FLYING Magazine

Airshow Arrivals: Ready for Some Impromptu Flying?

Pilots can make sure their skills are up to the task the same way they get to Carnegie Hall—practice.

Joseph "Jeb" Burnside
Verified
Edited By: davidcarr
One thing fly-in events like EAA AirVenture Oshkosh (above) have in common is their greater-than-usual numbers of pilots and aircraft. [Courtesy: Experimental Aircraft Association/Connor Madison'

It’s that time of year again in the Northern Hemisphere—finally—when many pilots set their sights on flying to fun places offering short sleeve weather.

One popular airshow arrival destination is always a local or regional fly-in, and literally thousands of pilots save up their nickels for the big, international events like EAA AirVenture Oshkosh (July 21-27). 

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I’ve flown into my share of these events over the years, with both good and bad experiences. The good include a “Nicely done!” from a Sun ’n Fun controller;E the bad involved an experimental amphib cutting through the arrival corridor at my altitude. At one local event on a nearby island’s grass strip, my passenger and I touched down, rolled out and parked smoothly, only to be greeted by some glum faces. Turns out there was a Cessna 172’s tail sticking out of some heavy brush toward the end of the runway. I don’t recall what happened, but the airplane wasn’t flying off the island that afternoon.

Procedures

One thing fly-in events have in common is their greater-than-usual numbers of pilots and aircraft. Another common characteristic is many of these aviators want to land or take off at roughly the same time. At best, that can mean a delay getting in or out. 

You don’t have to be an air traffic controller to figure out the worst.

The good news is there often are specific arrival and departure procedures designed to keep traffic flowing while maintaining separation, albeit perhaps not to the same standards you may be accustomed to. Each event’s procedures differ, but its sponsors typically put together some sort of guidance for pilots flying in and parking instructions.

Of course, the granddaddy of air show fly-in procedures is EAA AirVenture, where the 2024 documentation came to 31 pages. In general, the published arrival procedures at these fly-ins will have you self-sequencing into the flow of aircraft toward the airport. Controllers on the ground will try to manage things, but they often misidentify airplane types—it’s easy for one low-wing airplane to implement an instruction meant for another low-wing.

And although each procedure has a recommended altitude and airspeed, it’s rare that any of the pilots flying near you have logged any recent slow-flight practice. For example, it shouldn’t be that difficult to maintain 100 knots and 1,200 feet msl, but it is for many. Straight and level should be the easiest part of flying these arrivals.

Considerations

Understanding the arrival procedure is a very important part of a fly-in. But that’s in addition to the other stuff you need to think about as a pilot. What other stuff? Fuel for one and weather for another.

It’s not the least bit rare for the destination airport to close unexpectedly. When it does, it’s usually because someone forgot to put down their landing gear and is blocking the runway. What happens next is up to you, but the arrival flow will be directed into a VFR holding pattern. Major fly-ins will have guidance on where and how to enter VFR holding, which will differ by location, but generally will call for orbiting a visual checkpoint like a lake.

At the major events, airport operations will clear the runway as soon as possible consistent with emergency services’ requirements. It doesn’t do any good to ask on the frequency how much longer it will take. Another reason for the airport to close can be poor weather. When visibility or cloud cover drops enough to make things IFR, there’s little anyone can do about it. Although I’ve seen some airports adopt a generous visibility observation, you can’t count on it. The only good news in that situation is following the pilot in front of you always can be a good policy.

Both closure reasons are why we all should be at the initial fixes for these arrivals with plenty of fuel. If you’re arriving from a few hours away, it’s a good idea to stop an hour or so out to top off, freshen up, and get new weather information before relaunching on a final, much shorter leg.

EAA AirVenture
Multiple aircraft at EAA AirVenture in 2025 at Oshkosh, Wisconsin [Shutterstock | Thierry Weber]

Even if you have plenty of gas, the smart thing in a temporary airport closure situation may be to divert to a nearby runway to wait out the delay instead of circling a lake for an hour. Before you even take off is a good time to nail down your ideal divert airport, a decision that easily can be based on rental car availability alone.

Prepping and Practicing

If all the foregoing seems intimidating, it probably should. Flying into Sun ’n Fun or AirVenture isn’t something you should approach lightly. It goes without saying that the airplane should be in good shape but so should the pilot. How can we make sure our skills are up to the task? The same way we get to Carnegie Hall—practice.

But what to practice? Slow flight, for one. Historically, some newbies apparently can’t tell the difference between 60 knots and 90 knots on their airspeed indicator, but you’re better than that. (If you feel the need to grab an instructor for this, you’re doing it right.) They spend their time jockeying pitch and power but end up working too hard, with obvious excursions of both, leaving the planes behind them with little choice but to follow along.

Go out and find the pitch/power combination that results in your desired airspeed. Write. It. Down. Then maybe tape it to your instrument panel. You’ll probably find that an extra inch or 100 rpm is needed to compensate for the people and stuff you’re hauling in for the show, but that’s relatively easy. Your job is to know what settings give you the desired performance, and you have to have a place to start.

Low-speed handling is something else you need to practice. Remember that stall speed and angle of attack increase when banked and maintaining altitude, but both increases can be minimized when descending. A good way to practice this is to slow to your airshow approach speed on downwind and fly the traffic pattern at that speed until short final.

Another thing to practice is spot landings. Arrivals at Sun ’n Fun and AirVenture often are asked to land on or beyond certain runway features—the green dot painted on the runway, for example. For planning purposes, you may be expected to approach and land with other airplanes ahead of you or in-trail. For example, if you’re the first in a gaggle of three, you’ll be asked to land beyond a dot. The No. 2 airplane might be asked to land on the dot while Tail-end Charlie touches down on the numbers. If you’re No. 1 in the gaggle, keep it rolling—ATC likely will want you to exit the runway at the end.

Departing

I’ve focused on arriving at these airshows, but how you depart can be just as important. You want to follow any published procedures, which generally will have you flying the departure runway heading for a few miles at or below a certain altitude. Once clear of the show’s airport, you’re more or less free to turn on course and climb but, just as with arrivals, it’s likely there’s someone out there with the same plan as you. 

If you’re looking for an IFR clearance but don’t have an STMP reservation, you’ll need to motor down the road a bit before anyone will give you one. Of course, departing VFR isn’t an option when the airport goes IFR. The AirVenture notice doesn’t include information on special VFR operations—when weather goes down, nothing except an IFR clearance will get you out.

Other Shows

I’ve concentrated on AirVenture, since its procedures are the most detailed and the show is also popular. Other fly-ins aren’t nearly so complicated, mainly because they don’t have the same traffic levels. But the same caveats can apply, especially those suggestions involving slow flight and spot landings.

Finally, many smaller events can be at grass runways. Your airplane’s manufacturer may have specific recommendations when operating to or from soft fields, like using flaps for takeoff. Do your research, plan ahead, watch the weather, and get some practice. You’ll do fine.

This feature first appeared in the May Issue 958 of the FLYING print edition.

Joseph "Jeb" Burnside

Jeb Burnside has served as editor in chief of Aviation Safety magazine. He’s an airline transport pilot who owns a Beech Debonair, plus the expensive half of an Aeronca L-16B/7CCM Champ.
Training and Proficiency

Pilots Can’t Ignore Postflight Inspections

Protect the aircraft and prevent ‘mystery’ damage.

Meg Godlewski
Verified
Edited By: Travis Tingle
Because you don’t know what you don’t know, always err on the side of caution. A postflight inspection can go a long way.[Image: David Weaver/Adobe Stock]

“Is it supposed to look like this?” the pre-solo learner asked, pointing to the right wingtip of the Cessna 172. The wingtip light was askew, hanging by a wire and a piece of what looked like duct tape. Someone or something had whacked that wing tip hard. There was some paint transfer and a scrape on the underside of the wing. This first-flight-of-the-morning discovery turned into a lesson on what to do when you find damage to the airplane. 

The learner was very concerned that he would have to pay for the repair because he found the damage. That’s not how this works, I assured him, wondering out loud how many times the airplane had flown like that, and if another pilot had noticed the damage but not reported it for fear of being blamed and billed for it. 

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The event resulted in a new flight school policy: All renters shall perform a postflight inspection specifically to make sure the aircraft was not only tied down and locked up, but also damage free. Any damage shall be documented and reported to the staff.

