LETTER TO THE EDITOR I really enjoyed the article about Van Sant Airport (Fields of Dreams: Saved but not immune from the times). I flew there in my Cessna 170B back in the early ’70s. At that time, the Smella family ran the operation. I got my first taste of soaring there and got my […]
Opinion
Pilots comment on Mogas and ethanol
The GAfuels Blog is written by two private pilots concerned about the future availability of fuels for piston-engine aircraft: Dean Billing, Sisters, Ore., an expert on autogas and ethanol, and Kent Misegades, Cary, N.C., an aerospace engineer and aviation journalist. The number of signatures on our petition requesting the EPA to prohibit the use of […]
A family of aviation
Deb McFarland is the proud owner of Lester, a 1948 Luscombe 8E, and part of the “Front Porch Gang” at Pickens County Airport in Georgia. Ed Nitzsche started flying lessons while in high school under the tutelage of Jack Brown at the original Tamiami Airport in Miami in 1951. He later finished instruction at Kendall […]
Lockheed JetStar at Museum of Flight
LETTER TO THE EDITOR I enjoyed Dennis Parks’ article on the Lockheed JetStar (Flight & Flyers: A new age of business travel). Perhaps he’s being modest since he didn’t mention the fact, but I believe the first aircraft (which as he notes became Kelly Johnson’s personal airplane) is currently under restoration in the Seattle Museum […]
Know your neighbors
Jamie Beckett is a CFI and A&P mechanic who stepped into the political arena in an effort to promote and protect GA at his local airport. Years ago when I was flying as an instructor out of Meriden Markham Airport in central Connecticut, I attended a meeting held in the city hall building in East […]
Why mineral oil for break-in?
Paul McBride, an expert on engines, retired after almost 40 years with Lycoming. Q: I’ve seen this in Lycoming literature — “Keep in mind that all turbocharged Lycoming engines must be broken-in on ashless dispersant oil only” — but why is it true? My engine overhaul shop, Central Cylinder in Omaha, Neb., insists, in writing, […]
GAMA and NBAA welcome tax agreement
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) and the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) announced support for the comprise tax agreement working its way through Congress after the aviation groups participated in a telephone conference with the White House. GAMA’s President and CEO Pete Bunce said, “We support this agreement because it contains […]
Is ethanol on the run?
The GAfuels Blog is written by two private pilots concerned about the future availability of fuels for piston-engine aircraft: Dean Billing, Sisters, Ore., an expert on autogas and ethanol, and Kent Misegades, Cary, N.C., an aerospace engineer and aviation journalist. According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, “Ethanol on the Run”, a […]
A puzzling problem
LETTER TO THE EDITOR Just read Ask Paul’s post (A puzzling compression problem) and it reminded me of an problem I found several years ago. I had a Lycoming IO-360 180 hp in a Pitts that began to use some oil. It increased gradually from a quart in 15 or 20 hours to 10, then […]