By DEREK ROBERTS. “All I want to do is fly airplanes,” says the 32-year-old aerobatic competitor, air racer, airshow performer and air tour operator. “I’m really passionate about it.” Indeed, Anthony Oshinuga lives and breathes aviation. As the owner and chief pilot of Air Oshi, based in Temecula, California, Oshinuga offers aerial tours of the […]
Derek Roberts
Pilot Perspectives: Amy Hoover
By DEREK ROBERTS. If the best way to learn something is to teach it, then one would be wise to look towards Dr. Amy Hoover for flying advice. As a long-time professor and twice elected chair (2007-2015) of the Aviation Department at Central Washington University, Hoover’s 30-year career in aviation includes more than 6,000 hours […]
A museum about the best of mankind
By DEREK ROBERTS. Celebrating the period of aviation from 1927-1957, the Historic Flight Foundation in Mukilteo, Washington is a museum about more than just aircraft technology — it’s a museum about the best of mankind. Striving to share the enthusiasm not only of engineering, but of an era, each aircraft in the collection is complemented […]
Pilot Perspectives: Bruce Williams
By DEREK ROBERTS. “It’s like driving an old British convertible sportscar. It’s fun on a winding mountain road in the summer, but going down the autobahn, you’d rather have a Mercedes.” An apt metaphor from Extra 300L owner/instructor Bruce Williams, as he describes his seasonal trip from Seattle’s Boeing Field to Boulder City, Nevada, where […]
Pilot Perspectives: Gordon Alvord
By DEREK ROBERTS. In the shadows of the mid-2000 economic slowdown, many young airline pilots like Gordon Alvord were asked to remain in the employment “holding pattern.” Times were tough for the entire nation and the luxury of air travel for everyday citizens was replaced by necessity. With less money to go around, there were […]
Pilot Perspectives: Rich Stowell
By DEREK ROBERTS. Visualize for a moment that you’re high above the ground, nose pointed skyward, throttle in one hand, control stick pulled into your lap with the other. As the aircraft slows you peer over the engine cowl while working to maintain a steady altitude. In tandem a muted horn bleats with a blinking […]
Pilot Perspectives: Lori MacNichol
By DEREK ROBERTS. With miles of unmanned wilderness, the backcountry of Idaho is an untamed expanse that begs to be explored. A mix of jagged and rolling alpine peaks, vast glacial lakes and canyons as grand as any that claim to be, it’s an aviators paradise, open to all those brave enough to explore it. […]
Pilot Perspectives: Wayne Handley
By DEREK ROBERTS. Naval aviator, crop duster, aerobatic competitor and airshow pilot Wayne Handley knows his way around an aircraft or two. A traditional start flying an Aeronca Champ in 1957 led to a stint piloting F4D Skyrays in the Navy and ultimately a successful career as a business owner and crop-dusting pilot. It wasn’t […]