Preventing Mystery Damage

Mystery damage is the bane of flight schools. It takes many forms. It is the crack that appears in the fairing on the wingtip. The tailguard knocked askew during a bad landing. Flat spots on the tires from excessive braking. Or they can be more severe, like a U-shaped crack in the back window caused by an unsecured tow bar during an unsanctioned zero-G maneuver. 

The damage often isn’t reported, as the low-time pilots don’t have the experience to know what is normal wear and tear and what is significant damage enough that it could potentially render the aircraft unairworthy or be a symptom of a bigger problem. When mystery damage is discovered, it often starts an investigation at the flight school.

The in-house investigations usually begin with a review of the dispatch book for the aircraft. The last pilot who flew it is questioned: “Did you notice [insert type of damage here]?” Some pilots can get very defensive, announcing loudly that they didn’t do it, therefore, they won’t be paying for the damage. But the truth be told, they really aren’t 100 percent sure if the damage was the result of their flight—because they didn’t do the postflight inspection. A postflight inspection takes just a few minutes and does wonders for your peace of mind. Let’s review some common scenarios.

Sloppy Securing Raises Questions

How many of you can relate to this: You head out to the rental aircraft and find it hasn’t been properly secured? The door is unlocked or the tail isn’t tied down, or the control lock is missing or the cowl cover is flapping free in the breeze because someone didn’t buckle it properly? When you find something askew with the aircraft, it can make you wonder what else the previous pilot skipped and why. 

Check the Numbers 

How many times have you had to go back out to the airplane to double-check the Hobbs or tach number because you forgot to get the information, or the numbers as put into the dispatch program didn’t make sense?  

Checking the Hobbs and tach against what is recorded in the dispatch book should be part of both the preflight and postflight inspection because if the Hobbs meter fails—and it does—you have to multiply the tach by 1.3 to get the billable time numbers. Pro tip: Write down the time of engine start and engine stop, or use a stopwatch to get accurate metrics. This technique is also used to determine fuel consumption, so practice is important.

Claim the Number

During the postflight check of the numbers, be ready to “claim” the next number if it is coming into view on the Hobbs meter. For example, if you can see the “8” starting to roll into the window, put down eight in the dispatch book. This is just good manners, because the next pilot will be paying for that tenth of an hour that you used as the eight will roll into the window likely at engine start. Failing to do this is the aviation version of putting an empty milk carton back in the fridge. 

Postflight Fuel Check

There are some flight schools that require a postflight fuel level check and a recording of it in the dispatch book. There may be an agreed upon minimum fuel such as 16 gallons, or the rule may be that each CFI checks the level prior to the learner arriving for their lesson and then arranges for refueling to take place.

Some flight schools are so busy it doesn’t make sense to refuel after every single flight, or there may be a “weight restrictive” flight in the schedule. The latter should be documented in the aircraft reservation schedule and a note placed in the dispatch book. It’s a lot easier to add fuel to a minimum level for the flight than to pump fuel off. There are some flight schools that don’t have the equipment to remove fuel, so in a pinch they may send one of their CFIs out to fly approaches for an hour to reduce the fuel load. 

Shutdown Slips

The postflight inspection can reveal when an aircraft has not been shut correctly—for example, the mags left on or the carb heat knob left out. This is a slip and one of the reasons you should always check the position of the mags before approaching the propeller arc.

Sometimes a student pilot gets confused on how to secure an aircraft, and then you have to track down who is improperly shutting down the airplane and educate them. For example, there was a time when pilots at a particular flight school kept finding a particular Cessna 172 tied down and chocked with the mixture knob in the full forward position. 

The mixture knob is supposed to be at idle at shutdown. Putting the mixture knob to full rich puts fuel into the system the same way the manual primer does. A little bit of sleuthing revealed this (incorrect) practice was being done by a student pilot who thought he was saving the next pilot a “step.” 

The most common postflight mistake that can be thwarted by a postflight inspection is leaving on the master switch. In fact, as I write this, I am waiting to hear if the battery on the airplane I am supposed to fly later has been recharged or replaced as it was left on after a night flight. At many schools there is a fee for leaving on the master switch—like $100 and a case of beer for the maintenance team. 

Checklist, Fuel Strainers, and Keys (Oh, My!)

Before you walk away from the airplane, make sure the tools used for the preflight inspection, such as the fuel strainer and pipette, are stowed in the previously agreed on location. Make sure the checklist and the aircraft keys are back in the dispatch binder. While most schools have spares of these items, especially the checklists and keys, you do not want to be that renter who accidentally walks off with these items.

Before you walk away from the airplane make sure the dispatch book has the keys and checklist stowed. If the checklist or keyring is falling apart, let the school know so it can make repairs. It just takes a few minutes and can prevent these items from disappearing.

Squawks

When there is a discrepancy or malfunction with an aircraft, it is written up in a procedure known as “squawking.” If you find something that may be damaged, but you are not sure if it is, or if it happened during your flight, write it up. You may find out that it is “old damage” (which tells you that you should  pay closer attention during your preflight inspection), or you may have uncovered an issue that if not noticed could have resulted in an expensive repair or unscheduled off-airport landing. 

For example, one private pilot noticed a puddle of oil beneath an airplane that had just returned from a flight. The oil level had been low prior to takeoff so the pilot, following the checklist with the notation never to fly with less than 6 quarts, added a quart. During the postflight inspection the pilot noticed the aircraft was now down to 5.5 quarts, and a closer inspection of the engine compartment revealed a greasy mess and a swath of oil down the aircraft’s belly. The mechanic diagnosed a cracked tube and noted that if the pilot who found the issue had flown for more than an hour, the airplane might have developed a serious engine issue from lack of oil pressure.

Because you don’t know what you don’t know, always err on the side of caution. A postflight inspection can go a long way.

This column first appeared in the May Issue 958 of the FLYING print edition.

Meg Godlewski

Meg Godlewski has been an aviation journalist for more than 24 years and a CFI for more than 20 years. If she is not flying or teaching aviation, she is writing about it. Meg is a founding member of the Pilot Proficiency Center at EAA AirVenture and excels at the application of simulation technology to flatten the learning curve. Follow Meg on Twitter @2Lewski.
In Depth

NICHOLAS AIR Founder Aims to Make Private Aviation Personal

Company founder and CEO NJ Correnti shares his success story.

Randy Bolinger
Verified
Edited By: Travis Tingle
Founder NJ Correnti has made NICHOLAS AIR unique among its competitors. [Courtesy: NICHOLAS AIR]

In the realm of business aviation, travel options include one-off charter flights, assorted leasing options, jet card memberships, fractional ownership, and owning your own eight-figure aircraft. 

Dozens of private aviation companies offer some or all of these options. Some companies often jump into the business believing they have an innovative solution or can offer access for less than competitors—then they’re gone. Others that have hedge fund backing may believe that their financial strength will help them through the natural ebb and flow of business travel when the economy shifts, travel drops off, or fuel prices skyrocket. None of that matters if the experience falls short.

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Enter NICHOLAS AIR—self-made, unrivaled, and unique among a crowd of would-be competitors. 

After 25 years, a video on its website still self-professes the company is the “best-kept secret.” But after catching up with founder and CEO NJ Correnti, one discovers that NICHOLAS AIR isn’t trying to be the biggest, they’re motivated by being the best—more on that later.

Correnti’s accomplished story will resonate with entrepreneurs. He started his successful business the old-fashioned way, on the ground floor with nothing but vision and tenacity. Over the course of three decades, he said he has performed every job from janitor, salesperson, maintenance coordinator, scheduler, and pilot to CEO with one thing in mind—creating a travel experience that is second to none. In fact it’s the member experience that truly sets NICHOLAS AIR apart from every other private aviation company. And it all started for him at a very young age.

Aviation can be a tough business to break into because most airports and aircraft are largely inaccessible—especially to a kid on a four-wheeler. But that is where Correnti’s story begins. Growing up in Arkansas, he literally had an airport in his backyard—Blytheville Municipal Airport (KHKA). Blytheville is one of many rural airports that, pre-9/11, was a fairly accessible place that attracted pilots, hangar flyers, planespotters, and yes, even kids on four-wheelers.

One of NICHOLAS AIR’s Gulstream jets sits on the tarmac. [Courtesy: NICHOLAS AIR]

At 12, Correnti’s mother suggested that it was time to put down the video games and start thinking about his future. With an airport at the end of his street, you already know how that played out.

