features_old

Click for Larger ImagesEach high-res image opens in a new window for easy browsing.

GA Screening Bill Rep. Weiner clearly doesn’t go far enough (NewsWire, Sep. 13). He should include private cars and trucks in his ban from cities of one million or more. Plus all truckers, bus drivers, train drivers, boaters and their passengers should be subject to rigorous security checks. We should ban anyone with packages more […]

You know it’s bad when you walk into the control room and hear a controller yell, “I want a tracker!” It really wasn’t what he said so much as how he said it. The high side was trying to work all the East Coast traffic around Tropical Storm Gaston and it was getting ugly. A […]

Cell Phones in Airplanes After a recent AVweb article that recommended readers review the material on the NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS), I followed the recommendation and read the report on Passenger Electronic Devices (PED). The prospect of cell phones on airplanes (now) scares me to death! I hope the PIC exercises his authority […]

Yes, I know that by now Oshkosh — er, the EAA Air Venture 2004 — is desperately old news, what with the kids back in school and some of us actually settling down to get some work done after the summer holidays. But I have to tell you that I’m still excited by what I […]

Civil Air Patrol I received word from a gossipy type, but one in a position to know, that the CAP has had three very recent C-182 crashes and lost seven or nine members. Also, many pilots are quitting due to their new liability rules. I did not re-up in January ’04 after 30+ years.This is […]

The shadows were lengthening outside the window of the Pilot’s Lounge here at the virtual airport. From the tattered old lounge chair, I could see that the activity on the ramp was spooling down into “tucking them away for the night” mode. The flight school trainers were being fueled by the line crew and moved […]

Recently I read an interesting account by a Bonanza owner who encountered an engine problem 11 hours after his aircraft came out of annual. The pilot had crossed the Sierra Nevada Mountains VFR at 12,500 feet westbound en route to the Bay Area, and was descending through 11,000 feet when he felt a bit of […]

A Few Comments Regarding recent aviation news …1. I have not seen the obvious big plus in the light sport aircraft (LSA) program mentioned anywhere. That is for the new young upcoming pilots. Renting solo a tailwheel or float airplane is just not practical (or available) to the low-time pilot. The LSA program allows a […]

Introduction A friend suggested to me that if I compiled the notes I made while learning to fly an airplane and throw in a few drawings to distract the more discerning readers, I could make a fortune. This friend was often given to flights of fancy, being a pilot, and I would have dismissed the […]