The Malibu & M-Class Owner’s and Pilot’s Association recently released their MMOPA Vision Video. It is a great video detailing the history of the Piper PA46 & the history of MMOPA. The PA46 would have ceased to exist without the founding of the original Malibu Coalition.
Checkout the video above (and Texas Top Aviation’s Hank Gibson even gets a cameo!).
Thunderstorms are not to be taken lightly. I know you have probably heard that many times in your flying career. Weather related accidents account for approximately 25% of airline and GA accidents.
The Airman’s Information Manual suggests giving a 20 mile berth around thunderstorms. If you are an experienced aviator or a newbie please take this piece of advice seriously. At one flight school where I taught, we had the policy of maintaining a 25 mile buffer around isolated thunderstorms. A bit excessive you think? Maybe, but safety is a good thing!
On this particular day, I was operating a Bell Jet Ranger helicopter during a power line patrol. Power line patrol by itself offers numerous challenges. The job consists of flying along electric power transmission lines at approximately 40 feet above the ground at 40 knots. The crew consisted of me (the pilot) and an observer. The observer is an employee of the power company and it is his job to determine which line(s) will be patrolled during the given day. As I fly along the lines, the observer is checking for anything out of the ordinary such as broken, cracked, or even shot out insulators, excessively large bird nests at the top of structures, or woodpecker holes in wooden poles. The observer knows the lines and he is also a great help in letting me know there is a crossing, and potentially higher, line in our flight path. That makes him a true safety asset!
It was late afternoon during the summer and we were about to finish up for the day. We only had about another 10 miles of line to follow before calling it a day. Up ahead, I noticed an isolated thunderstorm near our power line. I could see the heavy rain falling below the anvil shaped leading clouds. It appeared to be well beyond the end of our day’s work so we pressed on.
As we drew closer to the thunderstorm, we were suddenly tossed up on our left side like a dog toy in mid-flight! It seemed like we were 90 degrees to our normal cruise attitude and, to make it worse, we had the doors off on that hot summer day. I was able to recover and we did an immediate about face and high tailed it home. Forget the rest of that line, tomorrow is another day.
The destructive force of thunderstorms cannot be overstated. In addition to extremely heavy rain, they can contain strong wind shear, large hail, and severe turbulence, each of which can damage or destroy an aircraft. Take care when one of these bad boys is near your flight path. Give it plenty of respect and a lots of room, for safety’s sake.
Alan VanDoren is a 7000 hour ATP pilot. He has flown both fixed wing and helicopters as a police pilot, missionary pilot, flight instructor, and most recently as an EMS pilot. He has flown in five countries around the world and also teaches university level aviation courses in his spare time.
For a long time, I was happy if an FBO had a radio where I could tune the ATIS or automated weather before getting into the plane. This would allow me to skip listening to the weather in the airplane with the engine running, giving me a quicker exit from the ramp while burning a little less fuel. I would also be able to brief my taxi route from the ramp since I would know which runway was in use before getting in the plane.
As we progress forward in technology, I’m constantly amazed at how much more planning I can do from the palm of my hand. Now, I can call a phone number and get the ATIS, AWOS, or ASOS, depending on the size of the airport; if you prefer reading a text version…well, there’s an app for that.
With this technology, it’s very important for pilots to be aware of what service they are utilizing when calling these numbers. Usually only a Class B or larger Class C airport will have a phone number specifically for ATIS as well as one for AWOS/ASOS. These are listed in the Airport/Facility Directory (AFD), as well as all flight planning apps (Foreflight, Garmin Pilot, Stratus Insight). More then one pilot has called the AWOS/ASOS number for an airport thinking they would receive the ATIS (because towered airports that have ATIS phone numbers often also have AWOS/ASOS phone numbers that are different). Since the pilot didn’t hear a code on the phone, that led to the false thinking that either the tower was closed or the pilot did not have the code (ie. Information Bravo) to give to ground control when calling for taxi instructions. The minute weather can be very useful for flight planning, but the ATIS must be received before contacting ATC at a towered airport.
Sometimes, you may get a busy tone if someone else is on the line. Usually, waiting a few minutes and trying again will lead to success. Just like old school phone lines, only one call can go through at at time! If it’s a particularly stormy day, you may be fighting a number of pilots to get on the line. In this case, an app where you can read the ATIS may be particularly helpful (Yes, there actually is a dedicated ATIS App!).