Correnti started bumming rides and learning how to fly before he could drive. He was so proficient that on his 16th birthday he soloed four aircraft—a Cessna 150, Cessna 172, Cessna 177RG (complex), and Cessna 340 (twin). At this point in his aviation experience, there was no inoculation for the bug that bit him, and he was on a path to creating NICHOLAS AIR as it exists today.

Correnti started flying charters in a Cessna 340 in 1997. He later purchased his first Pilatus PC-12, and then another. The NICHOLAS AIR fleet consists of an Embraer Phenom 100 and 300, Cessna Citation CJ3+ and Latitude, Bombardier Challenger 350, and Gulfstream G600.

He said the secret to what makes the company so successful where others have failed is hiding in plain sight—the name. Correnti, as both founder and visionary, said he has built his company on his ability to do two things—and do them flawlessly time and again. It’s his name on the building and the tail of every aircraft so ultimately, he knows the buck stops with him. He’s not happy unless every customer, every flight, every interaction is worthy of a five-star review. 

First, every part of the NICHOLAS AIR member experience is curated by staff, not subcontractors but employees who have a vested interest in the success of the company. There also are no shareholders or parent company to answer to at NICHOLAS AIR. Every member of the team is recruited, hired, and trained to deliver a premier private aviation experience.

Correnti points to the second key to success as vertical integration. Being able to provide the ultimate member experience is only possible by managing every part of the process to exacting standards. In addition to the pilots and crew being NICHOLAS AIR staffers, the administration, concierges, and even maintenance of the fleet is managed in-house. The desire to vertically integrate every member touchpoint even spawned the Customer Courier service, unique to NICHOLAS AIR.

At one point, the company added a Cessna Caravan to its fleet to support the growing logistics requirements for its in-house maintenance operations. Now with an asset in the fleet outfitted more for hauling bulky items than VIPs, Correnti created an innovative member service for transporting cargo for members who prefer not to entrust their priceless art or heirlooms to UPS or FedEx even if that’s moving the recent college graduate off to their first new job on the other side of the country.

At NICHOLAS AIR, taking care of the little details is what makes a big impression for members who rely on the relationship they have with the company to effortlessly and effectively manage travel. Professional athletes, celebrities, and public and private corporations alike make up the more than 1,000 strong exclusive membership. 

But it’s not for everyone. Correnti believes NICHOLAS AIR membership is a two-way street. He said success at the company is also partially based on the mutual understanding that becoming a member is a partnership, and not every potential customer is a good fit as a member. Providing a world-class experience is reserved for world-class people, according to Correnti.

Some Q&A responses: 

FLYING Magazine (FM): What inspired you to start NICHOLAS AIR?

NJ Correnti (NJC): Growing up in Arkansas with an airport [Blytheville Municipal Airport/KKHA] in the backyard, I enjoyed watching aircraft take off and land. I enjoyed operating things and wanted to pursue it, so I started taking lessons. I never wanted to go into the airlines or military. I always wanted to own my own company and thought this aviation stuff is fun, so why not start with that?  

FM: What’s the secret to your success and longevity over 25 years when so many companies haven’t thrived? 

NJC: There’s a secret sauce, but it’s really the people. That’s what it comes down to.

FM: What was the first aircraft you purchased?

NJC: A 1978 Cessna 340. I would dry lease the airplane out while I was in high school in Charlotte, North Carolina, to this healthcare company. They would contract my instructor to come and fly it. That’s kind of how the business really started—obviously on a really small scale then.

FM: You’re involved with Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart through the NCAA NIL (Name Image and Likeness) program? How did that unfold?

NJC: Ole Miss is right in our backyard. I’m good friends with [Mississippi football coach] Lane [Kiffin], and I met Jaxson when he was recruiting him. I’ve liked Jaxson from day one. He’s a very respectful young man and certainly aligned with our brand and how we’d like to be represented. We did this NIL deal and it exploded—it went viral. Overall it was perceived well by everyone.

FM: Are you using predictive AI to support your fleet?

NJC: Not yet. Our chief technology officer has cautiously been evaluating the use of AI for maintenance. We have trust issues with AI at this point. On the maintenance side, I think there’s too many complexities with that. There’s no predictability, to be honest with you. You can have a component that you think is going to wear out every 500 hours, and it ends up lasting 2,000 hours. Or maybe you get a brand-new one off the shelf and it lasts 50 hours. There’s just no predictability with the maintenance side of it right now.

This feature first appeared in the May Issue 958 of the FLYING print edition.

Randy Bolinger

Randy Bolinger is the founder of AMPT Associates, a boutique aviation, marine, powersports, and transportation brand marketing agency, and was formerly the editorial director of FLYING and global marketing leader for Gulfstream, Cirrus, Volvo, and other world-class brands.
Aircraft

Used Aircraft Guide: Beechcraft Bonanza 36 Ranks at Top of Six-Place Piston Singles

But it's important to make sure to budget more for insurance and upkeep for this airplane.

The Aviation Consumer Staff
Verified
Edited By: Travis Tingle
The Bonanza has an earned a reputation for pleasant handling and sturdy build quality. [Courtesy: Textron Aviation]

It’s tough to argue that the iconic Beechcraft Bonanza has long ago established itself as one of GA’s most respected piston singles. 

For buyers searching the six-place, piston-single market, the 36-series Bonanza is certainly worth a look. With a good blend of speed, cabin comfort, and solid build quality, buyers are drawn to them for the same reasons they always have. Still, don’t expect any bargains. Sales pros tell us that while inventory might be more plentiful than it was just a couple of years ago as older pilots walk away from their Bonanzas (many forced out by the hardened insurance market that frowns upon senior pilots flying retracs), resale prices remain strong. In our estimation, Bonanzas might always be premium priced.

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While still in production in limited numbers by Textron as the G36, refurbished A- and B36-series models with new avionics, aesthetic and creature improvements, and low airframe and engine time are good alternatives to high-dollar, later-model G36 airplanes. Moreover, compared to newer composite piston singles (Cirrus as one example) that have more modern styling and safety features, for many there’s simply nothing quite like owning and flying a Bonanza. 

Picking Your Bo

Flash back to 1967 when Beech had to compete with Cessna’s 210—a retrac that had a six-place cabin and enough speed for traveling. Even after stretching the fuselage and adding so-called family seats to the S35 V-tail model, the Bonanza wasn’t capable of seating six full-sized adults. But the 1968 model year brought a true six-place Bonanza with aft cabin doors and a conventional tail. The Continental IO-520-B-powered 36 got even more pax-friendly in 1970 with a club seating arrangement. 

From a distance, particularly when decked out with new paint jobs, modern interiors and gee-whiz avionics, it’s tough to tell a vintage 36 from a newer one. Part of that is because over the years the 36 remained largely unchanged, although Beech added more equipment as standard, including an autopilot in 1976, and also turbocharging in 1979 with the 300 hp Continental TSIO-520-UB-powered A36TC. Then came the B36TC in 1982, which had the Baron 58 wing—a serious hauler because it carries 102 gallons of fuel. The current 2025 Aircraft Bluebook shows the starting retail price of a 1990 B36TC at around $315,000, and it originally sold for about $390,000, when typically equipped with options. 

If turbocharging isn’t your thing, the 1984 model year brought the normally aspirated Continental IO-550 to the Bonanza, plus a new instrument panel and gone was the “throw-over” control yoke in favor of traditional controls and better-placed engine instruments, giving the Bonanza a more modern feel. There were some notable safety improvements too that helped eliminate some gotchas—including the more standard placement of the landing gear and flap switches: gear on the left and flaps on the right. Those new individual control yokes might have added more safety too.

The Bonanza joined the party with Cessna, Diamond, and even glass-panel-equipped Cirrus models in 2006 as the G36, equipped with Garmin’s G1000 integrated avionics and flight control system. The Aircraft Bluebook shows a 2007 G36 priced at around $530,000, though some sell for higher with fresh engines.

Speaking of engines, you’ll see some Bonanzas on the market with turboprop conversions. The now-defunct Tradewind Turbines used a repurposed Allison 250 from the Bell JetRanger on the A36. The current Soloy A36 STC puts a 450 shp Rolls-Royce 250-B17F/2 engine and a stretched snout on the airplane, reducing takeoff roll by 40 percent and cutting landing distance nearly in half. Published time to climb to 20,000 feet is 18 minutes, and cruise speeds are advertised to be 205 knots at 15,000 feet. Older models might sell for around $500,000 and later ones closer to $800,000.

