FBOs

Well start this month’s activities at the virtual airport with a classic jet trivia question: Boeing Aircraft Company numbered all of its jetliners with the figure “7” at the beginning and end of a three-digit number. With the purchase of McDonnell Douglas, Boeing is now reusing its designator “717” for what historically was the DC-9/MD-8X […]

Let’s take a little time off from the hardcore technical stuff, and have a little fun. One of my favorite stories involves a pig, but first, allow me to set the stage, jump up and down on my soapbox, rave a little, then tell the story. From 1963 through 1968, I had the incredible honor […]

Last month, I passed along some cold-weather operatingtechniques put together by the denizens of the pilot’s lounge here at our virtual airport.In the process, I mentioned the father of cold weather flying, Bernt Balchen, and said I’dtell you a little more about him this month. In the interim, I’ve also received somefeedback on cold weather […]

Pitch to Altitudeand Power to Airspeed?… or Power to Altitude and Pitch to Airspeed? Several years ago, a pilot examiner of my acquaintance would askhis private applicants one question and one question only during the oral portion of aflight test. The question was, “Which control makes the airplane go up?” If theapplicant answered, “The throttle […]

Can’t breathe welder’soxygen? Aw, horsefeathers, as my dad used to say! Show me the rule! Oxygen is oxygen. It is the substance that matters, not the intended purpose. Thesedays, welding, medical, and aviation oxygen are exactly the same. All three come from thesame tank of liquid oxygen (LOX). The liquified form is the cleanest, purest, […]

It had been a very good winter day. About adozen of us stuck around here in the pilot’s lounge after the sun went down, even thoughsnow was falling and a blizzard was forecast. We were getting warm after dealing with thechallenges of working with little airplanes in cold weather and talking about our daysand, of […]

This column was promptedby a recent enote from AVweb reader Marc Sabransky, who wrote me to ask about theapparent trend throughout the aviation community (and particularly the FAA) towardencouraging every certificated airplane pilot to get an IRA (Instrument Rating-Airplane).He posed the question: “Should every pilot be instrument-rated?” My answer isn’t just “No” but “Oh, Hell […]

Warbird Crews Wanted! Would you like to fly or work on one of these grand old machines? Its not thathard to do, and its really not that hard to get an opportunity. Like anything inthis business, you need to be at the right place at the right time, and have an idea howto act. As […]

It had been one of those busy Saturday mornings at the office. Itwas going to be nice to get out to the airport and spend a little time in the pilot’slounge readjusting my perspective on the world. I had a little time before an aerobaticstudent was scheduled and then it was going to be home […]

As far as I can recall, no one has ever accused the FAA of beingeither logical or consistent in the interpretation of its regulations.The recent changes in Part 61 of the regulations provide severalglaring examples of the inconsistent and illogical manner in whichthe regulations are interpreted by the FAA. Of course, from thattime beyond which […]