Tag Archives: open cockpit biplanes

Praise and Insults by Hemingway

I am writing again about writing pilots or flying writers. Sometimes it is difficult to decide which are adjectives and nouns when it comes to describing writers who are capable of flying, or pilots who can actually write. On my … Continue reading

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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

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The Dawn Patrol

In World War I, the fighters went out at dawn. In short order, the fighter pilots and maintenance crews began referring to this early morning mission as “The Dawn Patrol.” The pilots would rise early, breakfast, and then go out … Continue reading

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High Flight

My last blog was about the men who saved England, no, indeed the world. The documentary I watched about the pilots who flew in the Battle of Britain moved me. Their story overwhelmingly impressed me because of my realization of … Continue reading

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The Battle of Britain

This week, I had the opportunity to watch a very well done documentary on the Battle of Britain. Hosted by Ewan McGregor and his brother Colin, they told of how they grew up in England studying about the fighter pilots … Continue reading

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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

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The Cub Versus the Champ

One of the on-going debates in general aviation pertains to the merits of two of the most classic airplanes that flew in the formative years of aviation. The airplanes are the Piper Cub and the Aeronca Champ. I have written … Continue reading

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So Long, Allan Wise

Two or three years ago, the veterans of World War II were dying at an alarming rate of more than 1000 per day. Of the 16 million who saved the world while wearing the uniform of one of the United … Continue reading

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The Éole

Today, 121 years ago, Frenchman Clement Ader’s steam-powered airplane flew for the first time. Yes, you are correct in your math if you said that was 13 years before the Wrights flew. And yes, it was a steam-powered airplane. Ader … Continue reading

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Flying, Biplanes, and Museums

This morning when I got up, I began trying to catch up on some of my reading. One of the emails I read came from AOPA_ePilot@aopa.org and the lead article, titled, “Plane Jane makes last flight,” made me reflect on … Continue reading

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