Loading, Performance

A normally aspirated Bonanza 36 won’t outrun a Cirrus SR22, but it easily pulls away from a Piper Saratoga and keeps up with a normally aspirated Cessna 210. Most A36 owners we talk with plan on 165 knots and 1,000 fpm climbs when lightly loaded. To keep up with a Cessna Turbo 210 and a Mooney 231, the A36TC and B36TC models can do it in the middle altitudes, turning nearly 180 knots. Get a B36TC—with its long wing—up around 20,000, and it will smoke along at 190 knots, while gulping north of 17 gph of fuel to mind the cylinder temps.

Be careful of the CG when loading lots of stuff and passengers, more than one owner told us. In a plain-vanilla A36, plan on 950 pounds in the cabin with the tanks full, and for the A36TC, plan on sacrificing useful load (800 pounds or so) if you want full tanks. The B36TC, with its 200-pound gross weight increase, can carry roughly 900 pounds in the cabin with the tanks full.   

Speaking of fuel capacity, Beech changed the fuel system around 1973 when the standard capacity was reduced to only 44 gallons, with a 74-gallon extended range system available. It’s highly unlikely that there are any standard-capacity A36s in the fleet. An 80-gallon system was made standard in 1980, plus auxiliary tip tanks are a popular aftermarket retrofit. Worth mentioning is that D’Shannon’s tip fuel tanks (40 additional gallons) bump the gross weight to 4010 pounds. The company says the fiberglass tanks also provide lower stall speed and increased aileron authority. Learn more at www.d-shannon-aviation.com.


With four people on board, the Beechcraft Bonanza 36 feels like a luxury liner, but adding a fifth and sixth 
passenger can really make things tight. [Courtesy: Carolina Aircraft Sales]

Passenger Comfort, Handling

Talk about the 36 Bonanza, and those two go hand-in-hand. Pilots stepping up to the Bonanza immediately notice higher control forces. But that’s a good thing and translates directly to rock-solid stability—desirable in an IFR platform. Done right, landing is much easier than in some airplanes, although at extreme forward CG loadings (common when flying solo), it requires some determination to raise the nose in the flare and make a smooth landing. Bonanza pilots learn early on to use the electric pitch trim. But as with any airplane, a good (and safe) landing begins with a stable approach that’s on speed. Carrying too much speed in the touchdown with a Bonanza is where the potential trouble lurks.

Garmin, and now Dynon, have digital autopilot retrofits for 36 Bonanzas that smooth the ride better than most aging iron-gyro-based autopilots (you’ll find Bendix and King systems—some with yaw dampers—in many). But one characteristic of the classic V-tail that isn’t really a factor in the 36 models is the notorious tendency to Dutch roll in turbulence. That’s because the extra length seems to make for a more comfortable ride. Autopilot yaw dampers aren’t necessary. What is necessary is paying particular attention to the health of an aging autopilot. One analog system, the King KFC200 (and also the later KFC150), can be pricey to maintain. Look for pitch porpoising, roll oscillations, approach coupling, and at the general health of the KI256 flight director gyro that drives the system.

The general cabin experience in a 36-series Bonanza is pleasing. The outside visibility is good, and the dwelling is comfy, although headroom and legroom are cramped for taller people. With four aboard, it’s a luxury liner, but adding a fifth and sixth person makes things tight. It’s one reason Bonanza pilots upgrade to familiar Barons (the nose baggage area makes a big difference), especially ones with growing families who go places. For one, there is a noticeable shortage of baggage space. Some room aft of the third row of seats (watch that CG envelope) was created with the 1979 model. Before that, the only place to stow things was the modest slot between the front seats and the rear-facing center row. There is not enough room to fit six people and six bags on board.

Turbonormalizing

A Tornado Alley 300 hp IO-550 Whirlwind III turbonormalizing engine mod injects power and utility to stock 36 Bonanzas. Fuel mixture management changes for the better, because the manifold pressure remains constant for takeoff and climb (full rich) regardless of altitude and density altitude below the critical 18,000 feet. Moreover, the engine mod moves the airplane’s CG forward so you can load more stuff in the cabin.

But watch that it doesn’t get ahead of the forward CG limit when the tanks are full and with one or two people in the cabin. The American Bonanza Society—find the group at www.bonanza.org (a must-join type organization for anyone interested in ownership) —notes that a turbonormalized Bo may not outrun all normally aspirated ones at lower altitudes, but it will at sweet-spot cruise altitudes. 

The engine has GAMIjectors, an overhauled Garrett turbocharger, wastegate, controller and pressure relief valve, stainless-steel exhaust manifold, high-temp silicone/Teflon hose package, new alternate air door with ice detection system, and roughly $67,000 starting price.  

There is a 2001 AD requiring the turbocharger exhaust bracket clamp be replaced every 400 engine operating hours. The company has upgrades in place for older Whirlwind systems, plus a $9,000 larger Rammer II intercooler with Scoop Duct for more efficient ram air induction. See more data at www.taturbo.com. 


The 36-series Beechcraft Bonanza offers a generally pleasing cabin experience. However, headroom and legroom can be cramped for taller passengers. [Courtesy: Carolina Aircraft Sales]

Premium Priced

A recent sweep of the used Bonanza 36 market turned up a variety of models for sale, though sales pros told us that these planes are still in high demand, and prices are strong. We found a 1973 A36 with 8,300 hours on the airframe but less than 200 hours since a major overhaul on its IO-550 engines. It had a variety of avionics, including a Garmin G5 flight display, Garmin-AT GNS 480 navigator, and basic S-TEC autopilot. It had speedbrakes, flap and aileron gap seals, and vortex generators, plus a dual control yoke. With an annual inspection due in a month, it was priced at $220,000. 

A 1994 B36TC with 5,600 hours on the airframe, just under 600 hours since overhaul of its turbocharged TSIO-520 engine, new paint, new interior, full suite of the latest Garmin big-screen avionics, and GFC 500 autopilot was listed for a whopping $650,000. For comparison, a 2011 Garmin G1000-equipped G36 with 1,300 hours on the original engine was priced at $750,000.

No matter which Bonanza you consider, get an insurance quote first. The retractable landing gear could be an issue for senior pilots and those with low time. As we’ve heard in the recent past, the tight insurance market seems to be feeding at least some of the used Bonanza inventory as older pilots facing higher and nonrenewed policies step out of their Bonanzas and into more basic planes that are easier to insure. 

We’re also hearing that upgrades to existing Bonanzas are as popular as ever, and that includes the latest avionics. Garmin and Dynon have offered full-glass suites with integrated autopilots, and models with recent upgrades are at the top of the used market when it comes to price and demand. So are engine mods.

The popular D’Shannon Aviation mods, and its Raw Power engine conversion kits, give Bonanzas a serious shot in the arm. All 1983 and previous models need to have the IO-550 STC and baffle cooling kit to qualify for the 3,850-pound gross weight increase. All 1984 and later A36 and G36 models don’t need any upgrades for the increase. D’Shannon’s tip fuel tanks increase the gross to 4,010. The company also has a high-performance exhaust kit for IO-550, IO-520, and IO-470N Bonanzas. There are also gap seals, vortex generators, and new instrument panels. It’s not just about avionics and engines. Safety and utility-enhancing systems are popular too.

Arizona-based AmSafe has STCs for seat belt airbag systems for the Bonanza, and you can find more information at www.amsafe.com. There is also Approach Aviation (www.approachaviation.com) selling its SmartSpace baggage conversions for pre-1979 airplanes. It provides a much-needed 8 cubic feet of baggage area behind the rear seats, with a 70-pound capacity, while retaining the rear hat shelf. Installation is reported to take only a day.

“I bought the $6,500 D’Shannon Genesis Max GWI (gross weight increase) STC, which boosted the gross weight from 3,650 to 3,850 pounds,” G36 Bonanza owner Frank Roe said. “I also upgraded to Garmin’s G1000 NXi. The $28,000 upgrade added significant functionality to my existing legacy G1000 system, and the Garmin Flight Stream 510 wireless capability is a real plus. ADS-B came from a Garmin GTX 345R transponder, which was $5,443. Whelan LED strobes, beacons, and landing/taxi lights were a $2,900 expense.”

