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The weeks after my first report seemed to blend into a mixture of rumor, hope, and picket duty. The controversy regarding our medical coverage was soon sorted out; the COBRA program would ensure continuation with no break. The weather stayed somewhat fair; while showers moved through during my picket shifts, more often than not the […]

Norman Lyle Prouse was born September 29,1938, in Wichita, Kan. He won his first airplane ride by writing an essay for his father’scompany, Beech Aircraft. After high school he joined the Marines, learned to fly, andstarted a family. In his 13-month tour in Vietnam he earned seven air medals. He resignedhis commission and took a […]

TheFreight Dogs When someone says, “commercialpilot,” the first thing the listener thinks of is an air carrier pilotwearing a blazer with stripes up to his/her elbow. But there are many moreoccupations for professional pilots than just flying a human mailing tube, notleast of which are the so-called “freight dogs” – the cargo haulersflying all kinds […]

This was a trip I had been anticipating eagerly allyear. I’d been invited to give a seminar at the CaymanIslands’ International Aviation Week gathering, and would be flying myT310R from its west coast base to Key West Florida, then joining up with The Cayman Caravan to fly over the top of Cubaand into Grand Cayman. […]

The Black Hole Approach One of the major tenets of instrument flying is that you cannot rely upon your body -or kinesthetic senses – to keep you upright. Repeatedly, your CFII has pounded into yourhead the premise that you can only believe what your eyes tell you. Just watch thosegauges and all will be well. […]

Full Employment Is Only a Few New Fees Away December 28 1430 Z 9,500 msl V23, midway between Veracruz and Villahermosa VORs, Mexico Suddenly, it’s right there before of me and, ay, carumba, does it seem simple. Planemakers, our alphabet soup-group gurus and we pilots have it all wrong. We’ve mistakenly spent years of effort […]

Robert Jenkins had a system deviation today. He was workingMetropolis-highR-side and the sector was down the tubes. Busy, busy, busy. Somewhere in therehe ran a guy into Southwest Center’s Capital City-high’s airspace. Bad news. That’s ano-no in air traffic control, running a guy into someone else’s airspace withouta handoff. Southwest Center, at least the system […]

The Continental Airlines flight is en routeback to my home outside of Denver. The B-737/300 is climbing through FL 280. Mysix-foot-five frame is packed into seat 5D and there still appears to be blood circulationto the extremities. The ride is going well, but I harbor a secret wish. If only the flightattendant would announce calmly, […]

The 747 was nearing the end of the trans-Pacific flight from Tokyo to Anchorage, Alaska, and had begun a descent from Flight Level 370 about 120nm from the runway. The triple Inertial Navigation Systems (INS) had functioned perfectly, and the autopilot in INS mode still held the big bird on a flawless and perfectly straight […]

It wasn’t really a bad day, just a little challenging. The wind was gusting to about 15 and it was bumpy. The clouds were solid at 3,000 feet, but the visibility was great. Students were working hard in the crosswind and the gusts, and a couple of pilots were sitting here in the Lounge drinking […]