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 […]
Piper unveils its Matrix at AOPA Expo
Piper Aircraft had people guessing at AOPA Expo when it announced that a new product was forthcoming. Were they going to jump into the LSA pool, as many expected? “We’re not bringing back the Cub,” Mark Miller, director of the company’s corporate communications, said during the Expo, which was held earlier this month in Hartford, […]
Zenith’s Open Hangar Day attracts quite a crowd
Zenith Aircraft Company’s 16th annual Open Hangar Day and Fly-In Gathering held in late September at the Zenith Aircraft factory in Mexico, Missouri, was dubbed a huge success by company officials. Dozens of airplanes flew in and hundreds of people participated in the two-day event, which featured educational workshops on everything from scratch-building an airplane […]
Son of astronaut to follow in fathers footsteps
Famed game developer Richard Garriott, son of former NASA astronaut Owen Garriott, soon will follow in his father’s footsteps. He’s started preparations for a mission to the International Space Station (ISS) in October 2008. That mission will be the first in a series that will accommodate commercial activities aboard the ISS, such as scientific and […]
DayJet launches service
DayJet officially launched its air taxi service this month in Florida. The company boasts signing up more than 1,500 business travelers for its start-up fleet of about a dozen new Eclipse 500 VLJs. DayJet is Eclipse’s largest customer, with a five-year order for more than 1,000 Eclipse 500s. Inaugural flights took off from DayPort facilities […]
FlyElite launches podcast
The Elite SimCast is now live and online at FlyElite.com/Podcast. The first SimCast features Elite’s President and CEO John Dixon in an in-depth interview discussing the history of the company, Microsoft Flight Sim X and the RC-1 Advanced ATD. Upcoming guests include Capt. Bob Coffey, a long-time Elite user and designer of the Elite RC-1; […]