For Roe, he bought the newer G36 because he didn’t want the hassle of refurbishing a plane—something he’s done twice in the past. Plus, he makes a good point that the 36 is easy to land and makes for a stable instrument platform. Also, the large cargo doors and air conditioning make it an excellent piston single for hauling passengers in comfort. 

This feature first appeared in the May Issue 958 of the FLYING print edition.

The Aviation Consumer Staff

Published since 1972, The Aviation Consumer, a Firecrown brand, features in-depth technical reviews on everything from headsets to avionics to new and used aircraft. We have incorporated the brand's popular Used Aircraft Guide (UAG) into FLYING to bring greater resources to our readers. Subscribe to The Aviation Consumer and access hundreds of UAG reviews.
Aftermath Uncategorized

Fear No Evil: To Live and Fly Another Day, Fly Another Day

Most important obligation of an airplane owner is to know when not to use it.

Peter Garrison
Verified
Edited By: Travis Tingle
Weathering bad weather is best done by the book. [iStock]

The pilot, 43, was a Baptist pastor. He had a wife and five children. His private certificate was so fresh that the plastic card had not yet come in the mail. 

He had devoted his flying to his life’s mission of “church planting,” that is, establishing new congregations in obedience to the “Great Commission” of Matthew 28: “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations…” A director of the Southern Baptist North American Mission Board, he apparently collaborated with the International Mission Board. He had a reservation on a flight from Baltimore to Europe on January 13, 2023.

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On the afternoon of January 12, he was in Canton, Georgia (KCNI), having arrived in his Cherokee PA-28-180 four days earlier. From Canton back to Stafford, Virginia (KRMN), his home field, would be a four-hour flight.

He appeared at the FBO where his airplane was parked at 4 p.m. EST. It was pouring rain. He mentioned to the line supervisor that he was a new pilot. The supervisor suggested that he talk with the office manager, an ASEL private pilot who had been flying for 20 years. He told her that he needed to get to the Washington, D.C., area for an international flight.

“I would not take off in this weather,” she told him. “It’s too dangerous. How experienced are you, and what kind of airplane are you flying?”

“I’m a relatively new pilot, and it’s a Cherokee. But it should be fine after this rain passes, right?”

“How much night experience do you have? Because it’ll be dark soon.”

“I’m OK.”

“I still would not go until daylight and this system has passed. I would get a hotel tonight and go out in the morning.”

“What time do you open?”

“6 a.m.”

“OK.”

At this point, the pilot went to the FBO’s front desk, where the customer service agent made a hotel reservation for him. The reservation was nonrefundable, but he said he didn’t mind. She gave him the airport gate code in case he wanted to leave in the morning before the FBO opened. He thanked her and left in his rented car.

Later in the evening, after the FBO had closed and everyone had gone home, the pilot returned to the airport. It was a moonless night and the rain had abated. The automated weather observation reported instrument conditions, with a 900-foot broken ceiling and 1 mile visibility in mist.

He added 27 gallons of fuel to the Cherokee from the self-serve pump and took off at 8:05 p.m. The Cherokee climbed northeastward for several minutes, weaving left and right. It then made a sudden turn of more than 90 degrees to the right—was this a momentary impulse to return to Canton, or just a maneuver to avoid a cloud?—followed by a slight correction to the left and then a wide turn back to a northeastward heading. It continued steadily on that heading, climbing to 7,500 feet, for several minutes more. It then entered an area of showers.

Up to this point, the pilot must have had some kind of visual references to help him stay upright. But now he evidently lost the external cues. The airplane began the random, erratic descending turns to the left and right that are the telltale mark of a disoriented pilot and the infallible predictor of what will come next. Between the last ADS-B return and the one before it, the Cherokee lost 2,100 feet in 15 seconds. A witness on the ground heard the airplane’s engine and saw its lights spiraling vertically earthward. It had been airborne for 14 minutes.

At 11 a.m. on the day of the accident, the pilot had obtained a ForeFlight briefing for a proposed departure time of 5 p.m. It showed a mix of VFR, marginal VFR, and IFR conditions along his route. As far as National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators could determine, he did not get a later briefing. If he had, it would have recommended against VFR flight. But then, so did the office manager, and the pilot paid no heed. 

Obviously, he felt himself to be under pressure not to miss his flight to Europe the next day. The office manager was a more experienced pilot than he, and since she was reading him the generally approved gospel of caution he probably did not feel himself in a position to argue.

But did he intend all along to return to the airport after the advocate of caution had left? Or was he torn by inability to decide what to do? Did he accept the nonrefundable hotel reservation because he really intended to stay the night, or because to insist on a refundable reservation would have revealed that he was still half-thinking he might take off? His actions and language, as reported by the people with whom he interacted, were ambiguous. He appeared prepared to stay, but as soon as nobody was looking he returned to leave.

He was a deeply religious man. Did he perhaps pray for guidance, and believe that the Lord would look after him? We can’t know his mind. The NTSB’s finding of probable cause merely cites the pilot’s decision to launch a VFR flight into night instrument conditions that he had neither the skill nor the experience to deal with. It does not explicitly mention self-induced pressure or the lack of timely planning. 

In the course of two years prior to getting his PPL, the pilot had logged 171 hours. In seven weeks since passing the check ride, he had flown another 32 hours, 10 of them at night. His log reflected 3.7 hours of simulated instruments and 4.4 hours of night training. He had become comfortable with night flying, but nothing that he had done could prepare him for flying on a dark night between layers of cloud.

During the four days that he spent in Canton, the pilot had ample time to monitor the weather and consider what to do in case it deteriorated. The marginal conditions—showers, multiple broken cloud layers, isolated thunderstorms—cannot have materialized out of nowhere. If he had left earlier, he might have had to cancel a meeting or two, but he might have been able to make the trip in daylight before the weather moved in. Alternatively, he could have flown (or driven) to Atlanta, 30 miles away, and caught a flight to Washington, leaving the Cherokee to be retrieved another day. The one thing he should not have done, as a beginner pilot, was depart at night in marginal weather. But that was what he did.

The most important obligation of the owner of an airplane is to know when not to use it.

This column first appeared in the May Issue 958 of the FLYING print edition.

Peter Garrison

Peter Garrison taught himself to use a slide rule and tin snips, built an airplane in his backyard, and flew it to Japan. He began contributing to FLYING in 1968, and he continues to share his columns, ""Technicalities"" and ""Aftermath,"" with FLYING readers.
FLYING Magazine

Here’s What It’s Like to Fly With a State Patrol

Washington troopers protect and serve from the air.

Meg Godlewski
Verified
Edited By: Travis Tingle
Routine patrols for Washington state troopers are around three to five hours at an altitude of approximately 1,500 feet msl. [Courtesy: Meg Godlewski]

Most pilots will tell you they enjoy their jobs. This is particularly true when the work involves making a positive difference in the community. Flying for state patrol is one of these flying jobs. These flying law enforcement officers pilot helicopters and airplanes in support of troopers on the ground.

But you don’t just walk off the street and get hired. For most flying LEOs, their career in the air division begins on the street as a state trooper.

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This requirement throws some people, said Washington State Patrol (WSP) Lieutenant Krista Greydanus. The WSP allowed FLYING to spend a morning with the unit learning about the type of flying it does.

Greydanus joined WSP after being furloughed from her job as a pilot at Horizon Air. She graduated from the law enforcement academy around the same time the airline was recalling its pilots and decided to focus on a career in law enforcement. Greydanus spent several years as a trooper in Seattle, a position she enjoyed because it allowed her to make a difference, before there was an opening in the aviation division.

“This is not a job for time building,” Greydanus said. “When someone expresses an interest in the job, I ask them, ‘Are you OK with being a trooper for a while?’”

Each takeoff leads to something different, and patrol from the air can identify potential problems, like speeding cars, or help ground law enforcement officers locate criminals. [Courtesy: Meg Godlewski]

That’s important, she stressed, because the air division works in support of the troopers on the ground, and it is important for the pilots to understand the procedures the ground troopers follow in order to work better as a team.

To be competitive in the hiring process, candidates should have at least a commercial pilot certificate. The more ratings and hours of experience the better, according to Greydanus, adding that all WSP candidates are required to
attend the WSP academy. When a position comes open in the aviation division, they may apply. If they are selected, they attend FlightSafety to acquire the needed additional aviation training such as ATP certification, as well as recurrent training.

