This December 2008 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others. Aircraft: Piper Cherokee. Injuries: None. Location: New Bern, N.C. Aircraft damage: Substantial. What reportedly happened: Two weeks before the accident the pilot had the airplane […]
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, […]
Flight Prep grants RunwayFinder.com temporary license
Flight Prep, which has received a patent for its online flight planning tool, has granted a temporary license to RunwayFinder.com while the two companies try to iron out their legal dispute. When Flight Prep filed a lawsuit against RunwayFinder.com for using the technology without a license, the website’s developer, Dave Parsons, said the action would […]
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 […]
Women in Aviation honored at Kitty Hawk
Women in Aviation will be honored by the First Flight Society by dedicating one of the pillars in the Century of Flight Monument in Kitty Hawk, N.C., to Women in Aviation. This dedication will take place during this year’s commemoration of the Wright brothers’ first flight. “This is an incredible honor for women pioneers throughout […]
FAA provides guidance on restricted areas
The Society of Aviation and Flight Educators (SAFE) recently received guidance from the FAA’s Office of Chief Counsel concerning VFR operations in Restricted airspace. While reviewing an article for inclusion in its online library, members of SAFE’s Library Editorial Review Committee raised a question: “Is a clearance in fact required to fly through a Restricted […]
Holiday spirit
Rick Rademacher, who has been a pilot for more than 40 years, is the longtime proprietor of a computer store called The Hackerey in Urbana, Ohio. This year he decided to combine business with pleasure when putting up his Christmas decorations, decorating a Kolb draped with flashing LED Christmas lights and synced with an audio […]
Santa visits GMU
There was a special visitor at last Saturday’s open house at South Carolina’s Greenville Downtown Airport (GMU): Santa. Santa greeted kids at the free event, which included tours of aircraft maintenance facilities, hangars, airplanes, fuel provider facilities and the airport’s control tower. The open house also included static displays, while Discovery Flights in an LSA […]
Sporty’s battles student dropout rate
Sporty’s Academy, the educational arm of Sporty’s Pilot Shop, recently participated in AOPA’s Flight Training Summit that focused on retaining more student pilots. One significant finding from AOPA’s research study was that fully two-thirds of student pilots describe their motivation for beginning flight training as primarily recreational. Recognizing this fact, Sporty’s Academy, which conducts flight […]