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It had been a very good winter day. About adozen of us stuck around here in the pilot’s lounge after the sun went down, even thoughsnow was falling and a blizzard was forecast. We were getting warm after dealing with thechallenges of working with little airplanes in cold weather and talking about our daysand, of […]

I don’t fly balloons. Idid fly balloons, but I gave it up. Not because it isn’t a lot of fun, because it is. Idon’t fly balloons because, like flying flingwings, it is too much work for a lazy guylike me. With an airplane, you take off, point it where you want to go, trim it […]

I, too, was surprised to read in the Oregonian article on the 20-year reunion of thecrash of UA173 that faulty fuel gauges were attributed to the crash. That is the firsttime I had heard about that. I was one of the Portland International FAA Air TrafficControllers on duty that fateful evening. I was working arrival […]

NATIONAL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY BOARDWASHINGTON, D.C. 20594 AIRCRAFT ACCIDENT REPORT Adopted: June 7, 1979 UNITED AIRLINES, INC.McDONNELL-DOUGLAS DC-8-61, N8082UPORTLAND, OREGON DECEMBER 28, 1978 SYNOPSIS About 1815 Pacific standard time on December 28, 1978, United Airlines, Inc., Flight173 crashed into a wooded, populated area of suburban Portland, Oregon, during an approachto the Portland International Airport. The aircraft […]

This column was promptedby a recent enote from AVweb reader Marc Sabransky, who wrote me to ask about theapparent trend throughout the aviation community (and particularly the FAA) towardencouraging every certificated airplane pilot to get an IRA (Instrument Rating-Airplane).He posed the question: “Should every pilot be instrument-rated?” My answer isn’t just “No” but “Oh, Hell […]

Top 10 Aviation News Stories | Awardsof Distinction | Final Flights The Top 10 Aviation News Stories Of 1998 10.  Viagra These little blue pills (at least that’s the color we’re told they are…) will appear on many 1998 retrospective lists. Beyond the huge amount of coverage the new “erectile-dysfunction” drug has received in the […]

Warbird Crews Wanted! Would you like to fly or work on one of these grand old machines? Its not thathard to do, and its really not that hard to get an opportunity. Like anything inthis business, you need to be at the right place at the right time, and have an idea howto act. As […]

It had been one of those busy Saturday mornings at the office. Itwas going to be nice to get out to the airport and spend a little time in the pilot’slounge readjusting my perspective on the world. I had a little time before an aerobaticstudent was scheduled and then it was going to be home […]

The aircraft magneto is a cursed thing. Its technology seemingly dates to the discovery of fire, every engine needs at leasttwo and on a dark and stormy night over the Appalachians, the last thing you want to thinkabout is how many fragile moving parts are whirling around inside a mag at the speed ofheat. But […]