Features

Fuel Prices After the FBO at my base airport raised their prices by more than a $1/gallon overnight, I started asking around to see what had caused it. The answer turned out to be that they were simply matching the price of the FBO across the field, not simply covering cost increases. The trickle-down results […]

I was working on my multi-engine rating at an airport where the controllers had apparently grown very familiar with the routine for training flights. While on downwind in the Duchess with my instructor, I heard this: Controller: Bonanza 123AB you will be following a Duchess on downwind … he’s about to lose an engine.

Fathers Day TFR Reading Ed Chromczaks response (AVmail Oct. 24) to Bill Hayes’ article Fathers Day TFR prompted me to seek out and read the original article.There was a statement in that original article that caught my attention. Bill said that the FSS disclaimer towards the presence of TFRs was intended only to “… help […]

It was about an hour after sunset at the virtual airport. I was sitting in one of the big recliners in the pilot’s lounge wondering whether the cost of avgas was a great cosmic practical joke and curious as to whether it was possible to calculate just how much weight I’d have to lose to […]

On arrival at Key West I pulled my TBM 700 past the Taxi way hold short line and keyed the mic to say hello to ground… Me: Ground, we’re going to stop here to clean up a bit. Ground: Why? It looked like a great landing from here…

Metal possesses lots of properties that we find very useful in building airplanes. It’s strong, hard, and tough. It’s easy to form, work and machine. It’s fireproof and can stand up to high temperatures. All in all, metal is neat stuff.But metal isn’t unique in having these properties. Metal is strong, but ordinary cotton fiber […]

FedEx Crash I am a resident of Charlottetown and have known Nancy Chase Allen for about two years (NewsWire, Oct. 10). I have seen this pilot in action and she was a pilot and one half. This lady always spends about one hour checking the aircraft inside and out before she starts on a flight […]

My 17-year-old nephew Kermit asked me to go with him out to the local airport to have a gander at some WWII bombers that were visiting the aviation museum. It was a good excuse to avoid mowing the lawn and gave him the chance to scare the bejesus out of me with his driving.I was […]