Robert Garcia is nearly ready to fly the legendary biplane that he has been restoring for six years. It’s an airplane that is doubly legendary. First, it is an elegant 1944 Beech D-17S, the legendary Staggerwing. It also fulfills the fantasies of all who love historic airplanes: Garcia found it in a St. Petersburg, Fla., […]
One hit wonders
Although the Hughes HK-1, dubbed the “Spruce Goose” by mainstream media, was designed to haul massive amounts of equipment and personnel, only a handful of people have ever been inside of it when it was in motion. Most of them were crew members. Three of the crew who were part of the airplane’s one and […]
Learning from others’ mistakes
Amidst the rubble of a fatal King Air crash, accident investigator Greg Feith found something strange: A Velcro strip on the panel. When he asked the pilot’s wife what it was for, she told him that her husband would put an alarm clock there, set for 15-minute intervals. During his regular flights from Oklahoma to […]
Why flying is expensive
Flying is expensive, at least in comparison to lesser modes of transportation. If everyone agrees that the cost is high, it is difficult to find any two people who agree on why. Some – indeed, many – blame the Federal Aviation Administration and its myriad rules and regulations. Others say that engines are too costly […]
The Wright Experience builds a Wright Model B for the Navy
An elegant replica of a pioneering Navy airplane soon will hang in Dahlgren Hall at the U.S. Naval Academy. Built by Ken Hyde and his team of master craftsmen at The Wright Experience in Virginia, it is an authentic, but non-flying, Wright Model B like the one the Wright Co. delivered to the Navy in […]
Fly to Georgia for world-class golf
James Hatsis isn’t a golfer but, boy, does he love the game. That’s because about 90% of the business he gets at his FBO, Oconee Air Service at Greene County Regional Airport (3J7) in Greensboro, Georgia, is made up of golfers. The airport, located between Atlanta and Augusta, is a destination for pilots from all […]
Endless possibilities in Myrtle Beach
It bills itself as the “Seaside Golf Capital of the World” — and rightly so. Myrtle Beach, S.C., boasts more golf holes per person than any other city in the nation. More than 4.13 million rounds of golf are played each year at the 117 golf courses in the area. And you can bet that […]
Snap rolls and putts, all in one day
It’s been called some of the best public golf on Earth and can be found along the Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail in Alabama. The trail starts in the northern part of the state in Muscle Shoals and winds its way through the state, down to Mobile. For pilots wanting to play the trail, there’s […]
Head to the Sunshine State for great golfing
Florida is well-known for its great flying weather. That weather also makes it ideal for golf. There are more than 1,000 golf courses throughout the state. And while courses may be getting crowded now as snowbirds head South, one tourism official notes that from May through October golf courses “are never crowded, so you can […]