Search my Blog
Subscribe
rss
-
Recent Posts
December 2025 S M T W T F S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Archives
Recent Comments
- Marie Palachuk on My Grandfathers
- Ingrid on My Grandfathers
- Joe Clark on The Aeronca Chief
- Lindsay Barra (Knowles) on The Aeronca Chief
- Peter Brown on Gladys Ingle
Category Archives: Aviation
Air Dancing II
The subject of yesterday’s blog was unique. The things the human mind can come up with to entertain itself amaze me. Even more amazing is the control the human mind has over the physical body. The cliché about being able … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flying, Life in General, Personal
|
Tagged a 20-something year-old brain trapped in a 50-something year-old body, a mighty blast of wind, aeronautical engineers, Air Dancing, air pressure, angle-of-attack, athletics, born too early, born too late, choreography, dance, engineering, fighter pilots, lift, mathematics, mechanics, music, sky diving, sticking our hand outside the window of the car, the concept of “q”, the human mind, to fly, “airspeed”, “dynamic pressure”, “relative wind”, “relative work” (RW), “Whoa! That ain’t right!”
|
Comments Off on Air Dancing II
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 →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying, Life in General
|
Tagged a 1929 Fleet biplane, a birdcage of flying wires and anti-drag wires, AOPA_ePilot@aopa.org, barnstormers, Charles Lindbergh, emails, Ernest K. Gann, flying, Flying Biplanes and Museums, Gene Breiner, maintaining older planes in flying condition a retired FAA maintenance inspector, museum artifacts, open cockpit biplanes, qualified pilots and mechanics, rare antique airplanes, Richard Bach, Sarah Brown, Smithsonian, struts, the secret, training aircraft, two wings, working on antique airplanes, World War II, “Plane Jane makes last flight”, “the peculiarly sensual delight” of flying an open cockpit biplane an open cockpit, “You haven’t flown until you’ve flown a double-winger.”
|
Comments Off on Flying, Biplanes, and Museums
That’s a Blog
Yesterday’s blog was a bit on the heavy side with the language. It was thick with terms from the aviation industry. I was concerned enough to post a warning at the beginning of the blog to caution those not conversant … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flying, Life in General, Personal
|
Tagged a lighter style of writing, blog fodder, bordered on being blasphemous, Casablanca, confusing to the writers, conversant in aviation expressions, easy to write, eyes rolling to the back one’s head, Gracie, heavy side of language, hitting the publish button, keep her from biting me, photographers, publishers, Rick’s Café, she knows she is being bad, terms from the aviation industry, That's a Blog
|
Comments Off on That’s a Blog
A Near Miss of Potentially Grave Proportions
Editorial note—this blog is more appropriate for seasoned aviators rather than the casual reader. My apologies; I promise to return to a more relaxed writing style tomorrow. ————————— This morning, a Lufthansa Airbus 340 with 286 passengers onboard almost collided … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying, Life in General
|
Tagged a breakdown in communications, A Near Miss of Potentially Grave Proportions, a pilot deviation, a runway incursion of incredible magnitude, Air Traffic Controllers, airline pilots, crossed the hold short line, Egypt Air Boeing 777, EgyptAir 986, heavy airliner, intersection of taxiway Juliet and runway 22R, JFK International Airport, KLM 4805, Lufthansa Airbus 340, Lufthansa Flight 411, overheated brakes, Pan Am 1736, Port Authority technicians, rejected takeoff, rejected the takeoff, runway 22R, taxied clear of the runway at taxiway Hotel, taxiway Bravo, the arrogance of the captain, two Boeing 747s collided in the fog at Tenerife, “Cancel takeoff! Cancel takeoff plans”, “No! Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa!” the aircraft in extremis, “Takeoff clearance canceled”
|
6 Comments
Queen of the Skydivers
Georgia Ann Thompson was a very slight girl born in Oxford, NC on April 8, 1893. At birth, she weighed only three pounds and the nickname “Tiny” would stick to her for life. She was a different kind of young … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History
|
Tagged a grandmotherly persona, Broadwick’s World Famous Aeronauts, Charles Broadwick, Georgia Ann Thompson, Glenn Martin, Griffith Park in Los Angeles, I’ve Got a Secret, manually deployed the canopy, Oxford NC, parachuting from a hot air balloon, paratroopers, Queen of the Skydivers, reserve parachute, the first person to ever free-fall, the first woman to parachute from an airplane, the jump school at Fort Benning GA, the nickname “Tiny”, the US Army
|
Comments Off on Queen of the Skydivers
Happy Birthday Southwest!
Today is Southwest Airlines’ 40th birthday. The airline traces its first lineage all the way back to the 1967 incorporation of Air Southwest Co., by Herb Kelleher and Rollin King. However, the name change and first flight of Southwest Airlines … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Life in General
|
Tagged Air Southwest Co., Air Tran Airways, airplanes, ATA Airlines, Braniff, cabin announcements, Continental Airlines, Dallas, flying, Happy Birthday Southwest!, Herb Kelleher, Houston, judgment, Morris Air, Muse Air, pilots’ public announcements, Rollin King, San Antonio, serving only Texas, Southwest Airlines’ 40th birthday, the Southwest family, Trans-Texas
|
Comments Off on Happy Birthday Southwest!
“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
|
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?”
|
5 Comments
The Blue Angels First Performance
On this day in 1946 at NAS Jacksonville, LCDR Butch Voris pushed the throttle forward on his blue and gold Grumman F-6 Hellcat to start his takeoff roll. The other pilots on his team, in their individual Hellcats, also pushed … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying
|
Tagged Air Force the Thunderbirds, airspeed, altitude, and LCDR Lloyd Barnard, Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Chester Nimitz, combat veterans of the Pacific war, discipline, F/A-18 Hornets, Florida, flying, Grumman F-6 Hellcat, judgment, LCDR Butch Voris, low-flying maneuvers in tight formations, LT Maurice "Wick" Wickendoll, LT Mel Cassidy, memories, NAS Jacksonville, professional pilots, sailors, taildraggers, the Army Air Corps, The Blue Angels, The Blue Angels First Performance, the team’s first airshow at NAS Jacksonville, the United States Navy, World War II
|
1 Comment
Sad Day for the Bomber Boys
Monday, June 13, 2011, will remain a sad day for the warbird community. A vintage warrior made her final landing in a cornfield near Chicago. After the landing, all seven aboard the airplane were able to make good their escapes, … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying, Life in General
|
Tagged a $3.5 million restoration, a loss of a national treasure, a sad day for the warbird community, Air Force, airplanes, airshows in Canada transatlantic crossing to visit England, airspeed, altitude, an engine fire, Aurora Municipal Airport, B-17G, discipline, Don Brooks, engine failures, England, flying, Framlingham England, judgment, last landing in an Illinois cornfield, Liberty Belle, military service, Monday June 13 2011, Pratt & Whitney, professional pilots, Sad Day for the Bomber Boys, Sugar Grove Illinois, taildraggers, the 390th Bomb Group, the Connecticut Aeronautical Historic Association, The Flying Tigers Warbird Restoration Museum Kissimmee Florida, the Liberty Foundation, The United States Army Air Corps, World War II
|
3 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
|
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
|
3 Comments
