The airline transport pilot and a passenger departed on a local flight as part of a flight of two airplanes in daytime visual meteorological conditions. Shortly after takeoff, witnesses heard the North American AT-6’s engine popping; another witness reported a possible loss of power. The plane entered a right turn and appeared to slow. It […]
Pictures of the Day: Doc’s Open House
Dale Krebbs sent in these photo of the B-29 “Doc,” taken Saturday, May 12, 2018, at Doc’s Open House in Wichita. Dale reports it took 80,000 volunteer hours to restored this beautiful B-29 — only one of 2 that are still flying. Included in the photos he sent was one from Doc’s first flight after […]
LA County Airshow honors the Skunk Works
The fifth annual Los Angeles County Airshow marked my season opener this year, taking place March 24-25 in the high desert locale of Lancaster, California, where I was joined by tens of thousands of airshow fans at General William J. Fox Airfield, commonly known as Fox Field. This region is intimately linked to aviation history […]
Glacier Girl survives its own ice age
Any P-38 Lightning fighter of World War II is a crowd-pleaser. The Lightning called “Glacier Girl” amped that enthusiasm even higher at SUN ‘n FUN 2018. “Glacier Girl” was literally frozen in time from 1942 to 1992. Part of a flight of six brand-new P-38s and two B-17s heading to Europe to bolster American forces, […]
Customs and Border Protection launches pilot program for remote seaplane arrivals
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has launched a pilot program allowing seaplane pilots to clear U.S. Customs remotely at two locations in Minnesota, using an app downloaded to a cell phone or tablet. According to a story by Dan Namowitz of the Aircraft Pilots and Owners Association, pilots can use the Reporting Offsite Arrival-Mobile […]
Do you know your aircraft’s best glide speed?
A new fact sheet has been released by the FAA covering Best Glide Speed. The General Aviation Joint Steering Committee determined that a significant number of general aviation fatalities could be avoided if pilots were better informed and trained in determining and flying their aircraft at the best glide speed while maneuvering to complete a […]
New weather features, airspace alerting and more added to Garmin Pilot iOS
Garmin has added several new features to the Garmin Pilot application for Apple mobile devices. Garmin Pilot 9.3 incorporates several new weather enhancements that aid in identifying storm cell movement and icing levels, as well as airspace alerting. With the latest version for iOS, pilots can also view improvements made to the display of traffic, […]
Ag pilot dies when plane hits cell tower wires
After completing an aerial application flight, the commercial pilot was returning to the base airport over 15 nautical miles away when the Air Tractor AT-502 hit terrain near West, Texas, and was consumed by a post-impact fire. The pilot died in the crash. Although the wreckage was significantly fragmented and damaged by fire, no evidence […]
Picture of the Day: Waiting for takeoff
Jeff Kimball sent in this photo for Picture of the Day, calling it “Waiting for takeoff.” It was taken at Gillespie Field near San Diego, May 11, 2018, during a Stearman Fly-In. Would you like to have your photo featured as Picture of the Day? You can submit it via this form. All photos sent […]