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I've done this in my Cherokee before. Caught it very quickly, but it's got to be a super common mistake when the switches are similar like in my plane. And I bet it's more likely to happen when you're under pressure, right when comms can be most important. That's something to think about.

I just bought a Cherokee 180 a few months ago, so I'm not exactly seasoned at this ownership thing :) I can tell you that I wouldn't buy a plane until I'd saved up cash for the purchase as well as a maintenance reserve. You may not like hearing that, but you'll be better off for it. You want...

One of my favorite things about being a pilot has been giving first flights to kids (and a few parents) who've never flown in an airplane before. I've been fortunate to do that several times already, probably because I live in an area where lots of folks can't afford to travel by air. Small...

If I see another pilot in the FBO, or even just one of the guys working out on the ramp, I'll ask them about where folks usually do their runup. Seems like every airport is different. You can always ask the ground controllers, too. But basically, ask somebody, watch your prop blast and try to be...

I'm still a low-time VFR pilot (215 hours) ... so take this for what it's worth. Until recently, I was just like you. Even a hint of rain in the forecast, and I'd be canceling flights. I'd look at the seven-day forecast and see a 40% chance of thunderstorms one day and think, "Well, guess I...

Not usually. Most Super Mice have one door like the regular Musketeer. The Sundowner has two doors. When I was shopping, I did notice this two-door Super Mouse for sale in Arkansas, but the asking price was closer to $50k. They're apparently pretty rare...

Archers go faster, carry more load and (arguably) look way better. A better comparison to Musketeer/Sundowner would be a Cherokee 140/Warrior. Those can be found in the $30k range. I know of a 200-hp Super Museketeer for $35k if you're interested. That model has book numbers more comparable to...

Having just bought my first plane, I saw plenty of crazy antics from sellers, too. About 70% of them seemed honest and interested in actually selling the plane. About 30% of them were just bizarre. One guy in the northeast was annoyed that I was even asking questions about his Archer, like he...

I've flown VFR on top a few times and don't see anything unsafe about it. The times I've done it the ceiling has been broken, with at least a few little patches of ground peeking through below me. That makes me comfortable that if the engine fails, I'll be able to remain semi-VFR or would...

I actually threw up on probably 12 of my first 15 flights as a student pilot. It was absolutely awful. And I can't believe how patient my instructor was. If I had a student who got that sick on every flight (sometimes pretty early in the flight), I'd probably tell 'em, "Maybe you're not cut out...

Houston Bravo is easy to get into. They've cleared me in every time without me even having to ask. I think it helps if you sound sharp on the radio, so practice those calls. Every time I plan to go near Bravo, it's simple. I plan to stay out of it (unless I need to go to the big Bravo airport...

I don't know if "freak out" is the right term to use, but I can think of three things: 1. I struggled with motion sickness BIG TIME as a student pilot. That's more about your body freaking out than your brain, but it still wrecked the end of my first dozen or so lessons. You just can't function...

As I understand it, the FAA test for instrument pilots just got overhauled. Since I'm about ready to start working on my IR, does it make sense to wait a bit for the test prep companies (King Schools et. al.) to update their materials for the new test before I buy? Or does it really matter? I...

No. It's got a cylinder temp gauge and a nice digital fuel meter, but my A&P says my first upgrade should be a real engine monitor with separate probes for EGT and CHT on all four cylinders.

The 530 has WAAS, too. :) I wanted a decent setup for IFR flying since I'll be doing my instrument training in this plane. It was really freakin' hard finding a bird in my price range that had those goodies (most looked like museums to 1970s avionics with ratted out Elvis-era velvet...

I posted it to the "Flying Friends" Facebook group and got a gazillion likes. :) Guess it's always fun when somebody new joins the airplane owners club.

So to avoid a ban, here are the pictures of my Cherokee 180.

This is a digital flip-flop radio. And after looking up images of it (King KX-155) I can read what's very faded on my box: "Pull 25K" Boy, I feel stupid! Operator error :) I'll try pulling the knob tomorrow morning.

So I just bought my first plane (YAY!!!!!!) and already want to upgrade it. My secondary nav/com radio is an ancient King box that apparently uses 50 khz spacing (e.g it can tune to 133.40 or 133.45, but not my home field's AWOS frequency of 133.425. I can't hear AWOS when turned to those other...

The book shows 124 kts cruise and 510 nm range. In the real world, I'd expect more like 115 kts cruise and 440 nm range.