by Mike Busch | Mar 1, 2023 | AOPA Pilot Magazine, Magazine Articles
Should you have to pay for work or parts that don’t fix the problem? “Mike, I have an ethical question for you: How should an aircraft owner determine fair compensation to a mechanic for parts and labor that were unnecessary?” The email was from a 1947 Piper PA-12...
by Mike Busch | Feb 1, 2023 | AOPA Pilot Magazine, Magazine Articles
How far does your IA have to go to verify that your aircraft is airworthy? The subject line of the email got my attention: “Annual gone wrong…please help!” The author—let’s call him Morrie—identified himself as a first-time airplane owner. “I have my Citabria in for...
by Mike Busch | Jan 18, 2023 | AOPA Pilot Magazine, Magazine Articles
Don’t use exhaust gas temperature as a leaning reference I respond to at least 100 queries from aircraft owners and pilots each week. At least a dozen of those are questions or requests for advice about leaning, and most of them relate to EGT. A few common ones: Q: My...
by Mike Busch | Dec 1, 2022 | AOPA Pilot Magazine, Magazine Articles
Situational awareness requires being aware of your aircraft’s systems, too. On Saturday, August 26, 2022, a young CFI took off from Monterey, California in a Cessna 172 on a “Discovery Flight.” His passengers were a young couple, with the man occupying the left front...
by Mike Busch | Nov 1, 2022 | AOPA Pilot Magazine, Magazine Articles
Using AI and deep learning to detect anomalous engine monitor data Nowadays more than half of the piston GA fleet is equipped with some sort of recording digital engine monitor. Older ones tend to be fairly primitive and record just EGTs and CHTs and not much else....
