How Important is Your First Airplane?
After passing your first 100 hours of flying within a year, you might want to ask this question to yourself: Am I ready for my first plane? Aside from passing 100 hours of flying, another rule of thumb when buying your first plane is that you must be prepared for the responsibilities that come with it, such as regular training and certifications, inspection and maintenance of the aircraft, and above all, financial obligations that include repairs, fuel cost, insurance, storage fees, to name a few. Private Pilot Planes and Trainers George C. Larson, former editor of Air & Space and licensed ...
Why Should You Join a Flying Club?
One great advantage to joining a flying club is getting more flying time without breaking the bank. Flying clubs are nonprofit organizations that give its members many perks and benefits. Both pilots and aircraft owners are encouraged to find and join flying clubs because they help you save money by lessening the cost of maintenance of your aircraft and offer hourly flying rates. Not only that, but you will also get to try different types of aircraft so you can further improve your skills as a pilot. Lastly, this will also be your chance to connect with other pilots as ...
All About Aircraft Magnetos
What are aircraft magnetos? A magneto is a self-contained electrical generator that uses permanent magnets to produce a high voltage, alternating current. Magnetos are used to provide pulses of electricity that are high enough to fire engine spark plugs. They don’t need any external electrical source to function, so they are widely used in small engines like chainsaws and lawnmowers that don’t have an electrical supply. However, they are also used in aircraft with piston engines despite usually having an electrical supply because of their reliability. An aircraft magneto has a permanent magnet on a rotor ...
Is Flying a Light Aircraft Easier Than Driving a Car?
With all the high-tech stuff big airplanes have, like autopilot and autothrottle systems, you might be thinking that flying couldn’t be that hard. Well, there may be some truth to that, but saying that it is easy discredits all the training pilots had to go through to properly fly a plane and bring it back safely to the ground consistently. In reality, there’s much more to flying than you may think. Steering: Flying vs Driving First, if by flying, you mean just being already in the air and steering the plane, it’s probably easier. Almost all ...
Emerging technologies that may transform the aviation industry in 2021
To cope with the pandemic's damage to the aviation industry, new technologies that aim to improve passenger security and confidence are currently under study and development. The whole aviation industry would probably want to forget 2020. It was the worst year in aviation history, according to the IATA. The overall volume of passengers and number of flights dropped so much that it would take years before the industry fully recovered from the hit. Of course, the problem was the pandemic caused by COVID-19. Government-imposed travel bans and lockdowns prevented people from going anywhere. However, even as the regulations became less strict, ...