Have you ever wondered why the more successful fighter pilots are called aces? It’s an odd story, which begins with a popular Frenchman of pre-World War I vintage. Roland Garros was a Parisian bon vivant who became entranced by flying in 1909, after seeing Alberto Santos-Dumont skimming madly among the city’s chimney pots aboard a […]
In the beginning…
If you can use it in an airplane or to enhance your aviation experience, chances are good that you can find it at Sporty’s Pilot Shop. Indeed, there are those who say that ordering something from the world-famous pilot supply store is a rite of passage in aviation. Sporty’s got its start when owner and […]
Super-fast builder assistance for RV owners: John Nys averages less than three months each
Nys Aircraft works strictly to the FAA’s 51% rule, under which a kit airplane builder must do 51% of the work as defined by the FAA.
How time – and memories – fly
It got very little mention, either in the general or aviation news media, but May 20-21 was the 80th anniversary of Charles Lindbergh’s historic flight from New York to Paris. In May of 1927, and for decades afterward, Lindbergh was mobbed wherever he went and anniversaries of his flight were celebrated, quite literally, in song […]
Greg Turton found a way to beat the heat – and started a new company: Artic Air takes off as poilots clamor for poratble air conditioners
Necessity is the mother of invention. Just ask Greg Turton, an Atlanta businessman who owns a Cirrus. Often spending 30 minutes or more waiting to take off in the crowded Atlanta airspace, he realized he needed air conditioning, but at $25,000 to $30,000, it was just too expensive. “I wouldn’t pay that much for it,” […]
Toast the 80th anniversary of Lindbergh’s famous flight
To celebrate the 80th anniversary of Charles Lindbergh’s New York-to-Paris flight, the Lindbergh Foundation and Chandelle Winery of Sonoma, Calif., are offering a special limited edition labeled wine: The 19th Hour, The Spirit of St Louis. The original artwork for the new label, created by aviation artist Keith Ferris, and badged with a special 80th […]
The new baby
You know you’re hard core into aviation when you send pictures of your wife and the new engine for your homebuilt aircraft to your friends. Marty Bryant of Covington, Wash., (left) hugs the LOM M462-RF that she and husband Neil intend to hang on the front of their Comp Air, which they are building as […]
Flying the Adam A500
I freely admit it. From the time Burt Rutan, at the behest of George “Rick” Adam, designed and built the Carbon Aero M-309, which later evolved into the Adam A500, I always had an interest in flying the plane, particularly after seeing it featured in the recent movie “Miami Vice” where it aggressively pursued the […]
Do-it-yourself publishing: Have a burning pasion to tell a story of flight?
Publication of aviation books has been something of a “cottage industry” almost from the beginning of manned flight. No less a figure than Benjamin Franklin self-published one of the first accounts of manned balloon flights, which he witnessed from the streets of Philadelphia. While not exactly a book – pamphlet might come closer – it […]