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Tag Archives: instrument flying
The Safety of “Little Airplanes”
Many question the safety of “little airplanes.” By the way, they are only “little” until you have to wash and wax them; then the smallest airplane suddenly appears similar in size to a Boeing 747. General aviation aircraft have always … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying
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Tagged accident files, airplane accidents, airplanes, airspeed, altitude, Cessna 170, Cessna 182, Cessnas, discipline, first solo, Flight instructors, flight training, flying, General aviation, highways, instrument flying, judgment, learning to fly, little airplanes, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), pilots, poor judgment, professional pilots, sailors, student pilots, training aircraft
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2 Comments
On Buying An Airplane, Part IV
Well, it is yours! The question now becomes, how much will it really cost to operate? The price of operating an aircraft falls into two broad categories. These include “fixed” costs and “variable” costs. Pilots (and accountants) appropriately refer to … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying
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Tagged airplanes, airspeed, altitude, Cessna 170, Cessna 182, Cessnas, first solo, Flight instructors, flight training, flying, inexperienced pilots, instrument flying, judgment, learning to fly, open cockpit biplanes, pilots, professional pilots, student pilots, taildraggers, training aircraft
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On Buying An Airplane, Part II
When it comes to operating your own airplane, you have to keep a few things in mind. First, airplanes are not cheap, but if you are going to do more flying than usual, which is to say more than seven … Continue reading →
On Buying An Airplane, Part I
Once you make the decision to buy an airplane, it is one of the most exciting times of your life. It can also be one of the most frustrating. Oh, and let me also say there is a little stress … Continue reading →
The Souls of Airplanes
I remember the first time I realized an airplane could seem as though it were a living being. I was out at the Zephyrhills airport near Tampa, where I met a young man who owned a Republic Seabee amphibious aircraft. … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying
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Tagged airplanes, airspeed, altitude, Cessna 170, Cessna 182, Cessnas, discipline, engine failures, first solo, Flight instructors, flight training, flying, for the sake of flying, friends, inexperienced pilots, instrument flying, judgment, learning to fly, memories, open cockpit biplanes, pilots, Piper Cubs, professional pilots, Republic Seabee, student pilots, taildraggers, training aircraft, Zephyrhills airport
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6 Comments
Night Charter
I’m on the drive home going north along Interstate 95. The storms have just passed and they remind of a night long ago in the charter business. There is lightning cloud to cloud and cloud to ground off to the … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged airplanes, airspeed, altitude, Cessna 182, Cessna 210, Cessnas, dodging cells, Florida, flying, flying alone in the dark, instrument flying, Interstate 95, judgment, massive thunderstorms, memories, MIA VORTAC, pilots, professional pilots, somewhere near V-3 at 5500 feet, the charter business, the size of the universe, the soft lights of the instrument panel
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2 Comments
Engine Failures Are Louder at Night
I have written about engine failures in the past (Engine Failures, “Go ahead, punk, make my day!”, Running on Empty, and Dinner Conversations About Fear). The one thing I have not addressed is engine failure at night, which is, without question, the worst thing … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying
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Tagged airplanes, airspeed, altitude, Cessnas, discipline, engine failures, Flight instructors, flight training, flying, inexperienced pilots, instrument flying, judgment, learning to fly, pilots, professional pilots, student pilots, taildraggers
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8 Comments
A Quiet, Nerdy Engineer
Neil Armstrong has passed at the age of 82. Yesterday, Fox News reported Armstrong regarded himself as, “a quiet, nerdy engineer.” Well, he may have considered himself in those terms, but for many of us, he was the nation’s hero, … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation History, Flying, History, Life in General
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Tagged airplanes, Apollo 11, Cape Kennedy, discipline, flight test, Florida, flying, Gemini 8, instrument flying, judgment, Korean War, learning to fly, Lunar Landing, memories, military service, NAS Pensacola, Navy, Pad 39A, pilots, President Kennedy, professional pilots, sailors, Sea of Tranquility, the moon, USS Essex
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2 Comments
Seeing the Sun
We were driving across Florida through the Ocala National Forest. It was one of those afternoons good for driving, not so much for flying, unless you held an instrument rating and had filed. We were passing near R-2910 and I … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying
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Tagged 200-1/4, airplanes, airspeed, altitude, clouds, discipline, Flight instructors, flight training, flying, GCA, inexperienced pilots, instrument flying, instrument training, judgment, learning to fly, memories, military service, Navy, PAR, pilots, professional pilots, sailors, student pilots, TA-4J Skyhawk, training aircraft
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2 Comments
The Magic Plastic Wheel
Ernest K. Gann, the aviation writer of the Twentieth Century, once wrote about the plastic E6-B flight computer that resided in his top pocket of his uniform shirt. Other pilots had other favorite places in or on their uniform for … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying, Personal
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Tagged Air Force, airplanes, airspeed, altitude, Cessnas, discipline, E-6B, Ernest K. Gann, flight calculators, Flight instructors, flight training, flying, inexperienced pilots, instrument flying, judgment, learning to fly, military service, Navy, pilots, professional pilots, student pilots, training aircraft, whiz wheels
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