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Noel Merrill Wien was born April4, 1930, in Virginia, Minn. His father, Noel Wien, was born in Lake Nebagamon,Wisc., went to Alaska in 1924, was the first to fly the 350-mile route fromAnchorage to Fairbanks, the first pilot of a passenger flight from Seattle toFairbanks, and the first pilot to fly over and beyond the […]

If you have ever gone to the store for a pound of butter and returned with a quart of milk, a gallon of ice cream, a carton of eggs, a loaf of bread, a bag of potato chips, and a box of cereal — but no butter — you are a candidate for a gear-up […]

Parallax occurs when you view an instrument — or any other object — from an angle so that the instrument indication is distorted. The severity of parallax depends on the extent of the gap between the instrument pointer and the instrument face and the angle from which you are viewing the instrument. CFIs in aircraft […]

My passions are skiing, flying and flying to skiing destinations as a way to combine the first two. My fly/ski destination of choice is the Truckee Tahoe Airport (TRK) in Truckee, California, a GA facility nestled in the southern end of a valley in the central Sierras, 15 miles from Squaw Valley. Squaw Valley averages […]

I earned my motorcycle endorsement in 1978 aboard a Honda CT 70 Mini Trail. The 72-cc, single-cylinder, 4-stroke engine pumped out 5.0 BHP @ 8,000 RPM through a 3-speed, clutchless gearbox, propelling riders to top speeds of around 40 MPH on 10-inch wheels and a 40-inch wheelbase. It was street-legal, though. The examiner could divine […]

Having earned your instrument rating several years ago, you have acquired a fair amount of instrument experience and a corresponding level of comfort in IMC. You also purchased an assortment of “dot com” stocks 18 months ago and cashed out before the Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the sixth time in 12 months. That […]

The year was 1992 and my flying life was about to change forever — for the better. It could just as easily have ended. I took my first flying lesson in the fall of 1978. It was a happy diversion from the life of a first-year law student. I was so enthralled that I bought […]

Much has been written about the frailties of the vacuum pumps that power our crucial flight control instruments. Most recently, AVweb published the first article in this series (“How Can I Fail Thee? Let Me Count the Ways“), which took a close look at some of the weak links in vacuum systems and components installed […]

As AVweb recently reported, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) issued a Safety Recommendation to FAA Administrator Jane Garvey on September 24 suggesting that action be taken to address inadequate responses by air traffic controllers to emergencies relating to VFR flight into IMC and instrument or vacuum system failures. Although it is clear from the […]

The BE-76 Duchess is a 3,900-pound airplane with seating for four (including crew). Power is by Lycoming at 180 horsepower per side. At recommended cruise power settings, it’s good for about 750 nm (with reserves) at around 150 KTAS at 10,000 feet. The BE-300 Super King Air is a 14,000-pound airplane which is certified to […]