You’ve likely already been inundated with comments pertaining to “What the well-dressed airplane wears?” photo caption in the Oct. 5, 2007, edition of General Aviation News. It seems obvious to me that the red brassiere was placed, not as a way of protecting the cowling, but rather to add “lift.” JOHN BURTON via email
Struggle between FAA and controllers continues to boil
WASHINGTON. D.C. — The struggle between the FAA and the National Air Traffic Controllers Association continues to boil as experienced controllers are retiring in greater numbers and faster than FAA expected. According to the FAA, 828 controllers retired in the 12 months ending Sept. 30. NATCA says there are additional controllers who have announced their […]
Prepare your plane for winter
For those of us who reside in northern climates, it’s time for us to begin thinking about what we need to do to get our aircraft ready to put in the barn for the winter. Certain recommendations also should be considered for aircraft that have less than regular use during the cold snowy months. The […]
Understanding octane
The most interesting and least understood part of a fuel’s properties is the octane quality or number. The most interesting and least understood part of a fuel’s properties is the octane quality or number. The octane requirement of an engine is affected by the combustion chamber shape, the bore size, the compression ratio, the load […]
Attempt to fly Hellcat under power lines and tragically
The pilot’s inadequate preflight planning and inadequate evaluation of the weather, inadequate visual lookout, and his failure to maintain clearance from obstacles, resulting in the in-flight collision with power lines.
NTSB: Lack of weather update killed Crossfield
After Crossfield took off, the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center described “an ongoing cluster of strong to severe thunderstorms moving into northern Georgia, as a forward-propagating Mesoscale Convective System or squall line,” the NTSB report says. The weather was expected to destabilize further by mid-day because of surface heating, “enhancing the threat of organized severe thunderstorms and supercell thunderstorms.”
Take a guided tour through GA’s most popular high-performance planes
There comes a time in every pilot’s life when he or she has the urge to fly — and later buys — an aircraft with retractable landing gear. The pilot who is serious about the experience would do well to read “Flying the Light Retractables,” by LeRoy Cook. The 130-page book contains information about a […]
Changing the world — one plane at a time
If you eat, sleep and breathe aviation — especially its history — then you will enjoy “50 Aircraft That Changed the World,” a coffee-table book from Ron Dick and Dan Patterson. It chronicles some of the technological marvels of aviation, starting with the Wright brothers’ 1905 Flyer, through the two World Wars, through the development […]
What to do when your world turns upside down
To many, the name Rich Stowell is synonymous with aircraft upset training, which should really be called “What To Do When Your World Turns Upside Down.” Stowell, author of the recently published “Stall/Spin Awareness,” was the National Flight Instructor of the Year in 2006 and the first CFI to become a Master Flight Instructor of […]