Regarding your follow-up to the letter by Mr. Morrow regarding the closure of Chapel Hill’s Horace Williams Airport (A better use for Horace Williams Airport land? May 5 issue), you stated that “We can only wonder at the basis for the statement that ‘most of us as residents of Chapel Hill regard the airport as […]
Another suggestion for troubleshooting
I enjoyed reading Paul McBride’s article on the problem the fellow has with high EGT (Ask Paul: Is it a sticking valve? An induction leak? May 5 issue). You have some very good tips there. However the one suggesting using a soap solution around the intake area while the engine is running seems a little […]
Tell us the solution
Ben Visser’s article, Can you hear me now? Are cell phones bad news around fueling operations? (May 5 issue), is very timely with the new Light Sport Aircraft. I just purchased a Tecnam Bravo. The reason is that the Rotax engine really does not like leaded fuel and the manual says to use premium auto […]
Read needs some help
Back a few years ago I worked with John Morse at the New Hampshire Highway Department design offices. One of the many stories I heard from him was the one about him being on an Atlantic Clipper (The flying palace, April 7 issue) in either 1938 or 1939. Taking off from San Juan, Puerto Rico, […]
Column sadly shortsighted
Prove it! (Touch & Go, May 19 issue) OR WHAT, you’ll continue to stick your head in the sand? Tom Norton’s article ridiculing gloom-and-doom, Henny-Pennys may have been cute, but was sadly shortsighted. Whether one wants to accept what most scientists already understand about the limits of future oil and the causes of global warming, […]
Under cover
The next time you struggle with your aircraft’s canvas cover think about this: When Howard Hughes moved the HK-1 to Long Beach, Calif., for final assembly, he insisted that a tent made of canvas and pipe be erected to protect the behemoth aircraft from the elements. The tent was an engineering marvel itself since the […]
Pass the salt–and a pen
After Jimmy Doolittle made the first flight solely by reference to instruments, the Doolittles celebrated by throwing a dinner party. Ever the gracious hostess, Josephine Doolittle asked the guests to help commemorate the event by signing the white linen tablecloth. She then embroidered the names in black thread. Among the guests who signed the tablecloth […]
ATC: A potentially explosive problem
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Not since 1981, when the air traffic controllers struck the FAA and then-President Ronald Reagan ordered them fired and replaced, has the air traffic control situation been as potentially explosive as it is now. After nine months of bitter contract negotiations, by law the mess went to the Congress, which had 60 […]
Diesel engines and GA: A good combination?
QUESTION: What is the state of art and the development of diesel engines for GA? Why is it better to put a diesel engine on a GA aircraft than a conventional one? Alex Rougier Turin, Italy ANSWER: In the last issue, we started our discussion of this topic (Why is it better to put a […]