Jim Weir
Jim Weir is the chief avioniker at RST Engineering. He answers avionics questions in the Internet newsgroup www.pilotsofamerica.com–Maintenance. His technical advisor, Cyndi Weir, got her Masters degree in English and Journalism and keeps Jim on the straight and narrow. Check out their web site at www.rst-engr.com/kitplanes for previous articles and supplements.
Fourier Strikes Again
Ah, the email call for April 15, 2022, just arrived. Michael Zwijacz wrote to me:
“Hello Jim, I’ve been following you in KITPLANES® for many...
Shining a Light on History
Back in 2008, George W. Bush was president and 100LL was $2.50 a gallon. Production of 80/87 had stopped the previous year, and this...
Power, Scotty, I Gotta Have More Power
“I canna give ye more, Cap’n. The dilithium crystals are already overloaded.”
—Star Trek
This month’s article is more of a simple tutorial instead of a...
Round…and Around…We Go
Stay with me here. This is going to be a very interesting and somewhat difficult project. But worth the read, I guarantee.
No matter how...
What a Darling(ton) Noisemaker
Mostly we’d like our airplanes to be quiet. Somehow, “airplane” and “quiet” don’t belong in the same sentence. We’ve got roughly 5000 explosions per...
Can You Hear Me Now?
For those of you in aircraft with magnificent audio systems—stereo music and multi-input switching panels that have push-button selection of your half-dozen headphone inputs—this...
LED to a Landing
We have come a long way with light emitting diodes. They went from $200 a bulb in 1968 to 5 cents a bulb in...
This Is an EXCELlent Idea
For a long time after I bought my first airplane (N2014V, the Cessna 120 heavy), the problem of keeping the aircraft data (weight and...
QLF–Amateur Radio in Your Aircraft
To find the earliest recorded amateur radio in an aircraft, we have go back to 1912 when Lieutenant B.T. James (RAF) strapped a pair...
Airshow Antennas
We are headed into airshow calendar time. I don’t care if it is the granddaddy of them all (Oshkosh) or the usual four beat-up...
In Case You Missed It
What’s New
MGL Avionics announces its new XTreme EMS engine monitoring system, the RANS S-19 Venterra has joined the FAA’s official 51% eligibility list, and Wicks Aircraft Supply adds a new Dual XGPS150 universal Bluetooth Receiver to its product lineup.
Wind Tunnel
When unexpected drag is an issue, the cause could be gaps in the skin of your airplane. A simple seal might solve the problem.