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Tag Archives: instrument flying
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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Comments Off on The Magic Plastic Wheel
Alaska
Earlier, when I checked my email, I found a message from a former student who recently graduated. Like the graduates before him, it was time for him to figure out what to do with the rest of his life, starting … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged airplanes, airspeed, Alaska, altitude, Cessna 170, Cessna 182, Cessnas, floatplanes, flying, friends, inexperienced pilots, instrument flying, judgment, mountains, Navy, pilots, professional pilots, seaplanes, taildraggers, water flying
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4 Comments
“CHRISTMAS AT SEA”
The sheets were frozen hard, and they cut the naked hand; The decks were like a slide, where a seamen scarce could stand; The wind was a nor’wester, blowing squally off the sea; And cliffs and spouting breakers were the … Continue reading →
Posted in Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged airmen, airspeed, altitude, black shoe sailors, coastguardsmen, discipline, flying, friends, inexperienced pilots, instrument flying, judgment, loved ones, Marines, memories, military service, Navy, professional pilots, Robert Louis Stevenson, sailing ships, sailors, soldiers, writers
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The Thing About Flying
My friend, Holly, sent in this account of one of his latest adventures. He wrote it so well and supplied great photos, I had to have him debut as my first guest colmnist. ——————— The thing about flying, the adventures … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flying
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Tagged airplanes, airspeed, altitude, Atlanta, Epps Aviation, Florida, flying, friends, instrument flying, judgment, Larry King, memories, PDK, pilots, Pipers, training aircraft, Yaks
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Flying, Learning, and Thunderstorms
The FSS flight specialist reported weather along our route with ceilings of 1,000 broken to overcast with tops about 12,000 feet. There was a chance of imbedded thunderstorms. It appeared as though the front was in the process of becoming stationary … Continue reading →
Posted in Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged a fatal aircraft accident, a sense of relief, actual instrument time in my log, airplanes, airspeed, altitude, breaking out into brilliant sunlight, canceling instruments, Cessna 182, Cessnas, cleared as filed, discipline, flight specialists, Florida, flying, Flying Learning and Thunderstorms, IFR operations, imbedded thunderstorms, inexperienced pilots, instrument flying, judgment, Lake Okeechobee, learning to fly, lived by the rule of always being able to see thunderstorms, Pahokee, Palm Beach Approach, pilots, professional flying career, professional pilots, Tampa, Tampa Departure, the FAA called, the Pahokee VOR, too many pilots die by breaking that rule, “VFR is not recommended”
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2 Comments
“Like a Sack of Potatoes”
When Charles Lindbergh flew across the Atlantic Ocean in May of 1927, he ignited the imaginations of many. One enthralled by the idea of being the first woman to fly across the Atlantic was Amy Phipps Guest. Amy Phipps was … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying, History
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Tagged a suitable girl with “the right image”, a ticker-tape parade, airplanes, airspeed, altitude, Amelia Earhart, Amy Phipps Guest, barnstormers, Captain Hilton H. Railey, Charles Lindbergh, copilot Louis Gordon, discipline, England, flying, Frederick Edward Guest, Friendship Trepassey Harbor Newfoundland Burry Port in Wales, instrument flying, Lockheed Vega, New York City, Pilot Wilmer Stultz, President Calvin Coolidge, publishers, the Atlantic Ocean, the Fokker F.VIIbb/3m, “Like a Sack of Potatoes”, “Maybe someday I’ll try it alone.”, “Would you like to fly the Atlantic?”
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5 Comments
Cedar Key
One of my favorite places to fly for an afternoon or evening visit is a place in the crook of Florida’s Big Bend region. Where the coast turns more southerly, there is a sleepy little town called Cedar Key. I like … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flying, History, Life in General
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Tagged a word of caution for the aviators, airplanes, airspeed, altitude, artists, artwork, bird watching, boating, Cedar Key, Cessnas, floating down the runway, Florida, Florida's Big Bend region, flying, friends, important port in the South, inexperienced pilots, instrument flying, instrument rated and current, judgment, kayaking, Las Islas Sabinas, no lights in the Gulf of Mexico, original Florida natives, relaxing, Spanish explorers, the island, the restaurants on Dock Street, the USS Hatteras, the walk into town is only a mile and a quarter or so, the War Between the States, trying to fly in the dark, writing
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3 Comments
