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Several years ago our local sheriff tried to check out in a Cessna L-19 Bird Dog he had obtained for the county following some major thefts at local farms. It did not go well. OK, that’s an understatement. He set some sort of record for groundloops on landing. He went through two instructors trying to […]

To be or not to be? William Shakespeare, 1636 To spin or not to spin? Howard Fried, 1998 Ever since spin training was deleted from the primary trainingrequirements way back in 1957 there has been a raging controversyin the aviation education community over whether it was a mistake todrop spin training and whether or not […]

Why do pilots pay more for life insurance? Why? Ever sit down and study an Insurance Mortality Table? Probably not. Well,unfortunately for pilots, the folks who set and approve insurance rates (they’re calledactuaries and underwriters) rarely pilot aircraft. If they did, they’d understand that pilots in general are pretty good risks. They’dunderstand that pilots as […]

Anyone who likes checkrides has to be nuts. One of the toughest things about being a DE (FAA Designated Examiner) is knowing that no one really wants to be in the airplane with me, and even when a successful checkride is done,the checkee is probably going to say bad things about me in the bar, […]

Thecontemporary Unlimited Class of air racing celebrated its 35th birthday in grand style atthe National Championship Air Races held at Stead Field near Reno, Nevada, September14-20, 1998. This year’s event featured 26 aircraft and pilots who qualified to competefor the prestigious bronze, silver and gold race trophies. Included on the entry list weresome familiar names […]

Welcome to the pilots lounge at our virtual airport, a place where anyone who likes flying is welcome. It is not a big place, only two runways, one paved, one grass. It has a couple non-precision instrument approaches, some gliders on the grass, ski planes in the winter, a fair sized office and pilot’s lounge […]

Photos by Richard Allnutt Click on these images for larger, high-resolution photos.   Brian Sanders’ Sea Fury “Argonaut”. Bruce Lockwood’s “Dago Red,” winner of the Gold Trophy race. This photo was taken at the start of Saturday’s heat race, just before Voodoo lost its elevator trim tab. Photos by Kevin Grantham Click on these images […]

Timeafter time, you put the landing gear switch in the “down” position, wait a fewseconds, and are rewarded with those three reassuring green down-and-locked indicatorlights. Then it happens…no green light! You stare at the lights in a few moments ofdisbelief and denial. You feel a knot growing in your stomach. And then you realize youhave […]

Characteristics 8800Silver 8800Gold 9900 9900A 9900B Mounting style Panel Panel Remote Remote Remote Display Integral Integral 3 ATI 3 ATI 3 ATI Display type VF VF LED LED LED Upgradable To Gold 8800 to 9900 A/B To 9900 B Yes Top & bottom antenna Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Antenna type L-band L-band L-band L-band […]

Amid-air collision can, as they say, ruin your day. While we all know that we should spendlots of time and effort looking outside for other aircraft, the increasing computerizationof our cockpits – GPSs, FMSs, digital engine analyzers, and other bleeding-edge cockpitgadgetry – is demanding ever more of our time inside. A United Airlines check pilot […]