You don’t have to be rolling in discretionary income to be an airplane owner. It doesn’t hurt, of course. However, it’s not a prerequisite. If you can afford a motorcycle, or a boat, or a vacation timeshare, you can probably afford to own an airplane. Or a percentage of an airplane which, in all honesty, might be the even better deal for most of us.
Politics for Pilots
Let’s go somewhere
Yes, it’s worth the trouble to go somewhere. To travel by air with the freedom to go this way or that on a whim. To land on a grass strip for fuel just because you can. Or to set your sights on a destination you’ve dreamed of for years, but never thought was within your reach. The whole world is ours if we seek it out. One hop at a time. With a mindset that allows us to even enjoy the weather delays and unexpected diversions.
Auf Wiedersehen von einem freund und mentor
Goodbye to a mentor and a friend. You were that and more, Dr. Gleim. Now, you are on to whatever comes next even as your legacy continues to benefit so many you’ve left behind.
Passing it on — for good or ill
Let’s take a moment to consider a few of the things we know. Or more particularly, things we think we know that aren’t actually true, or valid, or helpful in any way.
Stumbling toward the stars
Make no mistake about it. We are stumbling toward the stars. Just as our ancestors experimented with wood and sail to venture further and further from land, we are taking the early critical steps to assure the continued existence of the human race — via spaceflight.
Maybe you can. Maybe you can’t.
I stayed in the game, as did my student. We flew the downwind, then base, then turned onto final. I carried a bit of power, preferring to be high and fast to low and slow. At the appropriate time I flared, and the engine gave out. Right there, five feet above the runway, my engine quit.
Similar but completely different
The iconic Jack Brown’s Seaplane Base in Florida has added a new airplane to its fleet: An ICON A5. And while it’s completely different from the J-3 Cub that launched the operation almost 60 years ago, it’s remarkably similar as well.
The perfect airplane, Part 2
I am once again thinking of an airplane that might grace my hangar. But which one? There are so many to choose from. Classics, biplanes, taildraggers, zippy quick composite machines, and the stalwart aluminum monocoque models of the mid-20th Century all take up space in my imagination from time to time. But the perfect airplane has to have the right price and fit the mission for this stage of my life.
Any old airplane will do
Here’s a bit of a secret you may not have picked up on in all the years I’ve been writing for General Aviation News. I rarely write about aircraft. Sure, it seems like I do, but I don’t. Not really. Rather, I’m far more fascinated with the people I meet, the experiences that come my way, and the happy accidents that stick in my memory so well.