It is a basic human drive to acquire things. Historically, this ambition has been used as a means of showing affluence. Mr. Smith owns a tidy three-bedroom, one-bath house, which causes Mr. Jones to set his sights on a bigger, more opulent home. Mrs. Pierce drives a new mid-line sedan, sparking Mrs. Snyder to purchase […]
Opinion
There’s an opening in the public sector
On Tuesday, Nov. 3, only a couple months from now, local elections will be held across the continent. These races will result in new faces and old faces being sworn in to sit on city commissions, county commissions, state boards, and to fill a slew of mayoral seats. These are the people who will be […]
Forget the why, focus on the how
I spent my Saturday productively, standing at the front of the Eickhoff Conference Room at SUN ‘n FUN, leading a donut and coffee fueled group of Rusty Pilots back through the intricacies of airspace, weather reports, and right of way rules. It was great. We spent three hours together laughing, learning, and sharing a few personal […]
Is unleaded avgas coming to an airport near you?
By DEAN BILLING. Perhaps you noticed the announcement that Swift Fuels made at AirVenture 2015, which was also carried by General Aviation News. Swift Fuels has begun distributing 94 MON, unleaded aviation fuel to several airports and has begun a program to distribute it throughout the U.S. Airports currently carrying the new 94 MON unleaded […]
‘Higher, Orville, higher!’
Spoiler Alert: The final paragraph of The Wright Brothers is my favorite. “They took off, soaring over Huffman Prairie at about 350 feet for a good six minutes, during which the Bishop’s only words were, “Higher, Orville, higher!” “They” were Orville Wright and his father Bishop Milton Wright. The Bishop was eighty-two years old at the […]
A bucket full of luck
By IVY McIVER. They say that pilots start out with an empty experience bucket and a bucket full of luck. The trick is to fill the experience bucket before your luck bucket is emptied. Though one can make deposits into the experience account without making a withdrawal from the luck account, it would be foolish […]
You can change the future, one hour at a time
A friend recently made a comment that has really gotten me thinking. His concept was simple enough. There are a lot of people in the world. Some are well along in their career and doing pretty good. Some are looking at the future with eyes the size of pie-plates wondering, “How am I ever going […]
Should I pull the cylinders in my Pitts?
Q: I just bought back my original Pitts Special after 41 years. It now has a narrow deck O-360 that hasn’t been run in four years. I’m getting the PS-5C overhauled, but wonder what you think about pulling cylinders to inspect the camshaft before running it. We borescoped the cylinder walls and there appeared to be a honey-colored film on […]
Fast moving dragons
By JEB BURNSIDE. It’s way too early to know what happened to cause early July’s mid-air collision between a Cessna 150 and a U.S. Air Force F-16C near Moncks Corner, S.C. The accident is being investigated by the NTSB, but it’s likely the pilots involved were where they were supposed to be, doing nothing unusual. […]