The Fleet and Mission

Washington State Patrol has a total of seven pilots to cover 71,362 square miles. The aircraft include three Cessna 182s, two Cessna 206s equipped with Forward Looking Infrared cameras (FLIR), and a King Air 200 that is used for transporting the governor and other state officials.

The mission of the WSP is to provide support for law enforcement, traffic patrol, and discourage dangerous driving. One way that is done is by spotting the aggressive drivers from the air and reporting their location to troopers who can then intercept the suspect driver—hopefully before someone gets hurt. There is a lot of coordination and communication involved, as I was soon to find out on a “fly along.”

WSP headquarters is a boxy 1930s-era hangar located on the east side of the airport. The floor of the hangar is painted white, and you get the impression you could do surgery on it without risk of infection. Half of the space is devoted to aircraft maintenance—most of it done in house. The aircraft are kept meticulously clean. Although they are several years old and have gone through multiple engine changes, they look as if they just rolled out of the Cessna factory.

From the outside, the first indication that the single-engine aircraft have a special purpose are the LoJack antennas affixed to their bellies. This helps WSP locate stolen cars—and there are a lot of them—in the Seattle area, in particular Hondas and Kias. The aircraft are also equipped with vortex generators to allow better controllability and performance at slower airspeeds.

Routine patrols involve flights of three to five hours at an altitude of approximately 1,500 feet msl or more depending on terrain and airspace. The mixture is leaned for better economy. The aircraft fly so the freeway or whatever is being observed is on the left side of the aircraft because that is where the pilot sits, and in the 206, the FLIR is attached to the left wing. The camera is usually pointed down. The pilot has an iPhone to use as a screen for orientation mounted just above eye level on the left side of the cockpit, while in the back seat the tactical flight officer (TFO) controls the FLIR and handles coordination with troopers.

The Pilot and TFO

For the demonstration flight, Trooper Anson Statema was the pilot, while Trooper Camron Iverson was the TFO. They have distinct responsibilities. The pilot has to maintain situational awareness, observe the FARs, airspace, air traffic, and comply with ATC, while assisting the TFO when needed and keeping the aircraft in a position so the camera is pointed where it needs to be.

The TFO is typically a trooper from the field who works in a reserve status. The TFO is not necessarily a pilot. According to Greydanus, the TFO is the most important part of the law enforcement missions, as they are the officers who provide probable cause to the units on the ground. The TFO is in charge of operating the camera, communicating on the LE radios to the ground units and dispatch, coordinating with the pilot to let them know what they need for any particular incident, ensuring evidence is being recorded, and being the eyes in the sky looking for dangerous driving below.


Trooper Anson Statema carefully orbited over the signal location and the stolen car until ground support troops could arrive. [Courtesy: Meg Godlewski]

The Fly Along

It was a typical gray overcast morning in Olympia, Washington, but the ceilings were high enough for a flight. After a thorough preflight inspection of the Cessna 206H, we saddled up. Part of the preparation for flight includes making sure the FLIR is properly calibrated. With the aircraft engine running, the pilot and TFO watch the camera as it goes through a series of gyrations to confirm it is operating correctly.

The WSP call sign is “Smokey,” a slang term for law enforcement derived from an association of the style of hat worn by some state troopers that is the same as that worn by advertising icon Smokey Bear. Statema obtained the ATIS and called for a taxi clearance. A few minutes later, Smokey was cleared for takeoff from Runway 35.

The 1999 Cessna 206 with its Lycoming IO-540 is a utility hauler and had no trouble getting us into the air. It is louder than the Cessna 172s I usually fly, and I was thankful for my noise-canceling headset. That’s the main complaint the WSP hears from people on the ground—the aircraft are noisy when they are in orbit at 1,000 feet or so above terrain, but that is where they need to be to do the job.

We headed north following the freeway. Statema leveled us off at 1,500 feet and configured and trimmed the aircraft for level flight, then called my attention to the position of the yoke. Although we were in straight and level flight as referenced to the outside horizon, some aileron correction was necessary because the FLIR weighs 60 pounds, and the weight makes the left wing drop unless the pilot holds in a correction. Statema allowed me to try it. For those unfamiliar, the Cessna 206 is heavier on the controls than the Cessna 172, and you definitely will feel it in the arm that manipulates the yoke.


The aircraft is equipped with a LoJack to help locate stolen vehicles. The black object attached under the left wing is the camera. [Courtesy: Washington State Patrol]

Tools of the Trade

The aircraft are outfitted with special radios that enable the WSP to communicate with other law enforcement agencies. This comes in very handy when a situation that requires a joint effort is encountered.

The one that caught my attention was the one labeled LoJack. Its purpose is to help track down stolen cars. LoJack is a GPS device that enables the car to be tracked by law enforcement, similar to the way smartphones can be tracked in “lost” mode.

When it was activated, the LoJack began beeping. There is a discreet code displayed. A readout on the device then shows the signal getting stronger or weaker, which helps the pilot determine which way to fly. There is some discussion between Iverson and Statema, then Iverson contacts dispatch on the ground to run the code to see if the vehicle has been reported stolen. The code comes back to a silver Honda reported stolen.

For the next few minutes we orbit. Statema watches the LoJack readout and determines when the aircraft is getting closer to the car while Iverson coordinates with the ground units. We remain over the location until the ground unit reaches the car.

“Someone is getting their car back,” Statema said with a grin. And we headed back to the airport.

Hiring at Washington State Patrol

Once hired, an applicant becomes a trooper cadet and will attend the WSP academy followed by in-the-field training. Upon graduation, cadets receive their commission and become troopers.

To be able to work any WSP mission, pilots are required to have their SE commercial certificate and instrument rating. In the past, the aviation section has brought in troopers who did not have any certificates or ratings and conducted in-house training, but WSP prefers the commercial/instrument so it can start training them on WSP-specific missions right away.

The agency prefers a minimum of one year on the ground as a trooper prior to being able to apply for a position within the aviation section, but any additional experience is beneficial to the transportation missions.

Missions are conducted in a standardized way much like the airlines. The pilot operates the aircraft and the copilot (nonflying pilot) handles radios and checklists, and assists the pilot flying as needed. The duties of the flying pilot and nonflying pilot are rotated.

This feature first appeared in the May Issue 958 of the FLYING print edition.

Meg Godlewski

Meg Godlewski has been an aviation journalist for more than 24 years and a CFI for more than 20 years. If she is not flying or teaching aviation, she is writing about it. Meg is a founding member of the Pilot Proficiency Center at EAA AirVenture and excels at the application of simulation technology to flatten the learning curve. Follow Meg on Twitter @2Lewski.
Modern Flying

Fly Me to the Moon: Companies Are Making It Happen

It’s hard to soft land on the Earth’s satellite, but there are private firms finding a way.

Jack Daleo
Verified
Edited By: Travis Tingle
NASA’s SCALPSS cameras capture a lunar sunset, with Earth and Venus visible on the horizon. [Courtesy: Firefly Aerospace]

When Frank Sinatra popularized “Fly Me to the Moon,” he was probably envisioning a trip up on NASA’s Apollo Lunar Module, which to date is the only lander to deposit humans on the rocky satellite. But space, once the domain of governments and militaries, is an increasingly commercial arena.

In March, Firefly Aerospace’s Blue Ghost lunar lander touched down near the moon’s Mons Latreille, a 4-mile wide mountain rising from the lava plains of the Mare Crisium basin. Over the following lunar day (about two Earth weeks), the car-sized vehicle beamed back a treasure trove of data and, by the time it powered down, accomplished more than any private lunar lander in history.

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Blue Ghost carried with it NASA’s Stereo Cameras for Lunar-Plume Surface Studies (SCALPSS), which took stunning photos of the “diamond ring” effect observed when the Earth partially blocks the sun during a total solar eclipse—the first time a commercial lander captured such an event from the lunar surface. SCALPSS also produced spectacular,
never-before-seen images of a lunar sunset.

But Blue Ghost wasn’t just there to snap pretty pictures. The lander carried 10 NASA science payloads, including instruments that drilled into the lunar surface to study heat flow, analyzed the moon’s exosphere, and tested technologies for future human missions. The Lunar GNSS Receiver Experiment (LuGRE), for example, tracked GPS signals on the surface for the first time—a capability that could improve navigation on future visits.

