The End of the Carburetor?
On November 1, 2007, Precision Airmotive, supplier of carburetors for Lycoming, Continental and Franklin aircraft engines, announced that it has discontinued manufacture and sales of all new float carburetors and components. This decision comes as a result of the company's inability to obtain product liability insurance for the product line. …
Glasair Aviations Two Weeks-To-Taxi Program Expands to Include Vans RV-7 and...
Growing from a program centered on Glasair Aviations Sportsman 2+2, a new subsidiary company, Two Weeks To Taxi, LLC, has been formed to continue the Sportsman program but has also added the Vans RV-7 two-place and RV-10 four-place aircraft. As with the Sportsman program, builders will work in the firms Arlington, Washington, factory alongside trained technicians who will be working from a strictly controlled build plan in order to bring the airplane to a taxi-test-ready state in two weeks. The program is slated to begin in the first quarter of 2008.
Free Access to Online Content for Subscribers
Effective immediately, subscribers to the print edition of KITPLANES magazine will have free access to all of the editorial content on kitplanes.com. This means...
NASA PAV Challenge Still Open
Its not too late for manufacturers to enter the CAF Foundation NASA Personal Air Vehicle (PAV) Challenge. The CAF Foundation has just learned that three of the teams entered in the 2007 event have dropped out of the competition for Light Sport Aircraft, so three slots are available. The prize is $250,000. …
When It Rains It Pours — Five New Bearhawks Fly in...
Some designs take years to gestate, gain popularity and reach a point where completions spike upward. One such spike just occurred to the AviPro...
Update: The IFR-Legal GPS Saga Continues, May End Soon
According to the Aircraft Electronics Association and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, the Federal Aviation Administrations Advisory Circular (90-100A), released in March, seemed to say that except for specified GPS units, some 26,000 other IFR-approved GPSes were no long eligible to be used in lieu of ADF and DME equipment. That now appears to be a tempest in a teapot. According to a statement by the AEA, the core issue was that wording…
Is Your GPS IFR Legal? Revised Advisory Circular creates misunderstandings about...
The Federal Aviation Administration released an updated Advisory Circular (90-100A) in March that muddies the waters for pilots using IFR-approved GPS receivers in lieu of ADF and DME equipment for instrument approaches and en route fixes. In addition to being legal for non-precision approaches and, more recently with WAAS approval, precision approaches, modern IFR GPSes can be used to identify navigational fixes previously defined by NDBs and DME points. According to the…
Sun N Fun News: Saturday Products
CO Guardian Aero 553 Have a dead clock in your panel? Heres a great replacement that features many other functions and enhances flight safety as well with sensitive carbon monoxide (CO) detection. The Aero-553 from CO Guardian not only tells local and Zulu time (including stopwatch and flight timer), but also monitors buss voltage, internal and external temperatures, density altitude, and cabin pressure. However, its most dedicated feature is as a CO monitor that…
Sun N Fun News: One Of Our Own Debuts
Contributing Editor Rick Lindstroms Zodiac 601XL made its show debut at Sun N Fun this year. It represents the first of the new quickbuild kits from Zenith Aircraft to be completed. This 601 is powered by a William Wynne-modified Corvair engine driving a Sensenich wood prop. Lindstrom says his 601 cruises at 105 knots while burning under 6 gph. Follow the story of Lindstroms project beginning in the June issue of KITPLANES.…
Sun N Fun News: Friday Products
The Zaon Flight Systems signage advertises that its XRX traffic collision system plays well with others. The monochrome LCD display of the XRX comes to life when interfaced with third-party systems such as the Garmin 396/496, AnywhereMap, VistaNav, TrueFlight, among others. Pre-396 Garmins wont work because of their inability to process the Mode S TIS data, but Zaon notes the interface will work on the 396 and newer. The XRX unit retails for…
In Case You Missed It
Flying in the Ford World
Sage philosopher and aviation nut Uncle Ishmael explains how, for about the price of a 4-year-old Ford pickup truck, you can own a serviceable homebuilt aircraft. Youll probably have to forgo anything certified, and hone your scrounging skills, but when all is said and done, isn't getting up in the air flying better than sitting on the ground dreaming?
Fixed Pitch vs. Constant Speed
Deciding to use a fixed-pitch propeller or step up to the higher weight, cost, and complexity of a constant-speed prop in order to improve performance.