Full Issue PDF

During a routine training flight, the right engine was intentionally shut down to demonstrate inflight restarts. After a normal shutdown and securing procedure, the engine master switch was switched back to on per the checklist. Usually, this drives the propeller out of feather, and the restart procedure is continued. Instead, the propeller did not unfeather, even after attempting several troubleshooting procedures. The flight returned safely on the left engine.

The anonymity many groups are seeking is at the aircraft level. For years, operators have been able to block their registration from appearing in the FAAs Aircraft Situation Display to Industry (ASDI) data stream, preventing the public from tracking the aircraft. Both the 978 UAT and 1090ES standards transmit registration in a non-encrypted 24-bit ICAO code specifically assigned to each aircraft.

Once again, the Experimental Aircraft Association in July pulled off another great AirVenture fly-in at its home in Oshkosh, Wis. This years event had a little of everything, including torrential rain the Friday evening before Mondays opening day, nighttime air shows and lots of airplanes of every shape, size and purpose. Perhaps because the pre-show rain knocked everyone off-kilter-followed by mid-week heat-the overall event seemed to need more cowbell, but it definitely was worthwhile checking out all the new stuff and checking in with long-time friends.

In fact, products designed for ADS-B have been available since shortly after the rules defining the standard and equipage date were made final. In fact, very early adopters of ADS-B Out might be getting to the end of their equipments life cycle, and once again find themselves in the hardware market. It shouldnt come as a surprise that they have more choices today, often with improved features and less expense, than 10 years ago. Thats a feature of competitive markets.

By the time you read this, Ill be getting my Debonair out of its annual inspection. Its been a lengthy one, in part because of some items I had deferred from previous inspections and in part because the airplane was new to the shop doing the work. Basically, I decided it was time to catch up on a few wear-and-tear items that pop up with any kind of machine, from a Roomba vacuum cleaner to a personal airplane.

According to the assumptions the FAA used in its forecasting, the U.S. economy is projected to grow during the period, but more slowly than any other region in the world. Real gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the U.S. for the 20-year period is forecast at 1.8 percent while worldwide GDP growth is estimated at 2.8 percent. Only Europe, Africa and the Middle East are projected to see similar GDP growth, estimated to be 1.9 percent. The Asia/Pacific region leads the pack, with 4.0 percent growth projected over the next 20 years.

Checking the weather for a short afternoon flight showed visibility of more than 10 sm and clear skies locally, with a barely moving front off to the west. The forecast showed nothing unusual, although clouds and limited visibility were expected to arrive with nightfall several hours after my anticipated landing time. The temperature/dew point spread was narrow, but around the Great Lakes, we often had high humidity content at lower altitudes as moisture blew in off the water. Seeing ground-level dewpoints only a few degrees away from temperatures wasnt concerning. Overall, the weather looked great for a local sightseeing flight in the late afternoon.

This issue likely will hit your mailbox just before the Sun n Fun International Fly-In Expo in Lakeland, Fla. The annual event informally kicks off each years air show season, and 2019 will be no different. If you plan to attend SnF or any other fly-in event (cough, EAA AirVenture, cough), youre not alone. In fact, thousands of your closest friends are planning the same thing, and well all want to arrive and depart at more less the same time.

The recent partial shutdown of the U.S. federal government had a far-reaching impact on aviation, thanks to its parent Department of Transportation (DOT) being one of the agencies lacking an enacted appropriations bill for the current fiscal year. Since related agencies are tacked onto DOT spending bills, the NTSB also closed for the duration, delaying ongoing investigations and postponing new ones. (Our monthly listing of preliminary accident reports might look a bit strange until the NTSB has caught up with the backlog.)

We spend a lot of time preaching to pilots about the mechanics of understanding weather forecasts, determining if the aircraft is capable, and making honest evaluations of our own performance in considering how and when to conduct a flight. But once we identify the need to mitigate a risk, we sometimes have little space left over to describe the tools we can use. Lets try to fix that.

Essentially, ADS-B already is considered mandatory for a traveling aircraft, and sellers marketing one without it must be prepared to settle for less than they could have received a year or so ago. This will be especially true for turbine-powered airplanes which operate more efficiently in Class A airspace. Some of them may simply be parked or sold overseas as their owners decide the ADS-B investment-which may not be the only major expense they face-isnt worth it.