Tag Archives: maintenance
Adding an autopilot
Today I flew my plane home from Waterloo to Ottawa with a brand-new autopilot installed. I’ve flown over 850 hours, about 120 of them in actual instrument conditions, and all by hand. I’m proud that I can do that, but … Continue reading
Hiatus and Return
I took a six month break from flying — basically, work, a long wait for new fuel caps at my annual, and a family vacation in London (UK) got in the way. I also managed to prove the third rule … Continue reading
Dead airspeed indicator
The incident I flew through some light snow showers on my way to Kingston with my daughter this morning, so I turned on the pitot heat just before joining the circuit to make sure the pitot blade was clear. At … Continue reading
Tagged aviating, maintenance, tips, weather
6 Comments
Assault by battery
Recently, in the cold weather, my Warrior’s battery has barely managed one try starting the plane — any more, and it goes flat. Most recently, it happened after I’d just been flying 1.7 hours and tried to restart after a … Continue reading
Tagged maintenance, numbers, owning, tips
4 Comments
Threats to general aviation
According to AOPA, the biggest issue facing general aviation in the U.S. is the risk of user fees. I agree with Phil Boyer that user fees could hurt GA, especially if they are per use (as in Australia) rather than … Continue reading
Tagged canada-us, maintenance, news, owning, regulations, system
8 Comments
Simple, at last
It’s been four years, almost to the day, since I bought my 1979 Piper Warrior II, and it’s time for another annual inspection (I’ve moved it up from May to December to avoid missing good flying weather, so this is … Continue reading
Tagged maintenance, owning
Comments Off on Simple, at last
Man vs. machine
On most airplanes, you can trim the elevator by turning a wheel or crank that sets a tab — a flap on a flap — that then redirects the airflow to hold the elevator or stabilator at a certain angle … Continue reading
Tagged maintenance
3 Comments
Nav Canada approves new service charges
Nav Canada has decided to go ahead and charge small aircraft a daily fee of $10.00, starting in March 2008, for using any of Canada’s seven busiest airports (and the Vancouver harbour water aerodrome) — that’s on top of any … Continue reading
Tagged maintenance
7 Comments
Buying a first plane
Niss, who flies out of Barrie Airpark (CNA3), left this comment on my posting Should I buy or rent? (divide all prices by about 1.2 to get US dollars): I am looking to buy a share in an aircraft. Right … Continue reading
Tagged maintenance, owning
4 Comments
Partial panel and fixed gear
From aviation pundits with deadlines to meet and empty pages to fill, we hear a lot about the dangers of losing a vacuum pump (and consequently, attitude indicator and directional gyro) in IMC, and why IFR pilots need to (a) … Continue reading
Tagged aviating, maintenance
3 Comments
Land and Hold Short 