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.

It is buried below the oil filter and the fuel pump drive. At the lowest point of the back of the engine, and oil sump. You will need a mirror to find it.

Those old ACK ELT's are troublesome. The boards suffer from weak solder joints, and the G switches are temperamental. Definitely don't buy their slide-in 406 mhz ELT-04 replacement. They are just as bad. Bite the bullet and get an Artex ELT345.

If you restrict the air coming into the turbo due to a poor filter, the turbo has to work harder to produce the MP you want. So it spins faster, makes hotter air, and wears out quicker. Comparing a cellulose media filter to the others: a Brackett filter will generally cost you 1" MP when new. A K&N costs about a half inch.

https://aviationconsumer.com/maintenance/engine-air-filters-dry-pleats-or-oiled/ Donaldson also published their study on filter media, it is in their product support library. And they can make any type filtration a customer wants. Cellulose media, foam, inertial, and even oil bath. Unlike K&N, who only makes oiled cotton gauze filters, and Brackett, who only makes oiled foam filters.

Bracket filters are oiled foam. They are restrictive, and don't filter as well as a cellulose media filter. (What some refer to as a "paper filter", but cellulose media replaced paper decades ago.) There are plenty of studies on filter airflow comparisons. Cellulose media is best, oiled gauze is second, and oiled foam is last. As a bonus, cellulose media not only flows best, but filters best too.

They need to drain the system and weigh the aircraft empty. This arrangement is hard enough to fuel, there is no way they can be certain how much fuel is "full fuel". Drain it.

Many airports have wait lists full of people who don't own planes, who have moved away, or are otherwise never going to take a hangar. But they clog things up for the rest of us. A proper hangar wait list should require: proof of aircraft ownership, or a contract to buy one; current residency within a one hour drive, and a $500 refundable deposit.

Camguard is not an issue with starter adapters. It is not a friction modifier, like the anti-scuff additive in Aeroshell W100 Plus or 15w50 is.

cracking and corrosion are big problems with spinners. That's why fiber or nylon washers are used. To allow some relative movement and relieve stress. And to insulate the aluminum from the stainless steel, to prevent corrosion. While stainless itself doesn't corrode, it is always electrically active. When placed against bare aluminum, and exposed to water, it will form a corrosion cell. Nylon washers should be used under all stainless fasteners, or the screws should be installed using wet paint or primer. The same goes for carbon fiber spinners. They have to be isolated from bare aluminum and stainless steel.

the type of oil used is irrelevant when it comes to sticking exhaust valves. Lead sludge is the culprit, in combination with a valve to guide clearance that was set at the tight end of the range during overhaul. Cleaning the guides is the remedy. Going forward, you can use Camguard or Avblend to help keep lead sludge from forming on the stems. Camguard with Phillips XC20W50 is preferred for turbocharged engines since it helps the manifold pressure regulation circuit work better throughout the temperature range. Single weight oils promote controller overshoots until fully warmed up.