by Mike Busch | Oct 1, 2020 | AOPA Pilot Magazine, Magazine Articles
There’s a lot more to piston aircraft engine oil than you might think Friction and wear are caused by fracturing of “micro-welds” between moving surfaces. When it comes to piston aircraft engines, the role of engine oil is complicated. It lubricates moving parts to...
by Joe Godfrey | Sep 19, 2020 | SavvyAnalysis Puzzlers
I’ll go out on a limb and say that priming the engine is not a precise science. Every POH has instructions, but experience often suggests that some engines like a little more and some a little less. What happens to the excess fuel if the pilot over-primes?...
by Mike Busch | Sep 1, 2020 | AOPA Pilot Magazine, Magazine Articles
What if your airplane breaks and there’s no one to fix it? Being a dyed-in-the-wool technology freak, I drive a Tesla Model 3. It has been a superbly reliable vehicle that doesn’t require maintenance very often. When I take my Tesla to the dealership for maintenance,...
by Joe Godfrey | Aug 14, 2020 | SavvyAnalysis Puzzlers
Thanks to the virus, I think we’re all logging more flight simulator time lately. I was talking with a game-designer friend about sims and haptics. To save some of you running to the dictionary, haptics are kinesthetic cues given by electronic devices. Like when...
by Mike Busch | Aug 1, 2020 | AOPA Pilot Magazine, Magazine Articles
Why it’s no substitute for a proper independent prebuy. Shortly after the student pilot buyer and his CFI ferried the Warrior from Texas to California, the buyer’s mechanic found nearly a half-teaspoon of ferrous metal in the Lycoming’s suction screen and oil filter....
