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Category Archives: Aviation
It’s Not About the Flying, It’s About Relationships
We fly. There are many reasons we fly. We fly for enjoyment, to learn new things, to travel, to have fun, to sight see, and more. But the most important thing about the flying really has nothing to do with … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged airplanes, camaraderie, Cessna 170, Cessnas, co-workers, Cuba, discipline, Flight instructors, flight training, Florida, flying, friends, friendships, hangar parties, Hangars 9 and 10, learning to fly, memories, open cockpit biplanes, pilots, relationships, sleeping under the wing, Southern drawl, student pilots, taildraggers, training aircraft
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Emergency Landings
Well, another event happened following a loss of power in a general aviation aircraft. A pilot had an engine failure, tried to make it back to the airport, and landed on a Florida beach. Unfortunately, the forced landing killed a … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying
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Tagged airplanes, airspeed, altitude, beach noises, discipline, Emergency Landings, engine failure, Flight instructors, flight training, Florida beach, flying, flying off grass airstrips, general aviation aircraft, inexperienced pilots, judgment, Landing in a pasture, landing on a beach, learning to fly, professional pilots, risk, safely landing, student pilots, taildragger pilot
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4 Comments
Pilots and Weather
We’re sitting in the hospital waiting room while waiting for my mother-in-law to come out of surgery. We sit watching the news about tornadoes and flooding in Tampa. As I watch the satellite and radar images of the weather, my … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged airplanes, airspeed, altitude, ATC controllers, atmosphere, Cessnas, cumulonimbus, dangerous weather, discipline, flight training, Florida, flying jets, fog, FSS specialists, Hazardous weather, inexperienced pilots, instrument flying, judgment, learning to fly, memories, pilots, Pilots and Weather, professional pilots, skilled pilots, storms, student pilots, tactical jets, terrain obscuration, training aircraft, turbulence, weather patterns, wind shear, “reading” the weather
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Veteran Airshow Fans
I overheard the Chair of the National Association of Flight Instructors (NAFI), Bob Meder, say, “You can tell who the veteran airshow fans are. They’re the ones not paying attention to the show.” I thought about it and concluded he … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flight Instructing, Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged airplanes, AOPA, barnstormers, Cessnas, EAA, first solo, Flight instructors, flight training, Florida, inexperienced pilots, learning to fly, memories, NAFI, open cockpit biplanes, professional pilots, student pilots, taildraggers, training aircraft
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Trees, Shade, and Friendships
We went to a town hall meeting last night, Tuesday evening, to listen to one of our elected officials speak before his constituents. It was a very interesting event; Representative Ron DeSantis is a straight shooter and we enjoyed listening … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged "the years", Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, catching up, flying, friends, friendships, Jaime, Lou, memories, Old comrades, pilots, planting an oak, professional pilots, Representative Ron DeSantis, shade, the next great adventure, town hall meeting, Trees Shade and Friendships, Wind Sand and Stars
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The Master Birdman
Ninety-nine years ago today, America lost one of her most cherished heroes. Pioneer aviator Lincoln J. Beachey, died when the aircraft he was piloting at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco on March 14, 1915 suffered structural failure. He … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying, History
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Tagged 1915, aerial maneuvers, aeroplanes, airplanes, airspeed, altitude, aviation exhibitions, Barney Oldfield, barnstormers, Beachey-Eaton Monoplane, bicycle mechanic, demonstration pilots, flying, Lincoln J. Beachey, March 14, Morane-Saulnier H, open cockpit biplanes, pilots, professional pilots, racing, San Francisco, taildraggers, Taube, the loop, The Man Who Owns the Sky, The Master Birdman, the Panama-Pacific International Exposition
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Model 299
In 1930, aviation remained in the beginning stages of development. Pilots were few, airplanes fewer, and almost every aircraft was small with inadequate performance. Most airplanes were of the biplane design with some sleeker monoplanes starting to come off the … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, History
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Tagged airplanes, B-17E, B-17G, Boeing, Boeing pilot Les Tower, C.L. Egtvedt, Coast Guard, Douglas B-18, E. Gifford Emery, Edward Curtis Wells, England, flying, Flying Fortress, General William Mitchell, inadequate performance, Major Ployer Peter Hill, Model 299, Pratt & Whitney, Seattle Times reporter Richard Williams, World War II, Wright Field
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The First Lady Lex
Eighty-six years ago today, the first aircraft carrier to bear the name Lexington was commissioned. The USS Lexington was the first of her kind and consequently she became the lead ship of her type, the Lexington-class. Of the class, there … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, History
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Tagged 1941, aircraft carrier, airplanes, Captain Frederick Sherman, CV-16, December 7, discipline, Essex-class ships, flight training, Florida, flying, friends, inexperienced pilots, judgment, Lady Lex, Marines, memories, Midway Island, military service, NAS Pensacola, Navy, Navy Secretary Frank Knox, Pearl Harbor, sailors, student pilots, The First Lady Lex, the Japanese attack, the Marshall Islands, the Pacific, the Quincy shipyard, USS Cabot, USS Lexington, USS Phelps, USS Saratoga, World War II
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Hurricanes and Emergency Diverts
Thirty years ago this month, I checked into my first operational squadron in Gitmo. They gave me the “gouge” about flying in the Caribbean, including divert/bingo information for any reason when we could not return to Guantanamo. I gathered up … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flying, History, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged A-4 Skyhawk, airplanes, airspeed, altitude, Cuba, discipline, divert/bingo information, flying, friends, Gainesville, Gitmo, Hurricane Kate, hurricanes, Hurricanes and Emergency Diverts, Jamaica, judgment, Kingston, Marines, memories, military service, Navy, Norman C. Manley International, old friends, professional pilots, the Caribbean, The Gators, the “gouge”, Weather guessers
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2 Comments
Rate My Controller!
I am sitting in my office, recording grades. Dr. Cass Howell comes walking by the open door and stops. We start talking about life. Get a couple of old naval aviators together and of course, the talk always turns to … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged airplanes, airspeed, altitude, Cessnas, controllers, discipline, Florida, flying, friends, judgment, memories, pilots, professional pilots, ratemycontroller.com, taildraggers, Tampa
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2 Comments
