Aviation is filled with legends about airplane crashes. One of the more enduring tales out of southern Oregon is the one about a Boeing 40C, loaded with diamonds, that crashed on a mountain. Allegedly, the wreckage was never found. The story has been told for generations around campfires, kitchen tables and in tree houses. But […]
SPECIAL REPORT: Restorations
There is a special fascination to old machinery, and particularly that which has been restored to its original working condition. Unlike static displays, working machines let us hear, smell, touch and feel the strength, the beauty, the inventiveness of mechanical things that did the work of the nation in bygone times. Aircraft restorers know the […]
Relief in sight for vintage aircraft owners: Proposal would release dataneeded to maintain airworthiness
One of the challenges of owning a vintage aircraft is getting the information needed to do required maintenance. This is especially true of so-called “orphaned” aircraft — those no longer in production or supported by a factory. For years, aviation advocacy groups, such as the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) and the Vintage Aircraft Association (VAA), […]
Eclipse problems “a perfect storm”
Eclipse Aviation has had “far more challenges than we anticipated,” wrote the company’s CEO Vern Raburn in a letter to customers at the end of February. Raburn called the company’s cumulative problems, which have plagued everything from tip tanks to avionics to production certification, “a perfect storm.” The letter came on the heels of successive […]
Southwest Regional Fly-Inwins Air Force-size facilities
The Southwest Regional Fly In (SWRFI) recently won a long-term lease on the old U.S. Air Force hangar at Hondo Airport (HDO) in Texas. SWRFI now has use of the huge hangar, which measures 120 feet by 110 feet, for exhibitors as well as classrooms and forums, for years to come, according to organizers. The […]
Seawind begins certified production
After years of delays, the Seawind has been granted approval by Transport Canada to manufacture the first five customer aircraft, as well as two flight test articles. Flight testing for VFR certification of the amphibian is nearing completion, according to Richard Silva, president. Following VFR certification, the Seawind is scheduled to continue with IFR certification […]
User fees: it’s time to get into this fight
If you don’t think user fees are the most serious among current threats to general aviation, listen to Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo). His wry comment was that the plan would give us the “safer skies” the airlines keep talking about, but only “because it would rid the skies of general aviation aircraft.” I agree. Graves […]
YOU DON’T WANT TO FLY FOR THE AIRLINES?
Nice article by Meg Godlewski in the Feb. 2 issue titled “What’s your motivation?” I was a 20-year Marine Corps A-4 Skyhawk pilot and I loved every minute of it, including Vietnam. When I retired in 1990, I went looking for a second career. Every time I found a flying opportunity, I saw it as […]
DO YOU KNOW THE NAME OF PAUL REVERE’S HORSE?
Re: Tom Norton’s article on Charles L. Lawrance, (Paul Revere’s horse: Charlie Lawrance and his engine that changed aviation, Jan. 19 issue), the name of Paul Revere’s horse was Brown Beauty. I know this because I was once asked in my capacity as executive director of the Lexington, Mass., Historical Society. A gentleman from New […]