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Category Archives: Aviation
Airplanista – A New Aviation Magazine
Heads-up: a new aviation electronic magazine is set to break out on Friday, October 1 and you really should make sure to check out the first issue. Airplanista is the brain-child of Dan Pimentel, an aviator from Oregon who has … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flying, Life in General, Publishing, Reading, Writing
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Tagged airplanes, Airplanista, aviation magazine, aviation photography, aviation stories, electronic magazine, flying articles
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1 Comment
Timing is Everything
Somewhere out at sea tonight, Navy pilots will finish up their mission briefs and then, just like in the movies, they will sync up their watches. What they are doing is synchronizing their wristwatches with the PLAT (pilot landing aid … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flying, Life in General
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Tagged Angels 15, ball call, bolter, bombs on target, flight discipline, Fresnel lens, holding pattern, hook skip bolter, LSO, marshal, meatball, mission briefs, Navy pilots, PLAT (pilot landing aid television), platform, push time, Somewhere out at sea, synchronizing their wristwatches, the flight deck, Timing is Everything, “out of the wires”, “Paddles”
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1 Comment
Ernest K. Gann
If you are a pilot and you enjoy reading, I hope you have a chance to read some of Ernest K. Gann’s works. If you want to have a sense of aeronautical history coupled with vicarious learning about flying, you … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Life in General, Personal, Publishing, Reading
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Tagged A Hostage To Fortune, a pilot’s pilot, a writer’s writer, airline pilot, barnstormers, DC-2, DC-3, Ernest K. Gann, Fate Is The Hunter, gypsy pilots, learning vicariously, MATS, professional pilot, professional writer, The Hump, the Taj Mahal
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Comments Off on Ernest K. Gann
The Cessna 150
If you go to an airshow featuring Naval Aviators, you may see one or two of the more experienced pilots walking around with patches on their flight jackets proclaiming, “1000 hours” or “2000 hours” in a particular tactical aircraft. … Continue reading →
The Summer of ’86
My birthday is in June and Paul’s follows in July. I have known Paul since fifth grade, when we were in Mrs. Waterhouse’s class together. Fifth grade was a long time ago. Right after we got to know one another, … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged $3 the ride, 4g pull, Alberto Santos-Dumont, barnstormers, best friends, birthdays, Colonel Ernie Moser, Demoiselle, Ernest K. Gann, flying wires and drag wires, gypsy pilots, hammerhead turn, hopping passengers, Jack Nicholson, Jim Moser, Morgan Freeman, open cockpit biplanes, ride of a lifetime, The Bucket List, touring the beach, Waco UPF-7
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6 Comments
The Cessna 172
Yesterday’s blog was about the Cessna 170. Today’s blog deals with the 170’s younger sibling, the Cessna 172. The Cessna 172 literally was born almost right after the 170. There were a couple of Cessna 171s, but they were of … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flying
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Tagged afternoon cross country, Cessna 171, easy to fly, Garmin G-1000, glass panels, maneuvering speed, normal cruising speed, performance envelope, round tail, safest airplane, sound performance and safety for the buck, square tail, The Cessna 172, “anyone could fly”
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4 Comments
The Cessna 170
One of the very best airplanes produced in the United States is the Cessna 170. Cessna manufactured more than 5000 copies of the model starting in 1948 until production ceased in mid-1956. The airplane came in three versions: the straight … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying
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Tagged airplane you fly, an honest 100 knots, best airplanes ever produced, Cessna 120, Cessna 140, Cessna 170, Cessna 170A, Cessna 170B, Cessna 180, Cessna 185, Cessna 190, Cessna 195, Continental C-145, Continental O-300, crosswinds, four-seat airplanes, great family airplane, gyroscopic precession, recipe for disaster, taildraggers, takeoffs, The Cessna 170, three-point landings, useable fuel, useful load, “barn door flaps”
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3 Comments
Running on Empty
Many have said there are three useless things in aviation. One is the altitude above you, the next is a runway behind you, and the third is the air in your fuel tanks. I am one to believe a pilot … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying
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Tagged a pilot can never have too much fuel, air in your fuel tanks, altitude above you, Cessnas, civilian pilot, come too close running out of gas, fuel margins, fuel reserves, fuel state, horrendous fuel consumption, military pilot, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Part 91.151, Pipers, Running on Empty, runway behind you, Section 91.161, three useless things in aviation
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1 Comment
Night Flight
“You want to fly at night? Well, you just go over to Tampa International or somewhere else to fly at night. I don’t let my airplanes fly at night.” Charlie looks at me like I have lost my mind. “But … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged Charles Lindbergh, engine failure at night, flying checks, flying single-engine at night, Navy, Night flight, parachute, picking a good place to land, professional pilots, Tampa International, the old man’s admonition, The Spirit of St. Louis
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1 Comment
Why I Fly?
Why do I fly? Sometimes, something like that is hard to explain, especially to those who do not fly. They say a photograph is worth a thousand words; if that is so, a video is probably worth somewhere upwards of 500,000 paragraphs. … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged airport bums, barnstormers, Cessna 182, Charles Lindbergh, control over my life, enthusiasm, favorite students, first solo, flying checks, flying machines, flying single-engine at night, homebuilders, I knew I could do it, IFR clearance, instrument flying, instrument pilots, it was time, late afternoon Florida skies, life lessons, little country FBO, mechanics, Navy, Night flight, open cockpit biplanes, parachute, perfecting landings, picking a good place to land, pilots, Piper J 3, predicaments, professional pilots, safe landing, Tampa International, the barnstorming era, what was there to be afraid of?, You’re on your own
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1 Comment