The ATIS app allows us lowly pilots without an Aircraft Communicating and Reporting System (ACARS) to access the Digital ATIS (D-ATIS ) at airports where ATIS is available. Only 76 airports in the US have D-ATIS, most of which are either Class B or busier Class C airports. Foreflight also provides D-ATIS textually at the same 76 airports, though it is only accessible depending on which subscription level you have with Foreflight (since I’m not a Garmin Pilot or Stratus Insight user, I’m not sure if either of them give D-ATIS reports).
With Foreflight’s D-ATIS, it does not get updated over ADS-B, only when your iPad or phone have an internet signal. When inbound to an airport with D-ATIS, the pilot has to listen to the radio frequency to get the current ATIS. Foreflight will display the last D-ATIS it received, but typically, it’s old. Check the time in the upper right hand corner.
Foreflight now offers Pre-Departure Clearance (PDC) at those same 76 airports. With either a pre-registered tail number or a Foreflight call sign (starting in FFL), once a pilot files an IFR flight plan, the D-ATIS and the IFR clearance in it’s entirety are texted to the phone number the pilot filed with. All that is left to do is call ground, state “I have information Romeo and my clearance, ready to taxi,” then away you go. Skipping listening to the ATIS and talking to Clearance Delivery saves a good 5-10 minutes at times, depending on how busy the airport is.
These days, there are many different avenues to get the current weather (and IFR clearances!). When calling on the phone, the key is to be aware, know which number you are calling and, if you are expecting to hear an ATIS message but instead hear the AWOS/ASOS, verify the Chart Supplement Guide and Notices to Airmen (NOTAMS) to check tower hours of operation before flying into the airspace.
I get asked some version of the same question almost every day right now: “Hank, what’s going on with the airplane market?” Owners are nervous. The market has definitely slowed down, and the second quarter has been especially quiet. So let me give you a straight read on what’s actually happening, why, and what it means for your airplane.
Here’s the short version: don’t panic. A slow market is not a market crash. It’s a market that rewards sellers who price realistically and buyers who are ready to pull the trigger. Patience is the name of the game right now.
Used airplane values shot up through the COVID years, peaked somewhere around 2022, and have been softening ever since — really since about 2023. That’s carried into 2026. But in most piston airplanes, it looks a whole lot more like a slow, steady give-back than a crash.
Now, here’s where I’d rather look than at asking prices. An asking price is just what a seller is hoping — or dreaming — to get; it isn’t what the airplane is worth. What an airplane is actually worth is what VREF tracks. And when I pull the VREF values on the single-engine pistons I’ve been appraising lately, a clear pattern shows up:
Call it roughly 5% on average across the segment. That’s more than the under-1% you’d guess from asking prices alone — but it’s still less than 15% down over the last year, not a crash. The rule of thumb: the older and less expensive the aircraft, the better the values are holding; the newer and more expensive the aircraft, the more the value has dropped over the last year.
What a Crash Actually Looks Like
Worth being precise about what I mean. A real crash — like 2008–09 — is sudden and disorderly: values plunge almost overnight, financing dries up, buyers walk away from their deposits, and airplanes sit because there’s no one to buy them at any price. New business-jet deliveries fell nearly 34% in a single year, and it took years to climb back. What we have now is the opposite on every count — value drops of 15% or less, financing that’s tighter but still available, and airplanes that are still changing hands. That’s a soft, orderly market, not a crash.
A handful of things piled up at the same time. None of them is a disaster on its own, but together they explain why the phone has been ringing less.
Rates didn’t come down the way everybody expected. Oil shot past $110 a barrel after the conflict with Iran, inflation came roaring back, and the Fed stopped dropping rates — so financing an airplane still costs more, and that takes the urgency out of buyers. Financing also got tighter; the days of 100% loans with no money down are basically over, and lenders want bigger down payments.
The tax rush already happened, too: when the One Big Beautiful Bill brought back 100% bonus depreciation, it set off a mad dash to close before year-end, and a lot of the folks who’d have been shopping this spring already bought last winter. Plus, there are simply more airplanes to choose from now, which hands buyers options and pulls pricing power away from sellers.
It depends on which side of the deal you’re on.
If you’re selling, price to today’s market — not the 2022 peak, and, unfortunately, not what you paid for the airplane. Realistically priced airplanes are still selling; the ones that sit are the ones chasing a number the market left behind. Keep your logs complete, stay current on inspections (don’t forget those 24-month IFR inspections!) and ADs, and present the airplane well. Have a thorough annual done before putting it on the market. Keep it clean and do whatever cosmetic or avionics fixes or upgrades you’ve been neglecting — you want it to show as well as possible, because there’s a lot of competition out there.
