Features

It never seems to fail. You reserve the airplane for an early morning departure for the family vacation. Then the kids and the packing and the delays add up, so you launch hours late, and arrive at beautiful Lake Runamuck as one of the kids becomes spectacularly ill, the other is screaming about the dead […]

Owners who fancy a little light aerobatics—or even semi-serious competition—might lust after a Pitts S1 or an Extra 300. But then reality sets in. Those airplanes require no small degree of skill to simply fly safely and that’s before we consider the insurance premiums. And that’s why so many owners inevitably gravitate toward the American […]

Our weekly foray into SocialFlight‘s web site for all that’s happening in general aviation uncovered the highest airshow on earth, a World War II-themed airshow, a Civil Air Patrol pancake feed and a potluck fly-in. On Saturday, June 7 from 10:00 a.m. to noon what is billed as the Highest Show on Earth, an airshow […]

I heard this exchange between Boston approach and someone doing an approach into Nashua, New Hampshire. It seems the ground speed of the aircraft was less than Boston expected, and someone finally said: Boston:“62B, are you a helicopter?” 62B:“Errrr, no – but I’m flying one.” Larry Levinvia e-mail

The most savage controversies are those about matters as to which there is no good evidence either way. – Bertrand Russell That which is legal is not always safe, and that which is safe is not always legal. – John Deakin These two quotes are most appropriate when talking about traffic pattern entries. What IS […]

As spring moves towards summer our weekly review of what’s going on in aviation on SocialFlight reveals more and more events, especially pure, grassroots, small airport fly-ins. The first one we ran across, right in the heart of the country, is in Central City, Neb., where there will be a fly-in breakfast and lunch, on […]

Letter of the Week:UAV Technology Won’t Wait for FAA A UAV (or any remotely controlled air vehicle) flown under 400 feet still has the potential to easily take down a manned aircraft, particularly if flown near final approaches to airport runways. I’d imagine that the 400-foot altitude limitation would also make low-flying manned aircraft vulnerable, […]

I was holding short of runway 9L waiting for an arriving jet to clear the runway. As he was clearing, he asked:“What’s ground control?” The tower answered:“They are the people you talk to when you want to drive around on the airport.” [slight pause] “I always wanted to say that!” The jet pilot replied:“You just […]

Several years ago, I bought my husband a ride in a glider as a gift, and I latched on to the idea of learning to soar. I had read and heard about how flying gliders could add to the safety of flying an airplane, not only as a result of the skills and judgment learned […]

Thank goodness there are passionate and determined owners of vintage aircraft in this world. Due to people such as Joe Shepherd, the lives of we who are crazy about flying machines have been vastly enriched because we get to see the results of their passion fly rather than gather dust. Shepherd owns, and regularly operates, […]