by Mike Busch | Jun 1, 2016 | AOPA Pilot Magazine, Magazine Articles
Aircraft parts are expensive, so we really should be repairing rather than replacing them whenever possible. When the co-owner of a 1976 Cessna 172M emailed me, she had just come from talking to her mechanic and was clearly in a state of sticker shock: “Where can I...
by Joe Godfrey | May 15, 2016 | SavvyAnalysis Puzzlers
Every flight is a series of decisions. Sometimes the decisions are easy — weather’s too bad, pilot’s not feeling good, airplane’s not ready or equipped for the trip. This month’s Puzzler is a series of three flights, each with its own...
by Mike Busch | May 1, 2016 | AOPA Pilot Magazine, Magazine Articles
What do you do if a mechanic working on your airplane tells you, “I can’t sign it off”? Dick is the maintenance officer of an 80-member flying club in northern New Jersey. The club operates several aircraft including a 2011 Cessna Skyhawk SP powered by a Lycoming...
by Joe Godfrey | Apr 15, 2016 | SavvyAnalysis Puzzlers
If you’ve been flying LOP in cruise for a while you might forget that not so very long ago operating piston engines LOP was, shall we say – frowned upon. POHs didn’t mention it, except to say don’t do it. Some of the resistance was dismantled...
by Mike Busch | Apr 1, 2016 | AOPA Pilot Magazine, Magazine Articles
The new crop of factory-built LSAs are impressive and exciting, but the maintenance regulations for them are…ah…different I recently returned from the U.S. Sport Aviation Expo in Sebring, Florida, the foremost aviation event devoted to light sport, homebuilt, and...
by Joe Godfrey | Mar 15, 2016 | SavvyAnalysis Puzzlers
What gets your attention when you’re flying? Obviously traffic, terrain and weather get your attention, but let’s narrow it down to events or trends in the engine data that would cause you to consider a precautionary landing. High CHT,...
by Mike Busch | Mar 1, 2016 | AOPA Pilot Magazine, Magazine Articles
FAA’s Engine & Propeller Directorate meets with GA to improve how ADs are dealt with. Early last December, I had the privilege of attending a two-day meeting at the offices of the FAA’s Engine & Propeller Directorate (EPD) in Burlington, Mass., about 30...
by Joe Godfrey | Feb 15, 2016 | SavvyAnalysis Puzzlers
I saw the phrase “fueling speculation” in a political context this week and wondered how those two words became attached in our lexicon. Why didn’t “provoking” or “prompting” or “eliciting” catch on the way...
by Mike Busch | Feb 1, 2016 | AOPA Pilot Magazine, Magazine Articles
Maintenance decisions need to be fact- and evidence-based. The current owner of the vintage J-model Bonanza emailed me for advice. He’d purchased the airplane just four months earlier with a fresh annual inspection, and was already stressing out about what to do about...
by Joe Godfrey | Jan 15, 2016 | SavvyAnalysis Puzzlers
The 14th century friar William of Ockham would probably cringe to know that his lofty and articulate principle “Non sunt multiplicanda entia sine necessitate” has been boiled down to “Keep it Simple.” The Latin translates to...
