What is often missed when calculating the value of a facility like Brainard Airport is its educational and vocational worth. Its profound capacity to create opportunity for individuals young and old, from all walks of life, who choose to involve themselves in aviation as a hobby or a career, is undeniable.
flying
Laser strikes break dangerous record
The FAA received 9,723 reports of laser strikes from pilots in 2021, a 41% increase over 2020.
Distracted pilot takes off with ladder hanging from landing gear
After retrieving the fuel hose and grounding wire back to the pump area, I was walking back to the plane to retrieve the ladder in front of the right wing, but was distracted by a small piece of paper – a fuel receipt from a prior pilot – which I picked up and walked over to the trash can, which was behind and to the left of the aircraft at an approximately 8 o’clock position. As I walked back to the plane, my view of the ladder was blocked by the fuselage and I forgot about the ladder.
Picture of the Day: Snowy takeoff
Jim Stevenson submitted this photo and note: “Joe McDonough in his Backcountry Super Cub taking off on a snow-covered Lake Wisconsin.”
Questions from the Cockpit: Going to the dogs
Sandra, a private pilot from Arkansas, writes: As I was flying into a small Class-D airport the other day, I heard the controller tell another airplane to fly a “dog-leg” to the runway. What the heck is that? I can’t find it in the Pilot/Controller Glossary.
Ultimate World War II Fighter Experience grand prize in museum fundraiser
The winner of the sweepstakes will travel to London, England, where they will fly three rare dual-seat fighters of World War II: The P-51D Mustang, the Supermarine Spitfire TR.9, and the Curtiss TP-40N Warhawk.
Picture of the Day: Magneto The Aviator Dog
Jeff DeFreest submitted this photo and note: “My bride, Kari DeFreest, trusty hound Maggie (Magneto), and I are on a quest to stay at all of the 140 public use cabins on the 17 million acre Tongass National Forest in Southeast Alaska. We use our Skywagon on Edo 2960s to get around this vast area of boreal rainforest and the Inside Passage to get to many fly-in lake cabins. This photo was taken at one of the two amazing USFS cabins on Sitkoh Lake. Maggie enjoys most any outdoor adventure, but is also very attuned to the stealthy approach of brown bears.”
One Pilot’s View: Memorial flight
If someone has inspired you, or helped make your life better, thank them NOW while they can appreciate it, rather than speak kindly about them after they fly west (or east for that matter). Showing up at the funeral and telling the family what a great person the deceased was is not the same.
The ultimate game of chicken
A drone flown by the Honeywell IntuVue RDR-84K radar system recently triumphed in what company officials call the “ultimate game of chicken,” repeatedly swerving around intruder aircraft in a series of tests that are key to the future of pilotless aviation, according to Honeywell officials.