I must agree with Brian Sheets of Beaverton, Ore., with regard to a “Disaster waiting to happen” (Letters to the Editor, Dec 10, 2004). I believe that creating two new pilot designations with lower standards and less training, “sport” and “recreational” pilots, was a mistake. In order to make flying available to persons who don’t […]
Each aircraft has its own skill level
I would like to respond to Brian Sheets’ comments on sport pilot flight time. If you take out the flight time required for a private license, which includes three hours instrument, three hours night time and the cross-country requirements, you are back to the flight time for sport pilot. The aircraft, such as Cubs and […]
Chill Out
In response to Mr. Sheets’ concerns for “under trained” fixed wing pilots operating in the Sport Pilot category flooding the sky, I must reply, “Chill Out!” The Sport Pilot program is a nice reprieve from an already overregulated industry. Mr. Sheets has already noted how “pilots with many hours” end up NTSB statistics. I recall reading insurance […]
Don’t forget common sense and good judgment
My reaction to the letter from Brian Sheets in the Dec. 10 issue (Sport Pilot: A disaster waiting to happen): Before anyone can take the knowledge test or the practical test for a sport class pilot certificate, they must receive logbook endorsements from an authorized instructor. No authorized instructor is required to make that logbook […]
When hurricanes blow, fly your plane out!
I agree with Michael Gleason’s letter (How Stupid!) in a previous issue. I lived on the Gulf Coast four years, in Key West, Fla., for about two years, and in the Jacksonville, Fla., area more than 15 years. Due to the “possibility” of a hurricane hitting the area, I flew our airplane out of Key […]
Don’t blame Bush
The Nov. 26th edition of GAN is the second containing a comment/complaint about President Bush shutting down airspace by imposing a TFR. FYI: It is the Secret Service’s job to inform the TSA of the president’s movements and also their job by law to protect him. TFRs are imposed by the TSA, not the White […]
Just Hanging Around
In the past you ran a number of letters covering questions on the four-cylinder, two-cycle engine used on the target drone aircraft used by the military around the end of World War II. Igor Bensen designed and sold plans for a gyrocopter using the engine in pusher configuration. Enclosed is a picture of just such […]
80-year-old woman sets record as oldest to experience zero gravity
Neither age nor gravity stopped 80-year-old Dorothy Simpson from flying into the record books. According to Guinness World Records, she recently became the world’s oldest woman to experience weightlessness on a zero-gravity flight with Space Adventures, Ltd. “”I didn’t set out to break any records,”” says Simpson. “”But experiencing weightlessness on my Zero-G flight was […]
Fly a different plane each day
Can’t get enough flying? How about flying every day? You can — at least at your desk — with the 365 Tiny Paper Airplanes Page-A-Day Calendar from Workman Publishing. The calendar, designed by paper airplane world record holder Ken Blackburn and engineer Jeff Lammers, features a year of paper airplanes small enough to fit in […]