Forty-six Flight Service Specialists recently graduated from Lockheed Martin’s Flight Service Academy in Prescott Valley, Ariz., including John Lockheed, great-grandson of company founder Allan Loughead. Each of the 46 will be assigned to a Flight Service Station operated by Lockheed Martin. Students at the Flight Service Academy undergo 10 weeks of stringent academic classes, according […]
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A century of aviation: At 101, John Miller has seen most of it
John Miller, whose 101st birthday was last month, didn’t see the first Wright brothers flight in 1903 but he has been part of, or at least witnessed, most other important events in aviation’s 103-year history. When he was 4, he witnessed the prize-winning flight by Glenn Curtiss from Albany to New York City in 1910. […]
World War II bomber pilot Col Hector Santa Ana dies
Air Force Lt. Col. Hector Santa Ana flew 35 missions during a 17-week blitz over Germany during World War II and 127 Berlin Air Lift missions. He also taught hundreds of Air Force pilots to fly before his retirement. A long-time resident of Millersville, Maryland, he died Dec. 9 of pneumonia at Dover, Delaware. Santa […]
A life in motion:Bill Milliken’s autobiography is a wonderfully entertaining book
“Equations of Motion” isn’t the catchiest title on the shelves, and seems to belie the fascination of the book. At first glance, the subtitle may seem more apt: “Adventure, Risk and Innovation.” Far from being the engineering or physics treatise it might sound like, it is the autobiography of William F. Milliken, now 95 and […]
Margery Taylor Ware, former WASP, dies
Margery Taylor Ware, who flew as a WASP during World War II, died Nov. 22 of renal failure at the age of 91. Ever a fighter, she stood up against sex discrimination, bigotry, poverty and violence all of her long life. Her father, an Episcopal minister, told her that to whom much is given, much […]
The FAA and LASIK surgery: Approval comes with many warnings
About 55% of the civilian pilots in the United States require some sort of vision correction to meet the FAA’s requirements for medical certification, according to the FAA. While glasses are the most common choice, a growing number of pilots are choosing laser refractive, or LASIK, surgery. The procedure alters the curvature of the cornea […]
Go online to speed up the process
The FAA is expected to launch MedXPress, an online system that will allow pilots to electronically complete their applicant information on FAA Form 8500-8 before going to their AME’s office, sometime soon. Yet another effort to speed up the medical process, the system is designed to be as user friendly as possible. While initially slated […]
Toxo: Soaring into the second century of flight
It was a decade ago that Composite Aeronautic Group of Spain was founded with one goal in mine: design and produce a Light Sport Aircraft that would bring together the simplicity and low cost of an LSA with the performance and utility of a more complex and expensive airplane. The Toxo is the culmination of […]
‘Diamond Lil’ undergoes extreme makeover: Reconfiguation may bring name change
The Commemorative Air Force’s “Diamond Lil” may be no more. The B-24, the oldest in existence, is in the midst of a restoration that will return it to its original B-24A status. Based at the B-29/B-24 Squadron at the CAF’s Midland, Texas, headquarters, “Diamond Lil,” was put in the paint scheme and markings of the […]