COPA Migrations are fun and deliver valuable pilot information

Every year COPA’s Migration committee works hard to line up great speakers, special trade-shows, and social events. And, I attended this year’s M13 September 10 – 13, Deep In the Heart of Texas, at Addison Texas, which was another great gathering. Continue reading “COPA Migrations are fun and deliver valuable pilot information”

Battery 2, Cost of Ownership Cirrus SR22

We had the secondary battery (batt 2) on our Cirrus SR22-G3 replaced. The Batt 2  system, is located in the tail of the airplane. It’s actually two small sealed batteries connected in series.

Cirrus airplanes are dependent on a reliable electrical system for safety of flight, and they have multiple redundancies built-in.  Continue reading “Battery 2, Cost of Ownership Cirrus SR22”

Variable Direct Cost of Flying – A List

In a shared ownership it’s important to know your variable direct cost for flying an airplane, which includes more than fuel and oil. You’ll want to match variable expense with each member’s hourly usage, but fixed expenses would be shared equally between members regardless of hours flown.

Here’s a top ten list of variable direct cost that we reviewed over the past several weeks. The list is based on actual work orders from authorized service centers.

Continue reading “Variable Direct Cost of Flying – A List”

Ignition harness, Cost of Ownership Cirrus SR22

A typical normally aspirate piston engine plane running at sea level on take-off power may need 11,000 volts from the ignition harness to make a spark at the plug. That’s10 kv (10,000 volts) to break the spark plug gap and another 1 kv (1,000 volts) at the distributor gear (magnetos). Voltage in cruise is much less (~1,000 volts overall) Add-on engine heat and vibration which the ignition harness must also endure and some wear down with use is inevitable. Continue reading “Ignition harness, Cost of Ownership Cirrus SR22”