When I talked to them on the radio, they said that they did not know I was there until my plane cast a shadow over the cockpit. We were close enough that I could see the paint scheme, type of airplane, and tail number.
Picture of the Day: Tail beacon as sunrise
Rusty Eichorn submitted this photo and note: “The sunrise did a pretty good job as the tail beacon this morning. N18DP at Northbound Seaplane Base (5MN6) on Pokegama Lake in Grand Rapids, Minnesota.”
Making Flying Great Again
Driving to the monthly airport breakfast, I pass a sign on the outskirts of Madisonville, Tennessee, proclaiming, “Monroe County Airport…Making Flying Great Again.”
AOPA president flies on new unleaded fuel
AOPA President Mark Baker flew the Baron for one hour with G100UL feeding the left engine and 100LL in the right. He said the performance of the two engines was nearly identical and “the Baron flew beautifully.”
Zenith’s Kit Building Workshop returns to Florida in December
The workshop will be held Dec. 1 on the SUN ’n FUN Expo campus on Lakeland Linder International Airport (KLAL). An informal regional Zenith fly-in gathering will be held at the airport Dec. 2, 2023.
Protective boot for uAvionix tailBeaconX introduced
Made of high visibility orange plastic, the boot is customized to provide a “hand-in-glove” protective fit over the tailBeaconX’s clear glass globe and dual ADS-B antennas to prevent accidental breakage, according to company officials.
Landing at mountaintop airport goes awry
The pilot’s failure to compensate for the high density altitude and the tailwind component while landing at a mountaintop airport, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall and a loss of aircraft control.
Picture of the Day: Best $50 I ever spent
Kurt Winker submitted this photo and note: “The 1942 J-3 Cub I won in a raffle held by the Dakota Territory Air Museum — best $50 I ever spent. Its life started by going directly into the Civilian Pilot Training Program for World War II.
Reading through all the original logbooks was amazing, as every flight back then was put into the aircraft logs. This photo was taken the evening before I flew the J-3 from Mid Valley Airpark (E98) in Los Lunas, New Mexico, to McKinney National Airport (KTKI) in Texas. About 520 nm of flying at ground speeds between 40 and 75 knots. It took all day and four fuel stops. What a great way to spend a day!”
Touch and go bans coming to an airport near you?
While it would’ve been nice for local governments to preserve space around airports decades ago to prevent such issues, they didn’t, so we have to deal with reality as it is, not as we wish it to be.