many tasks, not worrying about whether a certain tool will start or not. If I’m...

Another Cirrus pilot posted this as an addendum to an article I wrote about where to look on landings: Not doubting that some pilots may be successful focusing on the far end of the runway, but as midlifeflyer reiterated, many modern planes literally force you to look elsewhere towards the...

It’s my well reasoned opinion that it’s quite stupid to paint or wrap a civilian car or plane in a camo design.

Checking the brakes is on the very short pre-landing checklist on my Sky Arrow, along with boost pump on and seat belts fastened. The idea is that if one of the brakes has no pressure, you can seek out a long, wide runway if your home base or destination has a short and/or narrow runway. At...

Yes, many modern Light Sports have chosen free castoring nose gear. The Skycatcher was a clean sheet design, and the Pipersport was a rebadged Czech Light Sport. I was thinking more of the legacy aircraft, the vast majority having steerable nose gear. Pretty sure the Columbia/Cessna 400’s were...

The yoke made zero sense in prior Teslas, where going “hand-over-hand”, like you do when maneuvering a wheel in low speed maneuvers, is clumsy at best. It was always my opinion that a yoke only makes sense in a car with variable ratio steering that negates the need for hand-over-hand...

Not doubting you, but which Cessnas and Pipers have free castoring nosewheels? Most of the most common ones certainly don’t.

Also Grummans. And Columbias. And my Sky Arrow. And no doubt others. It’s a design choice with pros and cons. As far as taxi speed, a little extra allows the rudder to do most of the work.

“When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!”

Coincidentally, stumbled upon this National Geographic piece on Apple News:

A neighbor at my airstrip bought a Zenith CH750 STOL. The first thing he did was fly directly to Viking headquarters in Edgewood, FL and had them pull the installed O-200 and replace it with a Honda-based Viking engine. I’m not an engineer, but superficially the quality of the parts and...

Seen at an Iron Butt competition:

One more photo. These were taken in January 2003 Putting the two together, looks like N4268B.

Taken from the right seat in a “full stall” landing in a Cirrus: If I see a student having inconsistent landings, I try to check out where they’re looking. If they’re craning their necks to try to see over the nose as it comes up and blocks their view, I think I’ve found the root of their...

I recall seeing a Bonanza in a shop, I think at N Perry in Hollywood, FL. It had allegedly encountered some light turbulence while inbound. From the interior shot you can see the skin starting to tear. Not sure how close it was to failing, but it looked scary and made an impression on me.

On a Scott 3200, these little guys were a pain and broke with some regularity

Part of the Citabria preflight was to check the distance between the tailwheel and the bottom of the rudder. I recall that less than one “hand’s width” was when spring replacement started to become prudent.

1) When you gently roll on the tailwheel first, there’s precious little weight on it and no undue stress. Then again, if dropped in after misjudging height, yes it can put a lot of weight on the tailwheel. DAMHIK. Then again, tailwheel springs were relatively cheap for a Citabria - don’t know if...

Not to be argumentative, or to derail, but… In my Citabrias, I could often roll on the tailwheel slightly first, conditions permitting. Then, as the stick came back the final few inches to the stop, the mains would drop maybe 6” to a foot. So, it seemed like any further increase in angle of...