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They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. – Ben Franklin Old Ben had it right, but only half-right. He pointed out that such people don’t “deserve” either, but failed to point out they won’t GET security, either. There is no such thing, for we […]

Hack started it, another, er, discussion, that’s it, discussion, in the pilot’s lounge here at the virtual airport. Hack was explaining to one of the yuppie pilots that no self-respecting human being would ever allow a bartender to serve him a martini with ice floating in it. Hack was explaining real loud. As the exchange […]

William Langewiesche was born June12, 1955 — 11 years after his father Wolfgang had published Stickand Rudder, the classic book on the art of flying. William grew up inairplanes, and learned to fly the gauges before he could see over theglareshield. He soloed at 14, flew air taxi and charters to put himself throughStanford, then […]

There are several programs designed to interest young people in aviation – the most notable of which is the Experimental Aircraft Association’s Young Eagles – but there are only a very few that actually get the kids started flying as genuine student pilots. Rick Durden recently wrote about what is obviously the largest of these, […]

An airplane, especially an antique open-cockpit biplane built of wood and fabric and luck, is an idea with wings. The idea lives in each spar and brace, in every particle of imagination and know-how and tinkering that brought it all together and keeps it alive. And like any idea, it has the power to make […]

Up until this point I’ve been having fun writing this column. This installment isn’t going to be fun, at least for me. This is my third attempt at writing this particular column. I’ve been looking for a way to take the sting out of telling someone that they are doing something wrong. If anyone could […]

While hanging around and working at the Sarasota-Bradenton airport (SRQ) in the mid-50s, I became aware of a small group of pilots my father called “airport bums.” It was years before I realized that was intended as a derogatory term, for they were my heroes. That was probably why Dad put me into forced labor […]

NOTAM 1/1016 advises that current editions of the Aeronautical Information Manual depicting intercept signals may be incorrect (this is true for the FAA’s online version) and makes corrections. !FDC 1/1016 FDC AERONAUTICAL INFORMATION MANUAL, TABLE 5-6-2, AIRCRAFT INTERCEPTING SIGNALS, SERIES 4, 5, AND 6, THE COLUMN HEADINGS ARE INCORRECT. THE LEFT COLUMN CURRENTLY LABELED INTERCEPTING […]

!FDC 1/1979 FDC TEMPORARY FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS OVER NUCLEAR SITES. FOR REASONS OF NATIONAL SECURITY. EFFECTIVE NOVEMBER 02, 2001 2200 UTC UNTIL NOVEMBER 07, 2001 0500 UTC. PURSUANT TO TITLE 14 CFR SECTIONS 91.139, EMERGENCY AIR TRAFFIC RULES AND 99.7 SPECIAL SECURITY INSTRUCTIONS. ALL GENERAL AVIATION FLIGHT OPERATIONS ARE PROHIBITED WITHIN A 10 NAUTICAL MILES RADIUS […]

In the weeks since September 11, I’ve found that I have sometimes avoided visiting with my friends in the Pilot’s Lounge at the virtual airport simply because of the gloom and doom that has become the preferred conversation of so many pilots. While I join them in not being impressed by the manner in which […]