Meg Godlewski’s article in the Aug. 24 issue, Formation flight honors Van’s RVs, quoted Stu McCurdy as stating that the 35 ship RV formation flown this year was the largest ever at Oshkosh. He is not even close to correct! In 1999, the T-34 Association put up a 61-ship formation, and I am quite sure […]
Success of Edge speaks for itself
In the story Wonder Woman: Patty Wagstaff Commands the Skies in the July 20 issue, writer J. Douglas Hinton asked: “We’ve noticed that some of the better known aerobatic pilots, such as Kirby Chambliss, have switched to the Edge and others, the French CAP. What’s your take on that?” Wagstaff replied: “Every airplane is a […]
Visser Spot On
I think Ben Visser was spot on in his Sept. 7 piece, The definition of insanity, when he cites the old 80/20 rule regarding 100LL use. I believe it is indeed 20% of the GA fleet, the Navajos, the Barons, the Cessna 400 series, etc., that are burning 80% of the 100LL produced. But I […]
Those amazing Tugers and their flying machines
During the latter half of 1941, a little more 300 young men and two women nurses made their way by at least five different ships to Rangoon, Burma, and then by train to an auxiliary British airfield just outside Toungoo, Burma. The men, recently discharged from the U.S. military by special order from the President […]
Talk about a fish story!
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 […]