Even if the FAA’s current proposal to allow the use of personal computer flight simulators to maintain currency doesn’t make it into the FAR/AIM, you can still use Microsoft Flight Simulator to develop your pilot skills. Bruce Williams, a Seattle-based flight instructor, tells you how in “Microsoft Flight Simulator as a Training Aid.” The book […]
Honda establishes HQ at Greensboro NC
Honda Aircraft Co. will establish its world headquarters in Greensboro, N.C., where it will build a new 215,000-square-foot facility at Piedmont Triad International Airport (PTI). The company also confirmed its long-rumored plan to build the HondaJet at a new plant to be built close to its new headquarters. Honda plans to begin delivery of the […]
Washington’s Blaine Municipal Airport to close: Lack of funds for master plan cited as main reason
Usually the creation of a master plan is thought of as a tool to help protect an airport. But as airport officials at Blaine Municipal Airport/Dierks Field (4W6) in Blaine, Wash., have learned, a master plan — or rather a lack of federal funding for one — can lead to an airport closing. “The issue […]
Florida flight instructor airms for space. Forget lemonade stands! How abou tthe Internet as a way to raise funds?
Ben Riecken, a 25-year-old flight instructor at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, wants to be one of the first people to become a space tourist. Since that’s difficult to do on a flight instructor’s salary, he’s trying to raise some supplemental income by selling ads on his new website, MyTripInSpace.com. Place your ad […]
PBY in Lake Mead now open to divers
Divers who enjoy exploring submerged airplane wrecks have a new target in Lake Mead, Nevada. The National Park Service (NPS) has released the location of a submerged PBY Catalina. The plane sits in two sections approximately 190 feet below the surface in the Boulder Basin Area of the lake. Because of the depth it is […]
Jacksonville anti-airplane ordinance to be revised: Pilots to work with councilman to rework law
A showing by members of the Experimental Aircraft Association during a Feb. 27 meeting of the Jacksonville, Fla., City Council has prompted the councilman who penned Ordinance 2006-543-E to rework the measure. The ordinance, which was adopted last summer, bars anyone from building, repairing, testing, operating, modifying, or altering flying craft or airboats anywhere on […]
St. Louis Airport: A study in self-sufficiency
How is your airport supported? Does it rely on contributions from the municipal general fund or is it completely self-sufficient? The staff at Spirit of St. Louis Airport (KSUS) in St. Louis, Mo., are proud to note that their facility is one of the few airports in the United States that is completely self-sufficient – […]
Develop your pilot skills with MS Flight sSimulator
One of the books that should be in every pilot’s library is a current copy of the Federal Aviation Regulations/Aeronautical Information Manual (the FAR/AIM). Every so often the FAA updates the FARs. This is one of those times. The FAA recently released a 50-page Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) on proposed changes to Part […]
Xwind: A better way to practice crosswind landings
“Line the nose up on the runway with your feet,” Dutch, my flight instructor, intoned. I felt his feet tapping on the rudder pedals, letting me know that I needed to use more rudder. “That’s it. Now put it into a slip,” he coached. “Keep it lined up with the centerline! Right before you flare, […]