Dave Parsons, one of our readers, wrote to compliment the aviation weather web site review in the May 2008 issue of KITPLANES. We left out his “personal favorite” so I thought I’d go check it out. Runway Finder is worth a look. Instead of being just another map, this is the entire USA displayed as [...]

That Lycoming IO-540 on our nascent Van’s RV-10 is about 10 minutes old now, and still a sweetheart. Each engine start tested another function, checking the mags, the propeller, calibrating the rpm, and adjusting the mixture control. The Airflow Performance Experimental fuel injection system seems a little rough, but overall acceptable during the idle runs, [...]

We have received a note from Superior Air Parts saying, in effect, pay no attention to the troubles with Thielert Aircraft Engines, which has filed for insolvency in the aftermath of falling share prices. Company founder Frank Thielert and the firm’s CEO were ousted earlier this month amid allegations of illegal accounting practices. Speculation was [...]

Airshows and fly-ins–I love ‘em. People who love aircraft, live, breathe, eat, sleep and dream about aircraft, indoctrinate their children, even their helpless pets into the world of aviation, all gathering together to honor, ogle at, and argue about the performance of all man-made objects that fly. It’s fun. If you are like me, a [...]

Cobham’s Avionics and Surveillance Division announced today that it was going to merge operations of its two subsidiaries, Chelton Flight Systems and S-TEC, at the latter’s Mineral Wells, Texas, facility. According to a press release just received, “The capabilites of CFS and S-TEC are highly complementary, with products from both businesses certified together on more [...]

I mentioned that the FAA had announced at Sun ‘n Fun that it would not re-evaluate kits that are currently on the approved list. Here is the official word from the agency. The FAA said that it “recently concluded that a temporary suspension of kit evaluations is necessary because existing policy and guidance used to [...]

We had the opportunity to field a few podcasts from Sun ‘n Fun this year, hosted on our sister site, Avweb. Here are links to those interviews. Seeing through clouds is the coming technology, but it comes with a price. Grand Rapids’ Todd Stehouwer talks about the technological challenges of implementing synthetic vision in an [...]

Invariably, someone always asks me the same question as I come dragging home: Was it worth it? We all come away from Sun ‘n Fun with something, beyond the bag of dirty clothes, a little sunburn, a bit of dehydration, and a case of fatigue. Throw in some jet lag and a much lighter wallet, [...]