Some pilots become jaded with time. Need to perk-up your aviation life? Pre-Sun ’n Fun, I returned to Central Florida’s lake country and a training operation that will freshen anyone’s outlook on flying. Located on Lake Dora above Florida’s Turnpike 35 miles northwest of Orlando, it’s Jones Brothers Air and Seaplane Adventures in “America’s Seaplane […]
TICO Warbird Show suffers iffy weather, but still shines
The weekend wasn’t kind to the TICO Warbird Airshow. Showery weather plagued Florida’s east coast. Some complained online that warbird flying was thinner this year and a promised act didn’t appear. But for the dyed-in-wool military aviation aficionado, this was still a pure play. Any time of year, the Valiant Air Command (VAC) offers its […]
‘FIFI’ kicks off month-long Florida tour
The Commemorative Air Force’s star attraction, the B-29 “FIFI,” landed late in Daytona Beach March 1 because she flies “VFR only” these days. But she immediately swelled the hearts of World War II vets and awed general aviation flyers here more than a decade after her last Florida appearance. And there’s more to come. Sun […]
Recreation time?
Strange as it seems with many millions jobless today, it wasn’t so long ago that theorists pondered what Americans would do with all their free time. The idea played its part in the 1970s transition of at least one pioneering GA brand from family ownership to conglomerate subsidiary. The ever-more-prosperous 1960s meant good times for […]
My dinner with Henry
“My Dinner with Andre” was the movie where two actors do little but talk over a meal (seemingly forever) about the meaning of life. I’m saying very few goodbyes to industry friends here before leaving D.C., but couldn’t miss comparing notes earlier this month with the infamous Henry O. It was “My Dinner with Henry.” […]
A great little airplane, now becoming rarer
This story began as fall sunlight kissed the grass at The Flying Circus Aerodrome in Bealelton, Virginia, some 50 miles southwest of Washington, D.C. The surprise was two Aeronca L-16s among the show’s Stearman and WACO “heavy-iron.” There were even post-show rides and mid-week dual available in one of the post-war period’s great little airplanes. […]
Meigs Field: Still a pyrrhic sacrifice to ‘good intentions’
With last month’s passing of Maggie Daley, Chicago’s former first lady, from power, political blogger Greg Hinz reflected on stillborn plans to turn Meigs Field, the city’s former lakefront GA airport, into a major city park. Years later: Nothing – a typical fate for big government plans and ever more so now under today’s tight […]
The NRA of the Air
Chris Dancy, talented media relations staffer at the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA), recently moved on to the Helicopter Association International. This prompts some reflection on GA’s relations with the media. AOPA is a good exemplar for this, having long dominated the effort as “The NRA of the Air.” I have it “from the […]
Turbulent times
“Occupy Wall Street” protests have made news, raised questions, and recently generated violence. They recall MY generation’s turbulent college years when politics and values took a sharp turn. During the era of “sex, drugs and Rock ‘n Roll,” I wondered how many were lost to the disciplined world of aviation. In my time, Eisenhower-era military […]