Dr. Guy Baldwin, General Aviation News’ medical columnist, died Oct. 4 during an afternoon performance at the Tucumcari Air Show at the Tucumcari Municipal Airport (TCC) in New Mexico. Baldwin, 60, from Tulsa, Okla., was an Aviation Medical Examiner and an accomplished aerobatics pilot. He often performed in air shows in his Extra 300L. According […]
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the Buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
“You guys are so lucky, you get to fly EVERY DAY!” — Part of a good-bye speech made to instructors at a Seattle flight school by a pilot about to leave for a desk job with the FAA. “It is in Florida where we believe the microjet-based air taxi concept will live or die.” — […]
Airplane crash starts wildfire
The crash of a small airplane started a fire near the California side of Lake Tahoe last month. The fire consumed 20 acres of Plumas National Forest. According to Forest Service spokeswoman Tricia Christofferson, smokejumpers responding to the blaze found the burned aircraft and the remains of two people inside. The aircraft was tentatively identified […]
Former President Bush’s wings bring luck to new aircraft carrier
When its 700-ton island was lifted onto the flight deck of the nation’s newest and most advanced nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, George H. W. Bush (CVN 77), the ship’s namesake placed his World War II Naval Aviator’s wings under the structure. Tradition holds that placing such tokens aboard new vessels brings good fortune. Vessels from ancient […]
It’s full certification for Eclipse
Eclipse Aviation received full FAA Type Certification for its Eclipse 500 Very Light Jet Sept. 30. Full certification clears the airplane through its complete operating envelope, including single-pilot operation, day and night operations, flight under VFR and IFR conditions, and it completes RVSM certification. It also certifies the Eclipse as operating at noise levels substantially […]
When cargo goes astray…
How did alligators get into the sewers of New York? Maybe they took an airplane. When West Palm Beach Airport was officially dedicated in 1936, the first flight out was an Eastern Airlines DC-2 bound for New York City. To celebrate the event West Palm Beach Mayor Ted Brown and Florida Postmaster O.B. Carr decided […]
“Mama Bird” grounded
Evelyn Bryan Johnson, recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s highest-time pilot, was injured seriously in an automobile accident Sept. 10. Known far and wide as “Mama Bird,” she was on her way to Moore-Murrell Airport (MOR), which she has managed for 53 years at Morristown, Tenn. A tractor-trailer rig slowly pulled […]
Of Meigs and mayors
Pilots are not the only people still talking about the closure of Meigs Field in Chicago. According to the group Friends of Meigs Field, the issue is a hot topic in this year’s Chicago mayoral race. Candidates Bill Walls and Dorothy Brown have both made the midnight illegal destruction of the airport an issue in […]
Old School Flying: Of Cubs and CLippers and the way we were
The Wright brothers taught themselves to fly. So did other pioneers such as Glenn Curtiss, Alberto Santos-Dumont, Casey Baldwin and many whose names are barely noted in aviation history. Some, notably the Wrights and Curtiss, quickly decided to pass along their hard-earned knowledge and the first flight schools were established. Every flight instructor since then […]