General Aviation News

The savior of the Staggerwing fleet

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One historically remarkable 1939 Beechcraft F17D was nestled among its brethren Staggerwings, quietly soaking up the sunshine on a lovely autumn day during Beech Party 2018.

The arrival of NC2663 (Serial Number 330) at Tullahoma, Tennessee, heralded this singular survivor’s debut back into the fold of flying Staggerwings.

Owner and pilot Jon Berndsen of Stoney Point Airfield (6GA0) north of Atlanta, who good-naturedly admits that he has more airplanes than sense, thinks NC2663 is a terrific addition to his fleet, which includes an RV-7, turbo Cirrus, Great Lakes biplane, and his current project, a Lancair Legacy.

Jon bought the Staggerwing as a mostly-finished project from his A&P/IA friend Steve McDonald, who had agonizingly-yet-lovingly resurrected it from myriad boxes of parts over the course of 15 years. [Read more…]

Carb icing contributes to crash

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The flight instructor reported that, during a long cross-country flight, they encountered deteriorating weather conditions, and to remain in visual flight rules, he altered course and destination.

En route and while approaching a ridge line, he “noticed that the Cessna 150’s airspeed started to drop toward 65 miles an hour.”

He added that “he thought that maybe the airplane was picking up carburetor ice and he reached for the carburetor heat and pulled it out.” [Read more…]

Picture of the Day: I like ‘em both

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Dave Timms submitted the following photo and note: “Photo opportunity at the Wings and Wheels Event sponsored by the Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association in Tillsonburg, Ontario, Canada. The aircraft is an NA 64 Yale, not a T-6 Texan. (Note the fixed undercarriage). This aircraft was on board a ship destined for France during World War II. When the Germans overran France, the ship was turned around and the Royal Canadian Airforce (RCAF) accepted the aircraft as part of its training program in The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP).”

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Are we there yet?

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I’m willing to bet your family took a few trips when you were a kid. Maybe they were long distance treks of a thousand miles. Maybe they were to the next town. Whatever the case, as a young ‘un stuck in the back seat with a limited view and a limited knowledge of geography, you asked the question parents just hate. “Are we there yet?”

There’s almost never a good answer to that question. Ask it once and you’ll hear something on the order of “Almost” or “Not yet.” Ask it a half dozen times or more and you’ll feel the wrath of a driver who is as aggravated with you as they are with the traffic flowing around them. 

When we’re young, or at least younger than we are now, destinations can be the central focus of any journey. To our unsophisticated mind the only real adventure is to be found at the end of the trip. Everything that happens along the way is just prelude. All those people we encounter, all the sights and sounds and smells we stumble upon are tied up in the tedious and sometimes exasperating necessity of travel. We’re laser focused on the end of the line and miss the majesty of what lies around us. 

Humans are weird like that. 

There is an exception to every rule, of course. And for pilots the exception is the almost total disregard for the end of the line we all face.

[Read more…]

Model and military veterans begin flight training

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A model who won Miss Wheelchair Georgia in 2015 and a paralyzed former U.S. Army Blackhawk helicopter pilot are among the Able Flight scholarship winners who have begun flight training at Purdue University.

This month marks the 10th consecutive year of Purdue University’s partnership with Able Flight, which gives people with disabilities the opportunity to learn to fly.

Students in this year’s Able Flight program arrived on campus during the weekend of May 18, 2019. Classroom work on the ground began Sunday and they began flying May 21 at the Purdue University Airport.

[Read more…]

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