I was reading the March 25, 2005 issue (No. 6) Pilot’s Report about the XL-5 Velocity. I have a question about the speeds that were presented in the table. The Vne was at 200 kts IAS and the cruise speed (75% power) was at 205 ktas. Can you clarify why the cruise appears to be […]
Opinion
The outsiders
Alan Klapmeier gets a lot of grief because he’s selling planes. Well, it’s not because he’s selling planes — it’s who he’s selling them to. “Our company gets beat up for trying to sell airplanes to people outside the industry,” says the co-founder and CEO of Cirrus Design Corp., which produces the SR-20 and SR-22. […]
NRA a poor model for GA
Your editorial in the February 2005 issue shows how far we’ve moved toward having a police state in this country (They don’t know us: Why security agencies fear GA and what we can do about it). If people think it’s reasonable that we need to get permission from the government to do anything, then we […]
Idea met with polite yawns
I was struck by the degree of naiveté you exhibited by suggesting the possibility of a unitary group combining those whose interests are opposed to GA (restricting the meaning of GA to individual ownership of the aircraft). The airlines despise GA. The airlines are run by financiers, not by the pilots. And I am suspicious […]
Rewriting history
Re: “To save the South: We are gradually erasing reminders of our past,” (March issue): You are right, the politically correct are trying to revamp and remove history. Here in Louisville, Ky., there is a move to remove a very large monument that is over 110 years old dedicated to Confederate soldiers from Kentucky who […]
Who held the original speed record?
QUESTION: Who did Lt. Russell Maughan take the air speed record from when he set the record in March 1923? Sue Hechinger Flower Mound, Texas ANSWER: Lt. Russell Maughan set his record in 1922, not 1923, when he won that year’s Pulitzer Race on Oct. 14 at 205.856 mph in a Curtiss R-6, beating a […]
Here we go again: Lawmakers introduce bill to open Reagan National to GA
WASHINGTON, D.C. — It has been tried before, but here we go again: an attempt to get Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport reopened to general aviation. This time a bipartisan bill has been introduced in the U.S. House directing the Department of Transportation to allow general aviation access within six months. Except for a number […]
Why accidents make headlines
Nice story (Flying with the NASCAR Air Force, March 11) and very complete, except that one major fact is wrong. The recent accident involving the Hendrick Motorsports Team occurred in Stuart, Va., in the Martinsville, Va., area, not in Richmond. What is important here is that the flight originated in Concord, N.C., less than a 100 […]
Nice cover, missing info
Saw the recent issue with the Glastar 2+2 amphib on the cover…nice cover (March 11 issue)! Question: Why is there no mention at all that those are Montana Float Co. amphibs under that spectacular airplane? Bob Andrews via email