Blue Ghost’s success marks a potential turning point for NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative, which so far has struggled to deliver results. Launched in 2018, CLPS aims to establish a competitive marketplace for private companies to fly small landers and rovers, carrying NASA technology, to the lunar surface.

But these commercial missions are also instrumental to the space agency’s Artemis program, which aims to land Americans on the moon for the first time in half a century—including the first woman and first person of color.

A human landing system (HLS) variant of SpaceX’s Starship rocket is expected to deliver four NASA astronauts to the lunar south pole as soon as mid-2027. The CLPS landers, though, will test critical Artemis technologies, scout potential landing sites, and help scientists better understand them before astronauts arrive.

“The moon is a very difficult environment, though also an important one for science and arguably national security,” said Matthew Weinzierl, a professor at Harvard Business School and the author of Space to Grow: Unlocking the Final Frontier. “It’s also an imperfect but valuable venue for practicing a mission to Mars.”

Soft Landings Are Hard

Fourteen companies are eligible to receive CLPS task orders, and NASA so far has awarded 11 lunar deliveries to five companies under contracts worth up to $2.6 billion through 2028. The fixed-price agreements are end-to-end—meaning the contractor covers build and launch costs—and typically valued around $100 million. Compared to what NASA spent on the Apollo lander, about $23 billion in 2020 dollars, that’s a drop in the bucket.

“I see lots of opportunities for complementarities across the private and public sectors in space,” said Weinzierl. “Each can play to its strengths and leverage the other to achieve its own goals more effectively and efficiently. One way to think about this is that space is just a place, and like all places on Earth, its development will mean there are big roles to play for governments, businesses, and everyone.”

As the past few decades have shown, however, landing on the moon is not easy. Only five nations have done it, and for the 37 years between the former Soviet Union’s Luna 24 mission and China’s Chang’e 3 mission in 2013, no spacecraft achieved a soft landing. Humans have not visited since Apollo 17 in 1972.

China has since launched three more successful Chang’e missions, while India and Japan became the fourth and fifth countries to land on the moon, respectively, in 2023. But there have also been plenty of failures, particularly on the commercial side. Israeli nonprofit SpaceIL’s Beresheet, Japanese firm ispace’s Hakuto-R, and Russian company NPO Lavochkin’s Luna 25, for example, all careened into the moon’s surface.

“Flying in space is fundamentally hard. Landing adds even more challenges,” said Bruce Betts, chief scientist for The Planetary Society. “Traditionally, there are more failures for countries or companies trying their first attempts and also more challenges and failures for missions that are operating on smaller budgets.”

That’s been the case for CLPS early on. In 2024, Astrobotic’s Peregrine lander suffered a propellant leak that forced it to abort a landing, while Intuitive Machines’ Odysseus made a soft landing but tipped over shortly after. A second Intuitive Machines lander, Athena, landed on its side in March.

“The CLPS missions all contain technologies and/or science goals and/or landing sites that are part of the Artemis
exploration plans,” Betts said. “So as failures occur, NASA will have to ponder what needs to be reflown and what they can get from other sources or go without.”

Failures have not swayed NASA’s commitment to CLPS. In fact, the program is ramping up. After two launches in 2024 and two more in early 2025, five more missions are planned for this year and next. Firefly and Intuitive Machines recently earned task orders for missions as far out as 2028. And with the breakthrough success of Blue Ghost, NASA could see more firms vie for those contracts.

Weinzierl said other players will “almost certainly” come to the table.

“…Though I expect much of the demand for commercial providers to the moon will come from NASA and the national security sector, and their international counterparts,” he said.

Shifting the Strategy

Blue Ghost, CLPS, and Artemis encapsulate NASA’s revamped strategy, in contrast to the Apollo era, to lean on commercial partners as much as possible.

BryceTech, which provides official space launch data to the FAA’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation among other government customers, analyzed 259 orbital launches in 2024. Of those, commercial providers handled close to 70 percent, with SpaceX alone accounting for more than half. Per BryceTech, SpaceX also launched an astounding 83 percent of all spacecraft—mostly small satellites—that flew last year. The company’s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket has a success rate above 99 percent across more than 450 missions.

“To grow the commercial space economy, we need to lower the costs of accessing and operating in space—what economists would think of as boosting supply—and we need to uncover ways to generate value in space—what economists would think of as boosting demand,” Weinzierl said. “The sector has been making big strides on the supply side, in launch but also in satellites and other technologies, and we’re seeing lots of attempts to deliver on the demand side as well.”

Private companies have not yet proven they can reliably deliver payloads to the moon. But for NASA’s purposes, in the short term, that may not be necessary.

“The success or failure of any one CLPS mission would have a real but limited impact on efforts to explore the moon through Artemis, since the goals were spread out among multiple missions from multiple companies,” Betts said.

In other words, NASA is not relying on any one provider to prepare for Artemis. And because CLPS contracts are relatively cheap, failures can be tolerated and even produce valuable data for future missions.

Ultimately, all of this work will pave the way for NASA to return Americans to the moon. But it remains to be seen if the space agency’s larger contractors—such as SpaceX, whose multibillion-dollar development of Starship HLS officials have cited as a reason for delays to the mission—will hold up their end of the bargain.

This column first appeared in the May Issue 958 of the FLYING print edition.

Jack Daleo

Jack is a staff writer covering advanced air mobility, including everything from drones to unmanned aircraft systems to space travel—and a whole lot more. He spent close to two years reporting on drone delivery for FreightWaves, covering the biggest news and developments in the space and connecting with industry executives and experts. Jack is also a basketball aficionado, a frequent traveler and a lover of all things logistics.
Uncategorized

FAA Chief Nominee: Mandatory Pilot Retirement Age ‘Arbitrary’

Bryan Bedford offers opinion at his agency administrator confirmation hearing.

Ryan Ewing
Verified
Edited By: Travis Tingle
Inside a Boeing 787 Dreamliner flight deck at the Farnborough Airshow [Credit: AirlineGeeks/William Derrickson]

Bryan Bedford, who currently leads Republic Airways, didn’t mince words when discussing the mandatory airline pilot retirement age. Bedford was nominated as FAA head by President Donald Trump in March.

The Senate Commerce Committee held its confirmation hearing for Bedford on Wednesday, where he was pressed on whether legislators should raise the retirement age.

Last year, a Senate committee narrowly struck down plans to include the age increase as part of the FAA Reauthorization Act. Had this provision been passed, airline pilots would be able to fly until 67, an increase from the current age of 65.

“So those [who] wish to serve having an arbitrary mandatory retirement age doesn’t seem like the right answer to me,” Bedford said during the hearing.

Raising the retirement age was met with immense pushback from industry groups, including the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), which is the largest pilots union, representing around 79,000 members.

Bryan Bedford
Republic Airways CEO Bryan Bedford [Courtesy: Republic Airways]

“We had a of debate on the merits of it, which are, I think, pretty clear that we have really experienced pilots that still have a lot of gas in the tank…and a lot of mentoring that they can bring to the table for the younger workforce that we’re developing for the future,” he added.

International Logistics

Bedford noted that raising the retirement age comes with some strings attached. These include alignment with International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) standards.

A handful of countries allow their airline pilots to fly beyond 65, but that age is largely the standard worldwide.

“But then there’s the logistics of the fact that these men and women are actually at the top of the fleet food chain,” Bedford continued. “They’re flying in the left seat of the most advanced widebody aircraft across the planet, and that’s great.”

“We have to be sensitive to the fact that the disruption that it would cause if in fact they can’t operate widebody airplanes and have to be deregulated down to a narrowbody jet may prohibit them from even wanting to serve.”

ICAO will become “very critical” to raising the retirement age, Bedford said.

“I think it’s absolutely possible to accomplish that in a reasonable period of time,” he said.

ICAO last raised the mandatory retirement age from 60 to 65 in 2006.

Editor’s note: This article first appeared on AirlineGeeks.

Ryan Ewing

Ryan is Sr. Director of Digital for Firecrown's Aviation Group. In 2013, he founded AirlineGeeks.com, a leading trade publication covering the airline industry. Since then, his work has been featured in several publications and news outlets, including CNN, WJLA, CNET, and Business Insider. During his time in the airline industry, he's worked in roles pertaining to airport/airline operations while holding a B.S. in Air Transportation Management from Arizona State University along with an MBA. Previously, he worked for a Part 135 operator and later a major airline. Ryan is also an Adjunct Instructor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
Airshows

What to Know About Taking the Family to an Airshow

Planning goes a long way toward making sure parents and children alike enjoy the experience.

