features_old

For three decades, the airlines and military have been using the principles of reliability-centered maintenance to achieve drastic reductions in maintenance cost while actually improving reliability (discussed in last month’s column). The lion’s share of this improvement in maintenance cost-effectiveness has come from a major shift away from fixed overhaul, replacement or retirement intervals towards […]

Can You Feel The Turn? The author of this article (about the blind passenger’s ability to sense going into or out of a turn unless the rate was slow) states that it matched his preconceived notion on the subject (The Pilot’s Lounge, Aug. 13). Actually, numbers can be put to this. The human body is […]

This article originally appeared in IFR magazine, Mar. 2005. Accident reports can make enlightening reading, but some of the NTSB reports from prior to 1983 are a bit cryptic. Like this one, from a Boeing 747 accident at Chicago O’Hare: DCA79AA009TYPE OF ACCIDENT: COLLISION WITH AIRCRAFT, BOTH ON GROUNDPHASE OF OPERATION: LANDING ROLLPROBABLE CAUSE(S): TRAFFIC […]

A Boeing 767 can taxi up a shallow-grade taxiway on one engine and no additional power. I should know — I have been taxiing big airplanes up the hill in Atlanta next to Delta’s Jet Base for over 28 years now.The key to the whole conga-line taxi thing is to take your time and not […]

This article originally appeared in IFR Refresher, Sep. 2006. An inherent problem that comes with familiarity is that it tempts us to take risks we would otherwise never consider. Think of the road you take home from work every day. Because you’re familiar with its every bounce and undulation, you probably take a turn or […]

User Fees As I watch the debate between GA user (?) fees or not, I am left wondering what purpose will be served. If one listens to the airlines, the company line appears to be, “Gotta have user fees … we are paying too much … GA is causing delays,” etc.I believe, should user fees […]

Imagine yourself in the captain’s seat of this DC-3 (see photo below), flying in instrument meteorological conditions (IMC) and hard on the gauges. Which instrument on this airline-standard panel of the 1940s and ’50s is directly ahead of you? It’s the turn-and-bank indicator. This is a throwback to the earliest days of instrument flight, when […]

Imagine doing steep turns with a baby elephant strapped to your shoulders. That’s equivalent to the amount of force experienced by the Red Bull Air Race pilots as they hurtle round the course, throwing their aircraft into half-cuban eights-and vertical rolls at 240 kt., determined to clock the fastest time between start and finish. At […]

Cessna 162 Skycatcher In response to other “Letters to the Editor” regarding Cessna’s new LSA (AVmail, Aug. 6), I must stand up in Cessna’s defense.Yes, $109,000 is prohibitively expensive for an individual to purchase. However, the real beauty of the Sport Pilot certificate is that you can now become a licensed pilot for about $3,000. […]

One of the most enjoyable things about frequenting the Pilot’s Lounge at the virtual airport is getting to spend time with some very interesting people who are determined to live their lives fully; who are always reaching out to do things that enrich their existence and that of others. Part of the fascination of spending […]