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Naples Airport Regarding an effort to close the Naples Airport and force all users to outlying fields, AVweb wrote (Newswire, Dec. 8): “It means they get in their limousines and have one more martini,” [city council candidate William Willkomm III] said. This is yet another example of the kind of ignorance that endangers all our […]

“The primary purpose of the ATC system is to prevent a collision between aircraft operating in the system and to organize and expedite the flow of traffic.”Sounds simple doesn’t it? That one sentence is the meat and potatoes of Air Traffic Control. It’s amazing how complex the system has to be to accomplish that one […]

In reviewing Part 1 of this column last month, I remembered another story that illustrates “cockpit culture.” Remember the story of the Flight Engineer (FE) and “backing up” the thrust levers, as a carry-over from the props days? Levers And Fingers Well, one late night in the DC-8 simulator at Japan Airlines (JAL), I was […]

Air Force One AVwbe wrote (NewsWire, Dec. 1): The flight crew had prepared for what they believed was a milk run to Washington for maintenance. I don’t really know for sure but I’d strongly suspect the flight crew was aware of things; however, if you meant the press crew, it might well be. Very hard […]

It had been a lousy afternoon. Dealing with a case involving someone from the dregs of aviation always depresses me, but this one had been worse than usual. When everything was over for the day, the only thing I could think to do was to retreat to the pilot’s lounge at the virtual airport. With […]

Tour Flight Restrictions I’m all for safety, but it is apparent that we really aren’t any safer now than in 2001 (NewsWire, Nov. 17). There will always be one looney in the “bin,” but if anyone knew about GA pilots, they would know that most of us are hard-core, true-blue Americans who would do anything […]

From first glance, it’s abundantly clear that the Smithsonian’s brand-spanking-new Udvar-Hazy Center is a place that celebrates aviation. Looming over the main entrance is a 164-foot-tall observation tower, looking for all the world like a control tower. Behind that rests a huge semi-circular hangar, 10 stories tall and almost 1,000 feet long, gleaming white. Outside, […]

The flight to Denver was going well enough. Light chop in the clouds at three-three-oh and only an hour and a half before we got to the front range of the Rockies.Today’s cockpit conversation wasn’t about the ride or the destination, though. It was about next month and our holiday schedules. The line-of-time bid results […]

Aircraft Airworthiness We have the computer databases and knowledge to have all of the current GA aircraft repairs entered (Newswire, Nov. 17).Evey year we are spending thousands for the annual and having a mechanic go through the logs looking to make sure all the AD’s are up to date etc, etc.Every N-number should be entered […]

Scott Crossfield was the first pilot ever to fly past Mach 2. He flight-tested the X-15, and he helped train the very first astronauts. Now he’s soaring aboard a reproduction of a 1902 Wright glider, built of sticks and strings. He flies in 1,000-foot hops, towed on a 200-foot rope behind a truck on a […]