Flying March 2023

HAWAI‘I IS KNOWN for its exotic scenery, especially the volcanos. During the recent eruption of Mauna Loa, the Hawai‘i Wing of the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) helped the U.S. Geological Survey scientists keep track of the lava flows. The volcano, located on the Big Island of Hawai‘i, erupted on November 28 and pumped out lava through mid-December. A temporary flight restriction was put in place, and some of the only aircraft permitted within the TFR were those flown by the Civil Air Patrol. The flights carried volcanologists and CAP photographers over the Mauna Loa summit and Northeast Rift Zone. The USGS monitors lava flows with regard to possible danger to downslope communities. The pilots generally fly in Cessna 172s and 182s to conduct the missions. Images collected assist the USGS…

AS WE HOVERED into a landing on a sandbar in the Willamette River surrounded by Oregon’s wine country, I felt a lot of memories swirl up within our downwash. I first reported on the avionics development coming out of Salem in 2002, when UPS Aviation Technologies (UPSAT for short) worked on the project that would lead to ADS-B and the first WAAS-capable GPS unit. In Spring 2003, UPSAT announced its GPS/nav/com, the CNX80. It promised to be a powerful tool, bringing unprecedented capability to light GA airplanes—the MX20 multifunction display already provided a synthesized visual presentation of information, and the CNX80 worked like a flight management system in miniature. Yes, the CNX80 was projected to be the “Garmin Killer,” which would challenge the market supremacy of the GNS 430 and…

WELCOME TO ISSUE #935. We continue to broaden the scope of the print edition of FLYING to cover topics that interest the pilot community. In this issue, FLYING’s rotorcraft coverage takes shape, soaring into the world of helicopters. In future issues of FLYING, we’ll add coverage of the flight simulator world, focusing on adventures to be found and the pleasure of the flight sim environment. This should be fun and appeal to audience members who think of the aviation world beyond a traditional cockpit. We also plan to expand FLYING to cover more affordable aircraft, with deeper takes on the light sport and experimental categories. A lot of subscribers have inquired about our financial state. When I purchased FLYING in July 2021, the magazine was struggling—breaking even, but barely—and the…

AMONG THE GREAT moments in life, I’m certain many of you would say that buying your first airplane ranks pretty high. I haven’t had the experience yet, but I have multiple spreadsheets mapping out monthly and annual budgets for the models I have on my pre-pandemic realistic wish list. At the moment, they serve as a regretful reminder of how much I wish I had bought an airplane before the training industry took off, and oddly enough, the impact of the pandemic and other market factors drove up valuations for pre-owned aircraft, in some cases beyond the price of new models of the same type. When has this ever been a thing? In addition to determining how much airplane one can afford, finding the airplane that fits within your operational…

OMG, Insurance! I just read Dick Karl’s article about the realities of the insurance situation for older pilots (Issue 934), and sadly, I think a lot of pilots will be getting the same feedback as they face aging headwinds. I too have over 3,000 hours in type in my Beech V35B TC (factory upgrade) and am a Wright Brothers Master Pilot award holder. I have also been with the same [insurance] broker for 20-plus years. They gave me a heads up last year that I may need a copilot to fly along, no matter how current I am—and IFR current as well. It seemed to make no difference. I called them a month ago to get an update, as I was considering some upgrades, and they said they had no…

The forward projections are balances. Actually, lots of airplanes have them, Beechcraft Bonanzas and Cirruses, for example, but they don’t all look the same. Airplanes use two types of control-surface balance: aerodynamic and mass. Aerodynamic balance means putting some of the surface area ahead of the hinge axis to reduce control forces for the pilot. The faster the airplane, the greater the need for this type of balance. Mass balance provides protection against flutter. By itself, a control like an aileron is tail-heavy. When the wing gets a jolt from below and flexes upward, an unbalanced aileron tends to deflect downward, increasing lift on that part of the wing and exaggerating the flexure. Mass balance often takes the form of a projecting “horn” that puts a chunk of lead well…