Meg Godlewski
Verified
Edited By: Travis Tingle
FLYING offers some tips for surviving the summer airshow season as a family. [Credit: Patrick Chamberlain]

Is this the year you will be making the trek to EAA AirVenture in July—or another smaller airshow—with the family? It’s time to make your plans now because the logistics of getting everyone—especially the smaller kids—to an aviation event takes planning and preparation.

Lots of preparation.

At FLYING we take great pride in hitting the ground running. So sit back and take notes on best practices for navigating an aviation event with the family in tow.

Dress to Survive, Not Arrive

Dress for the occasion, starting from the ground up. A good pair of walking shoes is a must. You will be traversing a variety of surfaces, mostly asphalt and uneven grass, so make sure you have good traction, insoles, and socks to avoid blisters.

Have a cap with a chinstrap—like a Tilley hat—because unsecured headgear becomes FOD (foreign object debris) if hit with prop or rotor wash on the flight line. If you don’t have a hat with a chinstrap, use a lanyard. The hat is not a fashion statement—it shades your face and keeps the sun out of your eyes.

Bring sunglasses and have these on a lanyard as well.

Dress in layers, wearing light fabrics and clothes you can get into and out of easily when nature calls because the restroom facilities at airshows and fly-ins are often portable toilets, and there isn’t much room to maneuver. 

Bonus tip: Some families wear matching apparel—like neon green T-shirts—so it’s easy to spot each other in the crowd.

Use AirTags to keep track of personal items if possible, and put one in your car so you remember where you parked. You may also even want to put them into the pockets of each family member. This will enable you to track them like they are sea turtles.

Pro tip: If you have younger kids who might turn an AirTag into candy, write your cell phone number inside their shirts on the back collar. It is not obvious, and if they get separated from you, it can help airshow security track you down. Teach the kids that the number is for emergencies—like when they get lost—and should only be shared with a police officer or airshow security.

Best Practices for On-Site Operations

If you have young children, and it is allowed on the site, use a stroller or wagon to haul them around when they get tired. The stroller and wagon can also be used to carry a small first-aid kit containing aspirin or ibuprofen, Band-Aids, toilet paper (in case the portable toilets run out), antidiarrheal medicine, antacid, hand cleaner/sanitizer, moist towelettes, bottled water, and snacks.

Carry a rain poncho even if the weather is sunny because it can be used as ground cover to watch the airshow and as an emergency changing table if the kids are in diapers.

Earplugs are a must. Those jets are loud and can damage your hearing. Children, especially, are sensitive to the noise, but it can be a challenge to get them to wear earplugs—or keep them in. If you plan to attend lots of airshows, you might consider a child-sized hearing protection headset to block the noise.

EAA AirVenture fly-in is scheduled for July 21-27, 2025 in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. [Credit: FLYING Archives]

Use sunblock. Apply it frequently. Don’t forget to get the back of the neck, ears, and legs.

Use lip balm to protect from chapping. Apply it as often as sunblock.

Have a designated pocket for your cell phone. Make sure to charge it before the event, and carry a charging battery pack or cable just in case.

However, it is not uncommon for the cell phone towers to become jammed during these events. You may want to write your name and cell phone number on your belongings, so if you lose something, there is a better chance of getting it back.

Streamline the contents of your wallet and key ring for the show, so if you lose them, there is less to replace.

When You Get to the Show

Get a map of the grounds. Note where the first-aid and lost and found are in the event you need them. Tell your children to go there if they get separated from you, and ask an adult who is part of the airshow to call you.

Once you get on-site, designate a place to meet inside the show grounds at the end of the day, preferably away from the exit gates. For example, the base of the tower facing the runway is a good location—then walk to the exit as a family.

If there are exhibit hangars, visit them early in the day, since the temperature in the buildings rises rapidly and is usually 10 degrees hotter than outside.

Airshows and fly-ins often have a lot of swag like posters and toys as giveaways. Think carefully before buying an item or picking up the pencils, posters, and other handouts from the exhibitors because whatever you pick up you will have to carry.

Avoid walking and talking on your cell phone at the same time. Step off the path so your lack of attention doesn’t cause a collision with another person or tripping over an aircraft tie-down, etc.

When the sun is at its zenith, rest in the shade. Stretch out that tarp and hand out the snacks. Drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration. Avoid sugary drinks as they increase your thirst.

You may want to think about keeping smaller kids on tethers. Attach one end to the kid, the other to a responsible adult. 

Plan your visit to the flight line well before the airshow begins. Warn the kids not to touch anything that doesn’t belong to them. Make sure they know the rules about how to behave around airplanes. These aren’t climbing structures at the park, but if the owner of the airplane offers you a chance to hop into the cockpit, say yes.

And make sure to get a photo!

Meg Godlewski

Meg Godlewski has been an aviation journalist for more than 24 years and a CFI for more than 20 years. If she is not flying or teaching aviation, she is writing about it. Meg is a founding member of the Pilot Proficiency Center at EAA AirVenture and excels at the application of simulation technology to flatten the learning curve. Follow Meg on Twitter @2Lewski.
Aircraft For Sale Top Picks

This 1946 Ercoupe 415-C Is an Affordable, Vintage Charmer ‘AircraftForSale’ Top Pick

Classic design, modern avionics, and simple flying make this postwar trigear airplane a standout

Matt Ryan
Verified
Edited By: Travis Tingle
1946 Ercoupe 415-C [Courtesy: Seitz Aviation]

Every day, the team at Aircraft For Sale chooses an airplane that catches our attention because it is unique, a good deal, or has other qualities we find interesting. You can read Aircraft For Sale: Today’s Top Pick at FLYINGMag.com daily.

Today’s Top Pick is a 1946 Ercoupe 415-C.

Vintage aircraft fans looking for something simple, affordable, and undeniably charming should take a close look at this Ercoupe 415-C. Coming into its own in the golden era of postwar general aviation, the classic two-seater still offers easy, economical flying with a low operating cost and big curb appeal on any airport ramp.

Though more than 75 years have passed since it rolled off the assembly line, this Ercoupe embodies a timeless sense of fun. Its twin-tail design and bubble canopy have always turned heads, but pilots value the airplane just as much for its forgiving handling, light controls, and unique design philosophy that originally did away with rudder pedals altogether.

While some models have since been modified, the spirit of simplicity remains.

This 1946 example is based in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and comes with a freshly updated avionics suite. It includes a Flightline FL-760 COM, Uavionix AV-30 digital attitude indicator, digital VSI, temperature backup instruments, Narco AT150 transponder, Uavionix tailBeacon with ADS-B Out, and new electrical panel with circuit breakers and a dedicated avionics master switch.

1946 Ercoupe 415-C [Courtesy: Seitz Aviation]

Power comes from a Continental C85-12F engine with 789 hours since a major overhaul, completed by Aviation Engines Inc. in 2007. Compression readings remain strong, and the engine features a spin-on oil filter adapter. The propeller is a McCauley 1A105/SCM7146, repitched in 2014 and showing 573 hours since.

With a total time of 3,147 hours on the airframe and a useful load of 429 pounds, this Ercoupe is ideal for solo flights or a scenic ride with a passenger. The fabric-covered wings are reported to be in good condition, and the airplane features LED wing tip nav lights and a dual Univair landing light kit. An extensive $10,000 annual was completed in 2023, and the next is not due until August 2025.

This classic Ercoupe, priced at just $29,000, also qualifies under FAA light sport aircraft (LSA) rules, making it flyable by sport pilots. It is a smart choice for affordable personal transportation, time building, or weekend $100 hamburger runs.

If you’re interested in financing, you can start the process with FLYING Finance. Take a look at our airplane loan calculator to estimate your monthly payments. Or, to connect with an aviation finance specialist, visit flyingfinance.com.

Matt Ryan

Matt's eyes have been turned to the sky for as long as he can remember. Now a fixed-wing pilot, instructor and aviation writer, Matt also leads and teaches a high school aviation program in the Dallas area. Beyond his lifelong obsession with aviation, Matt loves to travel and has lived in Greece, Czechia and Germany for studies and for work.
Pilot in aircraft
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