While flying, have you ever looked down to tune a radio? Check an engine or fuel gauge? Referenced your navigation chart? Chat with your passenger? Focus on something on the ground? Well, then you aren’t seeing and avoiding to the best of your ability. Wouldn’t it be nice to have some help? Something that doesn’t […]
Opinion
Anachronism or genius?
The world of 100 years ago was quite different than the one we inhabit today. There was no central heat or air-conditioning back then. Private dwellings and places of business were drafty and cold, or insufferably hot, depending on the season. Distances were covered on foot, or on horseback, or in a wagon that bumped […]
The dangers of overthinking
My wife’s lovely voice pierced an almost-as-lovely evening flight. “What’s that red light on the instrument panel?” She was pointing to the alternator fail red warning light. And now a fancy-free evening above central Virginia pine forests had just turned into “a situation.” My wife is competent, cool under pressure. If she ever deigned to get […]
One becomes two, then becomes a movement
While there are plenty of reasons to hang your head and lament the difficulty of making a difference in your community, it is not impossible to have a positive effect. Hard? You betcha. Impossible? Not hardly. There is reason for real hope even when the hill seems unimaginably steep and the burden feels too heavy […]
The secret is out — finally
Shhhh. I’m going to trust you to keep this to yourself. It’s a secret. It has been for years. Yet, I’m going to tell you the truth. Here. Now. Only a few sentences hence. Now, if I’m going to be completely honest, I have to admit the paragraph you just read is hyperbole. I’ve used […]
Result Of CEH lawsuit settlement: Were there any?
By DEAN BILLING. Late in 2011, a little known environmental organization, perhaps totally unknown in aviation circles, Center For Environmental Health (CEH) filed a lawsuit against “30 companies that sell and/or distribute lead-containing aviation gas (avgas) at 23 California airports, calling on the companies to provide safer alternative fuels.” At the time, there was some fanfare in […]
Stories from the logbook
We’re all connected…somehow. A July 1987 entry in my logbook proves it. I was barely 17 years old and had flown our 1946 J-3 Cub on July 17 from our airpark home – Shady Acres – to the annual Arlington Fly-In. My logbook notes, “massive headwinds, heavy x-wind when landing.” At this point, I was […]
A deadly combination: Selfies and flying
Recently the National Transportation Safety Board released a report on the May 2014 crash of a Cessna 150 in Watkins, Colo., that was attributed to the pilot being distracted by taking selfies. How many people heard about this crash and thought to themselves, “It was only a matter of time before this contributed to a […]
Sharing the skies with RPAs
They fly, so pilots could love Remotely Piloted Aircraft (RPA) [with other terms also used, including unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV), unmanned aerial systems (UAS), and drones.] Some pilots are already involved with RPAs. However, RPA pilots remain on the ground. Is that the same? Differences have a way of dividing people, even when they may […]