Tag Archives: owning

Adding an autopilot

Posted on July 27, 2011 by David Megginson

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 →

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Hiatus and Return

Posted on April 10, 2011 by David Megginson

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 →

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My Top Five New Year's Flying Resolutions

Posted on December 31, 2008 by David Megginson

I’m late on this (sorry, other air-bloggers), but here goes … Expand my horizons. This year, I pushed my southern limit a bit by flying all the way south to Dulles Airport. My other extremes flying from Ottawa are Sault … Continue reading →

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Cost of owning a plane in 2007

Posted on April 7, 2008 by David Megginson

Here’s what it cost to own and operate a 1979 Piper Warrior II in Ottawa, Canada in 2007 with 80 hours air time (a bit more flight time, of course). Since the US and Canadian dollars are basically at par … Continue reading →

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The good, the bad, and the (plane) weird

Posted on April 29, 2007 by David Megginson

A bunch of us agreed to post on the same topic yesterday, writing about one good part of flying, one bad part, and one weird part (unfortunately, I’m running a day late). Here are some of the other blogs with … Continue reading →

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Assault by battery

Posted on March 9, 2007 by David Megginson

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 →

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Cheers and jeers

Posted on January 30, 2007 by David Megginson

Over the past couple of months, I had two exceptionally good experiences with aviation-related businesses, and one exceptionally bad one. As a service to my fellow owners, I’m going to name them all here. Cheer: Great Lakes Aero This company … Continue reading →

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Threats to general aviation

Posted on January 26, 2007 by David Megginson

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 →

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Winter Warrior wrangling

Posted on January 23, 2007 by David Megginson

My plane’s back on the line today. After doing some high-speed taxi checks to make sure nothing was leaking or running too hot or cold, I had to try to push the plane back into its spot through snow and … Continue reading →

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Simple, at last

Posted on December 12, 2006 by David Megginson

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 →

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