Often, I hear from readers who wish to share insights and advice based on their perception of the state of the general aviation marketplace. Many of the suggestions they offer are good. They have merit. I suspect if implemented, they might actually work. Ideas are one thing. Gaining actual traction, though, that’s the rub. Fortunately, […]
Opinion
I choose to fly
Over the course of my life I’ve had the opportunity to make a few million choices. There’s nothing unusual about that. We all make choices. Should we have red wine with dinner, or white? Should we have wine at all? Fish or chicken? You know the drill. Of those many choices I’ve made over the […]
What to do about a lean mixture setting
Q: I have a PA-25-260 ag plane. When I let it idle 640 rpm, it makes a popping noise, however after takeoff, when I reduce power (slowly), the loader says he can hear a popping noise. Both mags check good and I recently replaced the spark plugs due to a drop in one mag. This fixed the […]
Knowing when to step in
Two guys I never knew once flew for my first airline. One was a training captain, the other a freshly minted first officer. They were best of friends for as long as anyone could remember, so it was natural that the training captain would successfully lobby to get his best friend hired. It also didn’t surprise […]
EAA Chapter lives the aviation (and safety) lifestyle
REDDING, Calif. — EAA Chapter 157 is like any other Experimental Aircraft Association chapter. Or is it? According to FAASTeam representative William Hill, Chapter 157 stands out. In 2005, Hill was appointed the lead volunteer for northern California for the newly created FAASTeam. Hill committed to starting a monthly aviation safety seminar series. All he needed […]
You Can Fly — it’s more than a slogan
Just shy of a year ago I launched on a new endeavor. It was an exciting task. It was unique. It was a bit daunting, too. In all the world there was only one other person doing what I was doing on a full-time basis, and she was nearly 3,000 miles away. Kay Sundaram took the […]
The race to the race
By IVY McIVER. “I got my LoToJa start time, did you?” my husband casually asked one day when I arrived home from work. Hmmm, no I hadn’t seen an email. Come to think of it, I hadn’t seen any emails from the LoToJa headquarters since I registered for the event back in April. I made a mental […]
Can I have your autograph?
Hanging just above the desk in my office is a lithograph called “The Dealer.” The artist’s signature is included just below his mustachioed nose. It’s a self-portrait of Kurt Vonnegut, a profoundly influential writer who did more than anyone else to push me in the direction of the literary arts. Beside it is a thank-you […]
Big changes for PBOR2 as it reaches another milestone
When the Pilot’s Bill of Rights 2 (PBOR2) was introduced, much ink (physical and digital) was spilled on the many shortcomings of Senator James Inhofe‘s proposed legislation. Many complained about the initial limitations of only being able to carry one passenger to no more than 10,000 feet in VFR only conditions using a driver’s license […]