The dream of touring in a turboprop of one’s own is not so far-fetched as it may seem. Words Colin Goodwin and photos Philip Whiteman.
Continue reading Flight test with the PT6A-42A Powered Piper Meridian
Category Archives: Flying
The Feeling Of Flying Radials
For private pilots and aircraft owners, the motivation behind this pursuit can be personal, but it can also be practical. Along with a love of aeronautics, pilots are also in tune with engine performance, as this does impact the overall experience. For owners of small commercial fleets, a focus on safety and efficient performance can often be the deciding factor in terms of what type of aircraft and what type of engine will provide the strongest asset.
Continue reading The Feeling Of Flying RadialsThe PT6A-50 Powered De Havilland Canada DASH-7
During the 1950s and 1960s, the aircraft manufacturer De Havilland Canada (DHC) acquired extensive experience in the construction of small and medium capacity transports with short takeoff & landing (STOL) capabilities, such as the “Otter”, “Twin Otter”, “Caribou”, and “Buffalo”. In the early 1970s, DHC decided to create a four-engine turboprop medium STOL airliner, which emerged as the “DHC-7” AKA “DASH-7”. The DASH-7 was only built in modest numbers, though it did prove useful as a military surveillance platform. DHC followed it with a twin-turboprop airliner, the “DHC-8” AKA “DASH-8”, which proved much more successful. This document provides a history and description of the DASH-7 and DASH-8.
DASH-7
Continue reading The PT6A-50 Powered De Havilland Canada DASH-7The Douglas DC-3: 85 Years and Going Strong
The Douglas DC-3 Doesn’t Know the Meaning of the Word “Quit”
The same year the German airship Hindenburg crossed the Atlantic, the still-flying-today Douglas DC-3 was introduced to the world. The DC-3 is widely viewed as one of the most significant transport aircraft in history, due to its massive and long-lasting impact on the airline industry, and aerospace engineering. I got the chance to interview Ric Hallquist, the retired Chief DC-3 Pilot for Missionary Flights International who flew and worked on the beefy twin engine transport plane for over 30 years.
Continue reading The Douglas DC-3: 85 Years and Going StrongThe History & Story of the R-985 Powered Boeing PT-17 Stearman
Climbing over the narrow, wing-root walkway and stepping on to the cushioned seat of the tandem, two-place, blue and yellow fabric-covered open-cockpit Boeing PT-17 Stearman registered N55171 in Stow, Massachusetts, I lowered myself into position with the aid of the two upper wing trailing edge hand grips and fastened the olive-green waist and shoulder harnesses. Donning era-prerequisite goggles and helmet, I surveyed the fully duplicated instrumentation before me and prepared myself both for an aerial sightseeing fight of Massachusetts and a brief, although temporary, return to World War II primary flight training skies.
Continue reading The History & Story of the R-985 Powered Boeing PT-17 StearmanA Brief History & Look at the Grumman G-164 Ag-Cat
The Ag-Cat is a standout amongst the best reason composed horticultural airship yet assembled and has been in practically constant creation since 1959.
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Flying the PT6A-42A Powered Piper M600
A clean-sheet wing, more power, touchscreen avionics and stylish interior enhancements lift Piper’s latest incarnation of the classic PA-46 to new heights.
The History of the P&W R-1340 Powered T-6 Texan
The North American Aviation T-6 Texan two-place advanced trainer was the classroom for most of the Allied pilots who flew in World War II. Called the SNJ by the Navy and the Harvard by the British Royal Air Force, the advanced trainer AT-6 was designed as a transition trainer between basic trainers and first-line tactical aircraft. It was redesignated T-6 in 1948.
Continue reading The History of the P&W R-1340 Powered T-6 TexanPT6A-67P Powered Pilatus PC-12 NG: The Survivor that Keeps Adapting
When the Pilatus PC-12 first landed on the scene back in 1989, expectations were fairly modest. Earmarked for sales in the 200 region, nobody would have been surprised if the PC-12 had come in, served its purpose, and been resigned to history along with a plethora of similar aircraft.
But this was not to be the case.
Continue reading PT6A-67P Powered Pilatus PC-12 NG: The Survivor that Keeps Adapting
Piper’s Impressive PT6A Powered Cheyenne III
When Piper Aircraft announced its plans to build a big-cabin turboprop in late 1977, time was of the essence – only, we didn’t know it. It took another three years to get the airplane certificated, during which time the robust state of the general aviation manufacturing economy had begun to unravel. The Cheyenne III’s main competition, the Beech Super King Air 200, introduced in 1974, had an established head start, and industry sales volume was no longer the rising road to riches during the 1980s that it had been in the 1970s.
Continue reading Piper’s Impressive PT6A Powered Cheyenne III