Thanks to the benefits of some decent parenting at the hands of my mother, who is a teeny, tiny woman with exemplary manners, I am a reasonably humble man. You will not find me standing on a stump telling the world what an amazing individual I am. There are two reasons for that, really. First, […]
Opinion
History’s mysteries, from above
This year marks the 150th anniversary of a momentous year in American history. Events in and around 1863 changed us forever and left their traces on the land. We pilots have a “box seat” over such visible history in places we fly. The Civil War’s 1863 Gettysburg battlefield, for instance, is in extreme southern Pennsylvania, […]
Observations and invitations
Attached to the main administration building at the Santa Monica Airport in Southern California is an observation deck. It’s a wide concrete structure with a curved metal railing that allows excellent views of the area, reaching from the Hollywood sign in the northeast all the way around to the Pacific Ocean on the southwest. A […]
FAA and industry must come together, Huerta says
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The aviation industry and the government must come together and answer the question of what kind of aviation system is wanted and how it can be financed, FAA Administrator Michel Huerta told the Washington Aero Club. The industry has many segments with different interests and each is pushing its own agenda, he […]
Planes at the Swan
There’s an old saying that claims, “You can’t keep a determined pilot down.” Actually, there’s not. I made that up. Nevertheless, it fits the end of our summer to a T. My pinched nerve finally healed, but because he was doing all of the chores for most of the summer, the Old Man’s ruptured disc […]
Tag team activism
The main hangar space at San Luis Jet Center in San Luis Obispo, Calif., was packed last weekend. A good 300 aviation enthusiasts came from far and wide to rub shoulders, commiserate, learn, be motivated, and be inspired to be more effective advocates for general aviation. They came to have a good time, too. And […]
The experience that is Triple Tree
When my husband Henry and I decided that we wanted to fly our Luscombe 8A over to the seventh annual Triple Tree Fly-In near Woodruff, S.C., for the day on Saturday, Sept. 7, I imagined it would be a pleasant day of flying and socializing. When I woke up Thursday and decided I wanted to […]
Can you stop nose gear shimmy?
The key to shimmy problems is to prevent shimmy from starting in the first place. You have to start with the routine stuff that is in the service manuals.
UAV eyes in the Open Sky
By DAVE HOOK. Do you like taking photos from your airplane? Most flyers do, even if it’s only every once in a while. You should be aware of a legislative slippery slope that’s developing. Unmanned aircraft are currently in the crosshairs of legislators at varying levels of government. At issue is the ability of UAVs to […]