AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2011 - 86

The PCASTM Portable Collision Avoidance System is the world’s only portable collision avoidance system to deliver quadrant bearing. The XRX, with its reliable traffic system, allows you to fly safely and with confidence.

GNS 530 screen. There are map, terrain-warning, XM WX, and flight plan “chapters” you can call up with lineselect keys along the bottom bezel, and within those chapters reside “pages” of additional views. The WX page lets you post overlays of many weather features (we opted for XM WX’s Aviator Pro subscription, which contains Nexrad weather radar, cloud-top, freezinglevel, lightning, sigmets, airmets, and much more such information). And a page in the flight plan chapter shows Garmin’s FliteChart database contents, which includes U.S. National Aeronautical Services (formerly NACO) arrival, approach, and departure charts. Garmin’s SafeTaxi airport diagrams can also be called up on the MFD—with the airplane’s position georeferenced on the diagram. You can access these diagrams by selecting them from a dropdown menu on the flight plan page, or simply zoom in on the MFD. With SafeTaxi, you’ll never get lost at an unfamiliar airport. There are about 700 airports in the SafeTaxi database. The STOL decision We wanted the Crossover Classic to be the best an aged Cessna 182 could be. But after some serious deliberation, we’ve decided to forego the installation of Sierra Industries’ Robertson STOL (short takeoff and landing) kit. Several factors fed into this decision. One of them was the shortened time frame for this year’s restoration work. Traditionally, we had about a year to do our already-ambitious restoration work packages. But with the Crossover Classic scheduled to be given away at this year’s AOPA Aviation Summit in September in Hartford, Connecticut, we lost precious months. When we paused, reflected, and reevaluated this year’s project, we felt we were also heading into more complexity than was warranted. The Crossover Classic already has a 300-horsepower engine (70 horsepower more than the stock C-182P’s 230 horsepower), 12-gallon wing tip fuel tanks, and the ultimate in modern retrofit instrument panels. Would adding a STOL kit be too much? Would the STOL kit make the autopilot work harder at slow airspeeds? Could the extra fuel at the wing tips cause a pilot to chase roll inputs while trying to track a course at slow airspeeds? Were we really creating a sort of new, hybrid airplane? That’s too many questions, and that’s why we decided to skip the STOL kit this
AOPA PILOT •

time around. Besides, with its big Continental engine and the Cessna 182’s standard-issue, big, stable wing and large flap area and deflection, a strong argument can be made that a STOL kit simply isn’t necessary. Trust me: The airplane leaps off the runway in very short order, and a VX climb will have you staring at a windshield full of sky, doing at least 2,000 fpm. For that matter, a V Y climb will produce the same result. So with gratitude for Sierra’s generous offer, great respect for the company’s many achievements (especially its several Cessna Citation wing, reengining, and panel modifications), and a sobering learning experience on our part, the Crossover Classic moves ahead with STOL properties—but no STOL kit. Sometimes we get carried away when we first conceptualize a sweepstakes project, and this was one such time. On to Air Mod As this is being written, Air Mod is in the process of gutting the airplane’s awful, old, disco-era flame-red interior. Air Mod’s Dennis Wolter, a fanatic about finding and treating corrosion, proclaims that this airplane is remarkably free of it. Even so, the interior has been cleaned and zinc chromated in preparation for new seats, sidewalls, windows, and other modifications of Air Mod’s design and specifications. One of them will be AmSafe’s shoulderharness air bags for the front seats. Another will be a replacement of the seat rails. This, by the way, takes care of an airworthiness directive that mandates 100-hour inspections of the seat rails. The danger of elongated seat-rail holes? That the seats may slip out of these locking holes, then slide back during takeoff or in steep climbs, causing an accident. (Fatal accidents in older Cessna singles have been attributed to worn seat rails and latching mechanisms.) Other fixes are also in the works at Air Mod, so check the sweepstakes website (www.aopa.org/sweeps) for late-breaking updates. By the way, Sun ’n Fun is just around the corner (March 29 through April 3), and the Crossover Classic will be on display at AOPA’s tent. Those lucky enough to be there can see the new engine, panel, and interior first-hand. Everyone else, of course, can always check the website—and these pages. E-mail the author at tom.horne@aopa. org.

* Tiny unobtrusive size * Completely portable and self-contained * Up to 6NM, 360 degrees and +/- 2500 feet detection * Displays top 3 intruders * Built-in compass and altimeter for accuracy * Headset voice and external audio alerts * Built-in directional antenna * Instant traffic with no delays

Come see us at Sun N Fun Fly-In March 29 - April 3 Booth B94!

www.ZAON.aero (800) 496-9430

86 • APRIL

2011

http://www.ZAON.aero http://www.aopa.org/sweeps http://www.ZAON.aero

AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of AOPA Pilot Magazine - April 2011