Millionaire Steve Fossett made his way into the record books — once again — when he successfully became the first person to fly solo nonstop around the world. Fosset flew more than 67 hours nonstop in the Global Flyer, a Burt Rutan-designed aircraft, landing at 1:49 p.m. (CST) March 3 at Salina Municipal Airport (SLN) […]
Flying with the NASCAR Air Force
I learned more from my high school social studies teacher, Mrs. Packan, than any other teacher I’ve ever had. One of the lessons that has stuck to this day is that there is a “good” reason and a “real” reason for every decision. When we moved to South Carolina in 1998, the “good” reason was […]
A slight error
I just want to correct a slight error in the article written by Meg Godlewski in the Feb. 11, 2005, issue titled “Flight of the Phoenix — 2004 vs. 1965.” Meg states that a C-82 was flown in both films. Although a C-82 was used in the original movie, the 2004 version used a C119K, […]
Filmmakers need to get it right
It’s evident from her article that Ms. Godlewski is all a ga-ga over “The Aviator” (Behind the scenes of “The Aviator,” Feb. 11 issue). I grant her there is much to recommend the film. But as a writer for an aviation publication, I would have expected she’d be at least a little critical of some […]
Parks and Planes do share space
In the Dec. 10, 2004, issue, Meg Godlewski noted the city of Chicago’s director of planning and development had stated that “There are no parks where airstrips are a compatible use” (“Can planes and parks share space?”) This again shows the ignorance of the Chicago political machine. Several times a year, in the summer, I […]
A Killer
just read “Look and Touch: NTSB alerts pilots to hazards of wing icing, noting that you may have to touch the wing to detect ice,” in the Jan. 28 issue. I don’t know if attempting to take off with an iced-up airplane is coming back into vogue or what. To try and impress upon pilots […]
You, too, can look like an airline pilot
Two Senators have concluded that it’s too easy to buy airline pilots’ uniforms. They want the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and the Transportation Security Administration “”to investigate why uniforms are so readily available.”” Senators Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) and Barack Obama (also D-Ill.) claim that airport security is lax for people who […]
Another kind of food drop
Do you find it challenging to get your dog to take a heartworm pill carefully hidden in a ball of hamburger? Imagine the challenge of dropping tons of oral rabies vaccine over Texas, hidden in dog food in hopes that gray foxes will eat it. The Texas Department of State Health Services did just that […]
Food that’s out of this world
What do you do when you have a passion for aviation and make your living in the food service industry? Turn a DC-3 mounted on a school bus frame into a café, of course. In the 1990s Phil and Becky Peterson of Oxnard, Calif., were toying with the idea of mating an airframe with a […]