WASHINGTON, D.C. — Air traffic control facilities are in such bad repair that the FAA told Congressional investigators that it estimates the backlog of maintenance costs is between $250 million and $350 million — yet the last two years the administration has requested less than $60 million annually for maintenance. A Congressional committee’s oversight and […]
Opinion
B-17 IS THE GREATEST
My vote is the B-17 Flying Fortress (The Greatest Airplane Ever, June 8 issue). This airplane was derived around 1934-1935 from the DC-3 when we needed longer range. (When we needed longer range for the Pacific, we built the B-29.) The B-17 was a beautiful machine and to the surprise of many people it was […]
Flying the B-25
Last summer broken bones grounded me. This summer I am making up for lost time by not only doing as much flying as I can, but also flying as many airplanes from my “wish list” as possible. You already know about one of them – the DC-3 (Living the dream: Our reporter flies a DC-3, […]
THE BEST PART ABOUT THE DC-3
I’m a retired USAF fighter pilot of over 20 years and flew most of them in the inventory from the F-80 to F-105/106 and F-4E. I have also flown many other military and civilian aircraft from the J-3 Cub to the B-52; and several flights in the C-47. What I wanted to inject is no […]
IF IT AIN’T BROKE DON’T FIX IT
Concerning your article on Lockheed Martin’s debacle on our flight service stations (Frustrations abound on FSS, June 8 issue), I, being from the country and spent a lot of time hunting, had an old saying: “Don’t shoot a running dog” or in city-folk’s language: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” We had an operating […]
UNLEADED AVGAS: YOU’D HAVE TO BE INSANE TO OPPOSE IT
Your fuel and lubricant expert Ben Visser recently wrote in his column that it would be insane to try and develop an unleaded replacement for 100LL (Unleaded avgas: You’d have to be insane to try to develop it, June 22 issue). What’s to develop? Leave out the lead and 100LL automatically becomes 95UL. Since virtually […]
KUDOS FOR OUR OIL & ENGINE EXPERTS
Just thought I would drop you a note. I have been reading your articles in Visser’s Voice and Ask Paul and enjoying them. Keep up the good work. Our 41 PA31s are running well at the moment. DOUG CHANDLER Ameriflight
FLABOB ON LOOKOUT FOR ROTATING BEACON
I was glad to see your story in the June 22 issue about the salvation of the historic Avenger Field rotating beacon by the good people at Lee Bottom Field (WASP airport beacon saved from dumpster). If anyone knows of another no-longer-needed rotating beacon, Flabob Airport in Riverside, Calif., is looking for one. We have an […]
Why do we call an ace and ace?: It was all a mistake in translation
Have you ever wondered why the more successful fighter pilots are called aces? It’s an odd story, which begins with a popular Frenchman of pre-World War I vintage. Roland Garros was a Parisian bon vivant who became entranced by flying in 1909, after seeing Alberto Santos-Dumont skimming madly among the city’s chimney pots aboard a […]