one of the airplanes had a leak and the blue ...
342108
one of the airplanes had a leak and the blue one had a faulty design but it was ok.
2290894
After I received the blue water tube and as I was putting water to it out off six four off them leaked out and not good
1493915
The first unit I received had an air leak. From other reviews I've read, this appears to be a common problem. The second unit I received works fine. It works great if you get a unit that is air tight.  Need to make sure you don't over inflate, because air pressure increases during flight due to change in cabin pressure and altitude. Haven't really needed to use it since most long flights have planes with moldable headrests to keep neck upright.
2238960
Thank you Ross for creating a very personal account of one of General Aviation's most notable tragedies. A completely avoidable situation with a tragic outcome that has played itself over and over 1,000's of times in the US.  Aerial searching for a missing small plane is a very complicated process. You need to have good information about the subject aircraft's intent, highly trained resources that are tenacious and properly equipped, and a management team that is relentless.  Filling the sky with aluminum (search planes with minimally trained crews) simply does not work.

A crashed Cessna 195 can fit into an area the size of a living room and be under trees, vegetation, or snow.  There is usually a very slim, conical viewing angle that the downed aircraft can be spotted from the air and then you may only have a second or two to see it and then recognize what you saw.  You are looking for clues of something that does not belong there in vast timbered and mountainous terrain usually, and as in the Finding Carla story, with adverse weather conditions too. You fly sortie after sortie of usually three to five hours each, two or three times a day. After five to seven days of doing this,  you are emotionally and physically spent and sleeping for an entire day afterwards is not unheard of.  Adding the Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) has certainly helped that process and now the new 406 ELT's have made it even better. Not 100% but better. Add to that Radar and Cell phone forensics and the odds are becoming more favorable for bringing pilots and passengers back to their families.

Luckily this trend of preventable accidents is diminishing away and to that I credit the new wave of pilots who are more informed and manage risk much better than before. I also believe that having GPS in the cockpit as well as the incredible sources of weather available online are helping GA pilots maintain situational awareness and make better weather decisions.

Carla's untimely passing was certainly not in vain. There are some very dedicated individuals who are working today to build on this incident and many others that followed. They are  working to distill every ounce of knowledge from them so the next time an aircraft goes missing we can focus on the rescuing and not searching. Every search incident I participated in or managed the past 30 years has Carla reminding me that those waiting to be rescued are asking where we are at too. The faces of the family members and friends that gather at the command post have the cast of "the fear-of-the-unknown" and the pain of "what might be" on them as I am sure Carla's did.  If you are a pilot or ride in small aircraft you need to read this story and learn from this families sacrifice.

Ross Nixon is to be commended for writing this story and sharing it with all of us!
4286181
A couple leaking pens caused a real mess as I was preparing for our VBS program.  The pens were for a children's craft project and most of the pens went home with those children.  I just hope the pens I screened for the children ended up as 'good' pens and that I was the only one to end up with stained hands.
1477975
I was hoping some of the reviews would not be true, but they are. This bag is not sturdy enough to last in one roundtrip on planes. Upon our return, there was a 3.5-4" tear in the canvas of the bottom side of the bag that had occurred during air travel. The tear was caused by something external as the only thing packed at that area of the bag was ski clothing.
4522906
Several balloons had pin size holes in them when  filling them with helium causing them to have a slow leak before leaving the store.
1471050
I ordered 3 of these travel cups and 1 of them leaks between the cup and the top. the other 2 are ok.
2344960
We used these on one trip at the end of August, and just pulled them out to use less than a month later and there is either or a hole or some sort of defect.
2563738
One of the tires wouldnt hold air had to get a new one.
1198752
Author did address sever maintenance issues of the aircraft.  It was a difficult a/c to fly in weather conditions.  It didn't handle icing well.  The maintenance vans were only able to check two specific a/c and were highly dependent on vacuum tube technology which cost nearly as much as the two a/c.  On and on.
4915623
Had one container leaked out and ruined 1 box of cartridges.
1239447
They leak air after a relatively short time.
240907
After installation discovered a small leak at an incomplete weld.  A friend welded the leak and it seems to work fine now.
219565
This isn't made to withstand airport travel. It tore after it's first flight. :/
1028109
The planes were cheap and fell apart when I took them out of the package. Was able to put them back together and make it through my sons blowing them out.
772494
Unfortunately this model is just okay, not sure if this problem is with this particular one or not. My Dad flew this plane and was one of the first to transfer from props (A-1d Skyraiders) to jets (A-4 Skyhawks) and I knew I wouldn't get one with his squadron, but what I received was a plane that has VA-174 on one side of the fuselage and VA-17 on the other. If this is what the company planned than there ya go, if not then a poor attention to detail is the result and is my point. The packaging was above excellent and the plane other than this is just fine, but I grew up with his models (broke a few if I remember correctly) and they we're of the same build quality with at least the same squadron on both sides of the fuselage.