Re-dyeing the leather seats is a cost-effective way to spruce up the interior without replacing the seats. A good wash will certainly help the exterior. Glass in the panel always shows better than steam gauges, so even something simple like an Aspen upgrade, two Garmin GI 275s or G5s, or a 7-inch Garmin G3X will bring value to your airplane and make it show better — any of those are less than $10,000. If you do still have a Garmin 530W or 430W, consider changing them out for a newer Garmin or Avidyne IFD unit; Garmin won’t support the 530W/430W anymore. And Avidyne is quietly ending support for the Entegra system this fall — but the good news is the Avidyne Vantage panels are finally certified.
And if you can wait, give it some thought — the back half of the year is shaping up stronger. The fourth quarter is traditionally the best stretch for used sales, and now that bonus depreciation is permanent, that year-end push resets every fall.
If you’re buying, this is your window. Higher rates have thinned out the competition, there are more airplanes to pick from than there have been in years, and sellers are more willing to deal. If you’ve got cash ready or financing lined up, you’ve got leverage you didn’t have eighteen months ago. Be picky — buy the clean one with good records.
If you’re just holding, relax. There’s no reason to panic-sell. Most piston values are easing off slowly, not collapsing. Patience wins here.
The right move always comes down to your specific airplane, your timeline, and what you’re trying to accomplish. If you’d like a current valuation — or just an honest read on where your airplane sits in today’s market — give me a call. That’s what we’re here for.
Earlier this month, Cirrus announced the new Cirrus G6 SR20 and SR22. To the naked eye, they look like incredible airplanes. There is new lighting and the updated Cirrus Perspective+ avionics in both models, plus the SR20 is now a Lycoming powered airplane.
The Perspective+ in the Cirrus G6 is based on Garmin’s G1000 NXi platform. The keypad is updated to a QWERTY keypad, allowing for quicker inputting of data since our fingers are already used to the setup. A home button was added to the center stack to get back to the map page without having to hold down the CLR key. The bug knobs were moved down to the autopilot, while the display of the GFC 700 was altered slightly to match the Vision Jet setup.
The Perspective+ also boasts a 10-fold increase in processor speed, allowing the system to move quicker than the standard Perspective. The ability to wirelessly update databases has also been included.
The exterior of the Cirrus G6 SR22 and SR20 models has changed as well. Cirrus has added the Spectra wing tip lighting system to the Cirrus G6. It incorporates an entire light panel that runs the length of the wing tip. The LED dual strobe setup helps with aircraft visibility and ramp appeal.
The SR20 engine has been changed to the Lycoming IO-390, 215 HP engine. The Continental IO-360-ES 6 cylinder engine comes out of the SR20 and the 4 cylinder Lycoming goes in. 2 less cylinders will help with useful load and the extra 15 HP will help with takeoff and climb performance.
The new Cirrus G6 is available for order and delivery immediately. To read all the details and specs on the Cirrus G6, you can check out Cirrus’ website.
I’ve noticed that a lot of general aviation pilots tend to ignore the flight director on the attitude indicator. A lot of pilots don’t even know what it’s there for or how to use it. Talk to any airline pilot, though, and he or she will tell you how important the flight director actually is.
In most high performance airplanes, the flight director comes on when the autopilot comes on. Essentially, the autopilot is following the flight director, which tells the autopilot where to go. The flight director can also be used with the autopilot off, when hand flying an approach, for example. By turning the flight director on, it will show you where you need to fly to stay on course and on glide slope.
The flight director is most often controlled by the autopilot controller. The same buttons you use to put the autopilot in heading mode also tells the flight director to follow the heading bug when the autopilot is off. When you move the heading bug (or change course on the GPS, depending on which mode you have selected), the flight director will show you when you need to turn and when you need to stop turning. It directs your flight attitude, hence the name.
I recently discovered it’s a great backup when you have some instruments on the fritz. I went on a long flight in a steam gauge Piper Malibu and the attitude indicator started reading erratically. While flying straight and level, it would randomly indicate that I was in a 10 degree bank to the right, swing back and show wings level, then show a 3 degree turn left. This went on for a while. We were in VMC conditions, so legality wasn’t a problem, but it was kind of disorienting.
