You know that you are immersed in aviation when your company’s pet fish is placarded and lit up by a spotlight made from the piston of an aircraft engine. Betty the Beta lives in a bowl in the lobby of Sporty’s Pilot Shop in Batavia, Ohio.
From Secret Navy Bomber to Flying Camper
The Beech 18 was a workhorse during the war years. “It has been estimated that 90% of American bombardiers and navigators in World War II were trained in military model Beech 18s,” according to Jane’s Encyclopedia of Aviation. The aircraft was sturdy and versatile. It could be configured as a bomber trainer (the M18R and […]
Buzzzzz…..
“An FAA investigation is conducted by non-flying types who take six months to itemize the mistakes made by a crew that had six seconds to do something.” — Anonymous “If you build a mile of road you can go a mile. If you build a mile of runway you can go anywhere in the world.” […]
Just not enough…ADS-B can’t solve flight delays alone
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The FAA issued a notice of proposed rule making calling for aircraft to be equipped for satellite-based traffic control by the year 2020, amid Congressional, media and public clamoring for quick solutions to the worst period of flight delays in the history of aviation. Even the outgoing FAA administrator acknowledged that many […]
Should I lean while taxiing?
QUESTION: I have had instructors insist that I lean the engine while taxiing my O-320 Lycoming. My current Citabria has a JPI 700 engine analyzer with fuel flow. In the testing that I have done, the EGT will change less than 20° and fuel flow less than 0.1 gallon when adjusting mixture at less than […]
The difference between 100/130 and 100LL
Dennis writes that he’s been been buying 100LL for many years and thought that 100/130 was different from 100LL. He remembers buying 100/130 one time and it was green, not blue like 100LL. He also noted that the chart for adding TCP to the fuel calls for more additive when 100/130 is used than when 100LL is used.
Passenger’s attempts to help end in emergency landing
Power loss for undetermined reasons and the pilot mistakenly shutting down the operating engine when the passenger interfered with the rudder pedals.
The Google Prize
Google, the online everything company, is offering a prize that could reach $30 million to anyone who can send an unmanned vehicle to the Moon, land it there successfully, keep it running through the night, discover ice, transmit data back to Earth, and complete several other interesting tasks by 2012. Like Google itself, the prize […]
A new control tower stands tall
A ribbon cutting on Sept. 25 officially opened the new control tower at Easton, Maryland’s Newnam Field (ESN). Controllers went to work two days later, learning procedures for the state’s second-busiest airport. The tower is scheduled to become operational Oct. 26, almost a month earlier than originally planned. Easton’s is a contract tower, operated under […]