Reader Mail

Aerotoxic Syndrome I am a flight attendant and have experienced that odor on the B-747-100, B-727 and also on G-IVs (NewsWire, Jan. 20). I don’t believe I have suffered any illness from it. I remember numerous times telling the pilots it smells like dirty feet. I thought I must be the only one smelling it. […]

Picture of the Week and Digital Edits In response to J.T. McDuffie (AVmail, Jan. 17):Yes, Ansel Adams made the most of his photographs in the darkroom. But he didn’t “move mountains,” he enhanced them. His photos represent an actual vantage point, a real moment in time.Remember the uproar in 1982 when National Geographic “moved” the […]

Flat Spin A navy pilot (retired) with 6,000 hours in jets, props, multi engine, test pilot, combat, and trained pilots had a flat spin in a jet fighter. He came out of it by cutting the power, dropping the flaps and pushing the nose down. I’ve been told that you can’t get out of a […]

Frost Contamination Regarding recent stories about frost on a wing (NewsWire, Jan. 3):Often proven is the fact that an aircraft with hoar frost on its wing will fly in ground effect at a given airspeed, but upon leaving ground effect at that same airspeed the wing will be stalled. Due to the now-higher angle of […]

ATC Retirement Age I think we are looking at an age-averaging game (Question of the Week, Dec 23, and AVmail, Dec. 27). Some individual will be past their prime before the mandatory age limit, but I believe this to be only a small percentage. To lose years of experience of both ATC and pilot personnel […]

Security Incident The system works. A recent story from Kansas shows what normally happens at an airport where someone seems out of place.A nefarious character was spotted by a customer service person at local airport. The man just seemed out of place. The individual was identified, the local communication network was activated, and the individual […]

Cessna Eyes Massive Boys-And-Girls Club Thank you for picking up this story (NewsWire, Dec. 9).Nothing but good can come of this idea: A major corporation spending its monetary and human resources on young people in their formative years. The kids who become part of this endeavor will learn many lessons, but the largest will be […]

Flight Service Stations Your question this week about the FSS and quality of services prompt me to send this letter with additional comments (QOTW, Dec. 1).I’ve had a long association with Flight Service Stations as a user. I started in aviation when I was 17 and we had a FSS on the field. Every morning […]

TCAS Advisories I have known Don Brown for about 20 years, and I can safely say that he is one of the best and most conscientious controllers that I have ever met. Sometimes I wish I were more like him, and sometimes not. Sometimes the FAA phraseology does not “cut to the chase.” Personally, I […]

Sport Pilot Sport Pilot, though convoluted and confusing, has some meritorious features. A simpler approach would have been to liberalize part 103, the ultralight regulations, particularly as regards the weight limitation of 204 pounds.Robin Nichols FAA Designee GAO Report The GAO report highlights a couple of things (NewsWire, Nov. 18:1. The number of FAA Designees […]