Matt McCoy submitted the following photo and note: “Stopped in Baker City, Oregon, to wait out the storms ahead en route to Boise on my longest cross country flight to date.”
[Read more…]Pilot Perspectives: Seaplane instructor Jon Brown
Seaplane pilots around the world recognize Jon Brown, even if only by name.
For the last 45 years, he has taught at Jack Brown’s Seaplane Base, in Winter Haven, Florida. Jon has given more than 18,000 check rides and logged over 28,000 flight hours, about 19,000 of them in Piper J-3 Cubs.
[Read more…]Video: Celebrating the turf runway at KMIC
A news report just posted to YouTube shows how pilots celebrate when they save a turf runway. A STOL competition at Crystal Airport (KMIC) in Minneapolis is just part of the fun.
[Read more…]Des Moines Aviation Academy finds a new home
It’s not every day you see large aircraft moving through your city streets, but the construction of a new training facility for the Des Moines Aviation Technology Academy led to the ground transfer of several helicopters and airplanes.
In operation since 1943, the Des Moines Aviation Technology Academy recently lost its lease at the Des Moines Airport. The program was faced with eliminating the district’s FAA-approved aviation program or building its own hangar. A $3.5 million referendum produced an off-site building with a main hangar, mechanical shop, tool and equipment rooms, four classrooms, and office space.
“There’s been 100% support to keep the program alive,” says Tim Harmer, an aviation technology instructor with the program. “With the new facility, we’ll be able to accommodate up to 120 students or more, because it’s larger. We are also able to store more aircraft and we’ve expanded the pilot side of the program by adding Redbird fully enclosed MCX and MX2 flight simulators.”
[Read more…]Long-time pilot releases book of practical advice and personal stories
New pilots are well-trained, but lack real-world experience until more flying hours are gained. A new book, “Laughing with the Wind, Practical Advice and Personal Stories from a General Aviation Pilot,” is meant to help fill that gap.
The book was written by Dean Zakos, who started flying in 1992.
He notes that early in his flying days, he and another pilot, flying together, nearly crashed a perfectly good airplane on a clear day due to an alarmingly all-too-common lack of communication and coordination.
[Read more…]Mooney lands in California neighborhood after running out of fuel
The pilot and passenger planned a round trip personal flight in the pilot’s Mooney M20E.
According to the pilot, he wanted to fuel the plane before the return leg, but he did not do so due to the passenger’s desire to arrive home before a certain time.
[Read more…]Picture of the Day: Mooney sunset flight
Michael Williams submitted the following photo and note: “I captured this unique view of my 1965 Mooney C (“Lola”) at the Santa Rosa, California, airport getting ready for a San Francisco Golden Gate Bay tour flight at sunset on Sunday Sept. 15, 2019.”
[Read more…]Questions from the Cockpit: High flight
Justin, a commercial pilot from Texas, asks: What determines an airplane’s “service ceiling?” Is the airfoil or the engine the limiting factor?
Technically, it’s both — along with wing loading, drag, air density, aerodynamic efficiency, weight, air temperature, the coefficient of lift, and a bunch of other stuff that only aeronautical engineers understand.
But in all practicality, for us general aviation pilots, it’s the engine that limits how high we can go.
[Read more…]Only 44% of GA aircraft equipped with ADS-B
A recent report from the Department of Transportation’s Inspector General’s Office states that just 44% of general aviation aircraft are equipped with ADS-B Out, with just months remaining before the Jan. 1, 2020 mandate.
The report notes that:
- 44% of general aviation aircraft (62,494 of 143,322) that are estimated to equip with ADS-B Out have done so. This segment of operators has been slow to equip and has seen only a 56% increase in equipage since May 1, 2018.
- 63% of higher-end turbojet and turboprop aircraft (14,166 of 22,596) estimated to equip have done so.
- Conversely, only 40% of the single- and multi-engine piston aircraft (48,328 of 120,726) estimated to equip have done so.
Blue Line Aviation breaks ground on $13 million facility at KJNX
Blue Line Aviation, a flight school near Raleigh, N.C., has broken ground on its new training facility at Johnston Regional Airport (KJNX).
The $13-million project, a 40,531-square-foot training and hangar space, is expected to be finished in late 2020, when Blue Line will officially move its headquarters from Raleigh-Durham International Airport (KRDU), where it has been since its founding in 2012.
[Read more…]