Starr Insurance Companies Launches 'Starr Gate'

OK... aviation insurance just got interesting and more useful. There is a new kind of general aviation insurance policy providing pilots who rent aircraft with flexibility for their insurance needs through “high-definition underwriting” and usage-based pricing -- coupled with a tool that can also improve a pilot’s skills. Until now, pilots may not have had real flexibility in their insurance coverage and often paid for coverage they didn’t need. Now, Starr, a leading aviation insurer, has established a way for pilots to pay for coverage based on when they are flying. The program includes the ability to access CloudAhoy, a popular third-party, cloud-based pilot analytics t

Design Enhancement That 'Significantly Increases Cabin Heat Output'

Power Flow Systems has engineered a design enhancement that significantly increases the cabin heat output for their Cessna 172 and 175 second generation exhaust systems (our p/n, PFS-13204). In the original design (dating from 2003), the cool air enters at the front left of the shroud, passes over the internal collector pipes which serve as heat exchangers, then exits to the cabin on the back left side of the shroud. Unfortunately, they tell us that this was almost a direct straight-through pathway. The Cabin heat SCAT hose connection would then come out of the left side and have to snake its way back to the far right side firewall where the cabin heat mixing valve is located. For

Student Pilot Had Accumulated About 50 Flight Hours

On May 20, 2020, about 1043 Pacific daylight time, a Cirrus SR20 airplane, N883PJ, was destroyed when it was involved in an accident near Santa Maria, California. The student pilot was fatally injured. The airplane was operated as a Title 14 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 91 solo cross country flight. There were several witnesses who observed the airplane prior to the accident. A witness reported that the airplane was flying lower than normal. He observed the airplane oscillate, followed by an engine power increased and then the airplane straightened out. Shortly thereafter, the power decreased, and it started to oscillate as it went out of view. Another witness observed the airplane with