French skydiver Michael Fournier plans to break skydiving records that have held since 1960, in August. If successful, he will drop from a balloon-supported capsule floating some 130,000 feet over Saskatchewan, Canada, free-fall for about six minutes, and almost certainly exceed the speed of sound. He calls his adventure Le Grand Saut, The Super Jump. […]
You, too, can think like a rocket scientist
Now anyone can think like a rocket scientist, thanks to a new book by a Purdue University professor. “This book is for people who would like to learn the methods rocket scientists use and have them told in a way that you can apply to your everyday life,” said James Longuski, a NASA veteran, professor […]
A GREAT AIRPLANE
I was glad to see someone appreciates a great airplane (Rare Norseman makes its airshow debut, Jan. 5 issue). As I remember it was designed by Robert Noorduyn, who had been a design engineer for Bellanca. I have seen one in the Canadian Museum at Ottawa and at the Bush Flying Museum in Sault St. […]
RETRO THINKING PUBLIC OFFICIALS
Re: A legend lives on: The Avro Arrow remains a source of national pride for Canadians in the Jan. 5 issue: Many of us in the United States were equally dismayed when the Northrop jet-powered flying wing bomber was scuttled in the same manner as the Avro Arrow. Several aircraft were completed and the production […]
SNAKES ON A PLANE
The article on page 6 in the Jan. 19 issue, Snakes on a Plane, got my attention. I don’t know of anybody who’d ever want to be in a cockpit with a snake — but me. During World War II, prior to going overseas to the ETO, I was flying P-39s during Texas Maneuvers. Somehow […]
IS CLOSURE A DONE DEAL?
Re: Bowerman Field on endangered airports list: Washington’s Port of Grays Harbor wants out of the airport game, in the Dec. 1 issue: I’ve been a user of Bowerman Field since 1978. When I started using KHQM it was a very well maintained field with a full service FBO, several rental aircraft, flight instruction, AP/IA […]
AIRPORTS BEWARE
Remember the relief we felt within the aviation community back in 1998 when the state of Washington passed a law requiring all communities to develop zones to protect airports from encroachment by incompatible development? Here is a big red flag, folks. You had better check what your local governments have done, because we found that […]
IN SEARCH OF A BALANCED REPORT
Several months ago you did an article on the Symphony 160 (Symphony 160: The next generation trainer, July 7, 2006). I meant to write this back then, but it slipped my mind until reading about the company’s bankruptcy a few days ago (Bankrupt: Tiger and Symphony close doors, Feb. 2). I owned Symphony #29 (out […]
the Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
“This is real and it’s just as bad as we thought it was going to be.” — AOPA President Phil Boyer on the recently released federal budget, which calls for user fees and increased fuel taxes “It is an ironic twist that while DOT Secretary (Mary) Peters said the budget proposal will help get our […]