After a little while of this, the autopilot started acting up. It would start oscillating the pitch up and down, making it seem like we were going through a moguls course in the air. I ended up turning the autopilot off and hand flying the airplane.
This led to a conundrum, since my attitude indicator was unreliable. I could definitely look outside, since it was VMC, seeing when I was level and when I wasn’t. That would create a higher workload for me, which on a long flight like I was on, would lead to an increase in fatigue. The solution? The flight director!
I turned the autopilot off, but I left the flight director up. It wasn’t referencing the bank angle that the attitude indicator was showing since the KFC 150 goes off of the turn coordinator. So, if I just followed the attitude indicator, I could just keep scanning the instruments and relieve a little bit of my workload.
It actually worked really well. By just following the flight director, I was able to stay on course and on altitude with only minor attitude adjustments whenever we hit turbulence.
So, if you’re attitude indicator and autopilot decide to stop working on you, then bring up the flight director, push the same buttons you would if you were using the autopilot, and it works as a great backup.
Many people ask, which set of charts is better? Should I use the FAA Aeroservices charts on Foreflight or pay extra for the Jeppesen charts? Since you have to pay for Jeppesen, they are probably better, right?
I am not here to say which one is better as a chart preference is just that, a preference for one over the other or for certain features. After a while, muscle memory and routine take over and you probably wont even notice the difference.
History
In 1934, Elroy Jeppesen began making his own charts and sold them to other pilots. His little company grew into the giant Boeing chart company we know today. Jeppesen charts are used internationally and therefore include information that might otherwise seem common knowledge, like transition altitudes. The key is, you cannot get FAA Aeroservices charts for international destinations. Jeppesen is the only option for outside the US.
National Aerospace Charting Office (NACO), or the new(er) name “Aeroservices” or FAA chart, whatever you decide to call them, are United States government issued charts. In addition to civilian use, Aeroservices charts are used by the military so there will be some terminology that does not apply to civilians. The best part about FAA Aeroservices charts are… they’re free!
If you are in the middle of a transition or trying to decide which charts to use, you have come to the right place. Here are a few key differences.
Obstacle Departure Procedure Chart
KAXX (Angel Fire, New Mexico) ODP
Approach Charts
One thing pilots love about Jeppesen approach charts is the clear set up for an approach brief. The top section is created as a “briefing strip” starting with the frequencies, then navigation frequencies, minimums, airport elevation and the missed approach. It’s very natural and user friendly.
FAA charts have a slightly bigger picture of the approach planview, but the profile view and minimums section can get a bit cluttered. It can feel a little discontinuous when briefing the approach to bounce all over the page. However, some pilots really like the small airport diagram in the corner, which I find really helpful for situational awareness (particularly for students learning circle approaches). Non- standard alternate and takeoff minimums are also clearly noted, but unfortunately we must hunt elsewhere to find them. The Jeppesen alternate minimums and takeoff minimums will both be on the airport diagram
Arrival/ Departure Charts: Sewzy 5 Arrival KAUS
The Jeppesen lay out is very attractive and draws the pilots eye in a clear way to all the important information. The colors pop out, so the required altitudes and speeds are easy to read and remember. The chart, which is the proper scale, shows MORAs , easy to find airports (and runway layouts) and is over all easy to follow. However, the texts, while very clearly laid out, are small and difficult to read and pushed to the very edges of the chart. FAA charts are simple and fairly easy to read, but the airports are not as obvious and the flow to the airport requires a good look. The table on the Jeppesen chart is a really nice format, but the text and Notes for arrivals on the FAA chart are easy to find and much easier to read quickly.
Airport Diagram
The Jeppesen Airport Diagram page has it all: frequencies, airport diagram, runway info, take-off minimums, departure procedures and alternate minimums. It’s a one-stop shop. It makes preflight planning easy when its all at your fingertips.
The FAA charts usually require a little more searching for different pieces of airport information. The Airport Diagram itself is just the airport layout. Above, you will see a simple FAA Airport diagram. It’s clean and simple, perfect for a knee board print out.
In the flight planning process, as you look at what approaches you will be using for the airport, you might see an A or T inside a triangle. Those indicate that you will need to look in the Alternate Minimum or Take off minimum documents for more information. The Takeoff Minimums document (see below) is also where you will find any obstacle departure procedures for that airport. Apps like Foreflight help you out by posting the take off minimums under the departure tab. Even though it’s a little more difficult to read, I didn’t crop out the airport information so you can see what it looks like in context.
