Reader Mail

Ground Control Energy management is not well taught in GA, if not well managed in the air, it will probably be less well managed on deck…brake fade/fires are the result. That extra throttle energy is getting dumped into brakes sized for aborted takeoffs not your morning commute. Rudder is your friend, use it up before […]

Apollo 8 Remembered Yes, 1968 was memorable in mixed ways, but this moment replayed for us here was so thrilling that it raised the hair on the back of my then nearly 20-year-old neck. The perspective of Apollo 8 taking that required first “giant leap” enabling Apollo 11 Neil Armstrong’s first “one small step” is […]

Smarter Than Direct I have discovered recently, using the electronic aids such as foreflight and fltplan, that accepting what must be the accumulated knowledge of what gets issued as clearances versus what WE think we’d like to do…in many cases give you a routing ‘as filed’ even here in the DC/BOS corridor. I’ve noticed over […]

Joe Kittinger’s Long Leap Into History Long ago I had the opportunity to enjoy a flight in a New Standard D-25, which featured a front cockpit that was actually a “conversation pit.” Pilot In Command – Joe Kittinger. That’s right, Col. Joe Kittinger, one of my aviation heroes, was barnstorming, hopping rides at a fly-in, […]

Time To Listen Up Paul, your story reminded me of one of the best controller reactions to a wayward aircraft/pilot that I have ever witnessed in my 50 years of flying. It was early 70’s and I flew a friend into KIND in a Mooney to pick up his Bonanza that he had left there […]

Devotion: Made Like They Used to Make Them My father, Capt. Walter F. Madden, USN (RET) was CAG (Commander Air Group) of Air Group 3 on board the USS Leyte when this incident occurred. Like most combat veterans he talked very little about the Korean War (or WWII in which he also fought) but he […]

Entry-Level Travel One big advantage of owning vs. renting is the ability to take your time. With renting there’s the added pressure of having to return the airplane for the next renter. If weather threatens the expense of returning the plane late can push the renter into making undesireable decisions, especially if a VFR pilot. […]

Frank Robinson Dead At 92 I was fortunate to hear this remarkable man speak at a Royal Aeronautical Society lecture in London. He even graciously answered a question from me. He changed the lives of many thousands of people by introducing them to helicopters, by making them light and simple. The R22 weighed half of […]

John Raymond Barcus: A Destiny in Aviation Thanks for another great article, Paul. It’s true, the people around us at the airport have some amazing life experiences, worthy of recording. I wish I had recorded more from my two aviation mentors. I heard plenty of stories, but I’m certain these were a fraction of the […]

Buying Backcountry: Focus On Your Needs Rick, American Champion designed the airfoil tail, 11% larger, out of necessity when the “Scout-Water Bomber” was developed in 2010. The bomber version carried 1,000 pounds of water in the back seat area. Equivalent to 5.9 FAA standard folks in the back seat! Let that sink in! The flat […]