More than 135 Cirrus airplanes returned to the roost for the third annual “Minnesota Migration” earlier this month. The annual migration to Cirrus Design Corp.’s factory, sponsored by the Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association, boasted more than 300 registrants. In fact, the event has grown so much that many of the activities were held in […]
Legend Cub to go on tour
The latest company to take its product to the people is American Legend Aircraft Co., which plans a tour of its new Legend Cub. The demonstration tour begins at Missouri’s St. Charles County Airport, Smart Field, June 10-11, which coincides with the EAA’s Sport Pilot tour. Next stop is June 17-18 at Venago Regional Airport […]
Mooney racks up record sales and deliveries
The good news continues at Mooney Airplane Co., which reports that it had record new orders and deliveries for the first quarter of 2005. The Kerrville, Texas-based company recorded 13 new orders in the first three months of the year. It also delivered 20 aircraft, more than doubling its output from the first quarter of […]
Teaching the next generation
Recently I witnessed an exchange between father and teenage daughter. The daughter, a student in the inaugural class of Seattle’s Aviation High School, was begging her father to let her start her flight training now. She is 14. “No, not until you’re older,” he said. “I don’t want to spend all that money and have […]
Sport Pilot insurance is available to schools
Is sport pilot training insurable for commercial flight schools? Yes! (However there are some long-standing parameters.) This letter is in response to a recent letter regarding the insurability of flight schools conducting flight training for new sport pilots (Are commercial flight schools uninsurable? May 20 issue). First off, I could not agree more with the […]
Double take
While I realize the Accident Reports are published as an educational tool, I did a double take when reading about the accident involving the Cessna 182 in Hatton, N.D. (May 6 issue). The contributing factor to the probable cause was listed “delayed remedial action by the flight instructor and the tree” (emphasis added). Ronald R. Redpath […]
‘Lindbergh’s Secret’
The Lockheed P-38 was one of the legendary fighters of World War II. Crowds are still thrilled when one flies by. The 475th Fighter Group, with 552 victories, was the top P-38 fighter group in the Second World War. America’s second highest scoring ace, with 38 victories, was Major Thomas McGuire, who flew the Lockheed […]
After you Alphonse…
Reports of the Airbus A380 maiden flight have introduced a new, and exquisitely European, phrase to cockpit management: Command Sensitivity Awareness. To demonstrate their Command Sensitivity Awareness, the oh-so-politically-correct French announced that the A380’s two pilots were “alternate pilots in command and shared responsibility for the flight.” Is it, peut-etre, impossible for a Frenchman to […]
To infinity and beyond!
AERA Corp., which is developing the Altairis Rocket for civilian space travel, has started selling tickets for its maiden flight, expected to lift off from Cape Canaveral in December 2006. Altairis is designed to launch six passenger astronauts and one mission commander into space and bring them safely back to Earth. But there aren’t any […]