philiplane

In South Florida, it's due to monopolistic practices. The main player sets rental rates based on "market rates", which is laughable, They ARE the market. And for $1450 a month, up from $900 just four months ago, you get a 50 year old rusty metal box with roof leaks, no insulation, substandard electrical, rolling doors that fall off the tracks, and more. Oddly, there are brand new Cat 3 hurricane rated hangars that rent for less money nearby. But that airport is one of the few that doesn't have the big players running things. The game plan is to jack prices to drive out the little guys, and then claim there's no demand for tee hangars. Then they demolish them, and put up large jet hangars. The cities are all onboard with this, because they get a cut of the fuel sales. And they'll sell a lot more fuel to a Global Express than to a Mooney M20C. And after the crazy rate increases, there is more turn over, and more empty hangars. Many tenants are still at the airports, but they've out on the ramp now. So it's not really true supply and demand. It's extortion, using our tax dollar supported airports against us.

The ACK ELT-04 has a history of self-activation in flight. They are junk. They inherited the faulty G switches from the previous ELT-01 design. Zero stars, not recommended. I have six in the scrap pile so far. And another one to join it soon, as ACK has been unable to fix it after three tries. The best option is the Artex ELT 345. The battery lasts one year longer than the competition, saving you money. It's a solid piece of engineering too.

that looks more like a go cart tube, than an aircraft tire tube

Remember when we used to fly, to simply get away from the world for a little while?

To give credit where credit is due, Europeans have made GA expensive, and mostly unaccessible, due to the policies they voted for. Rally your countrymen to fix it, rather than blaming the FAA (which is like a European bureaucracy) for the slow fuel transition process. We've managed to keep fuel prices reasonable, airports open and accessible, and overall operational costs manageable through constant political action. We do know how bad it is on the other side of the Atlantic, and we know how it got that way. It's what drives us to maintain our freedom to fly.

$65k is a good number to plan on. If your exhaust is totally trashed, it will cost another $5K or so.

It's recommended to balance a prop (and the engine too, by default) at the commonly used cruise RPM. Only because that is where the engine spends most of its time. Whether that is 2400 or 2500 rpm, makes little difference.

there are two of them on the Tecnam P2012 twin that was purpose built for Cape Air, to replace their aging Cessna 402's.

ASTM doesn't "test" anything. ASTM simply reviews the reports submitted by the organization seeking an ASTM rubber stamp. If they determine that the submission checks all the boxes it said it would check, you get the rubber stamp.

25 hours to patch a baffle, clean the oil separator, generate a landing light 337, chafe protect a baffle, replace four exhaust gaskets, change an ELT battery, lap a valve, remove a bird nest, clean and paint some of the crankcase, and change a nav lamp bulb....everything else is part of the annual. It's about double what I'd expect, to fix those squawks.

rubber products in general have a five year shelf life, provided they are stored in a cool, dry location. Away from electric motors (which produce ozone) and away from sunlight too.

I'm also not a fan of Slick mags, but they certainly do have parts and maintenance manuals, and they have had them since their introduction more than 60 years ago. https://www.championaerospace.com/pdfs/techdocs/F1100/L-1363J_corrected 20210420.pdf

How does "cost to repair, plus salvage value", get written into the insurance contract? Cost to repair is within the control of the owner, the agreed-upon value is within the control of the owner, but salvage value is like lobster. The price of the day. It seems like an invitation to a lawsuit over that value by the aircraft owner in the event of a large claim.

Avemco totals a plane when the repair costs exceed 70 percent of the agreed hull value in the policy. All others total at the 80 percent mark as far as I know. That's why it's important to calculate a gear-up repair cost for your specific airplane, and make sure your hull value is 40 percent above, that if you want to keep the plane.

there is no reason to pay the premium for a new engine versus a rebuilt. All the parts that really matter, the cylinders and camshaft, and all accessories, are new in both versions.