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
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
|
Tagged airplanes, airspeed, altitude, Cessnas, controllers, discipline, Florida, flying, friends, judgment, memories, pilots, professional pilots, ratemycontroller.com, taildraggers, Tampa
|
2 Comments
Planes and New Pilots
A long time ago when I was a little kid, every Sunday evening I watched a wonderful television program called Walt Disney’s Wonderful World of Color. All of us watched programs that were varied and entertaining. I am sure this … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying, History, Life in General, Personal
|
Tagged commercial pilots, Disney’s Planes, distractions, dwindling pilot starts, Flight instructors, imagination, involved with flying, little kids, new blood, old geezers, personal flying, pilot in command, Planes and New Pilots, private pilots, professional flying, regulations, renting airplanes, shrinking pilot population, simulated flight, student pilots, technological advancements, the mystique of flying, Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color, youth in aviation
|
2 Comments
Automation in Aviation
There is a great deal of dialogue about the use of automation in aviation. Lately, some of the talk is focusing on the failure of automation and the role it played in the crash of Asiana 214, the Boeing 777 … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying
|
Tagged accident reports, air carriers, aircraft accidents, Asiana 214, auto-throttles, automation failure, Automation in Aviation, autopilot, aviation safety and efficiency, basic airmanship, Boeing 777, cockpit automation, complacency, confidence, discipline, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University, problems in the cockpit, professional flight crews, runway 28L, San Francisco International, systems failure, technology, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), The University of Central Florida
|
2 Comments
Surviving an Airliner Crash
This week’s crash of Asiana 214 was a terrible event with great miracles – the survival of 305 people out of 307 onboard the airliner. When I initially wrote about the accident, I said I would follow up with some … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flying, Life in General
|
Tagged able-bodied passengers, airliner accidents, airplane crash, airplanes, airspeed, altitude, Asiana 214, avoiding panic, emergency, emergency exit, engine failures, fear of flying, flight attendants, flying, flying as a passenger, judgment, memorize the way out, pilots, pre-flight safety brief, professional pilots, seat location, smoke, surviving a plane crash, Surviving an Airliner Crash, survivors
|
5 Comments
The Miracle of Asiana 214
Two dead, 182 injured, six in critical condition of 307 souls onboard. What happened yesterday, July 6, 2013 at San Francisco International Airport was truly a miracle. On short final, the Boeing 777 touched down short of the runway breaking … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flying
|
Tagged accidents, airplanes, airspeed, altitude, Asiana 214, Boeing 777, Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger, commercial aviation, discipline, emergency situations, engineers, fear of flying, fears about flying, Federal Aviation Administration, human factors, investigators, media coverage, Miracle on the Hudson, modern aircraft, National Transportation Safety Board, pilots, professional pilots, San Francisco International Airport, survivability, the safest mode of transportation
|
2 Comments
From Cropduster to Airline Pilot – a new book
We have published a new book, a very interesting book. It is the biography of LeRoy Brown, cropduster, National Airlines pilot, and retired of Pan American World Airways. As things happen, one of my colleagues at work, Dr. Leo Murphy, … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying, History
|
Tagged checklists, CRM, cropduster, Cropduster to Airline Captain, DC-8, DC-8 Engine Failure in Mexico City, four-engine failure, LeRoy Brown, memory lane of aviation history, National Airlines pilot, no time to declare an emergency, Orlando Apopka airport, Pan American World Airways, safe landings
|
Comments Off on From Cropduster to Airline Pilot – a new book
The Safety of “Little Airplanes”
Many question the safety of “little airplanes.” By the way, they are only “little” until you have to wash and wax them; then the smallest airplane suddenly appears similar in size to a Boeing 747. General aviation aircraft have always … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying
|
Tagged accident files, airplane accidents, airplanes, airspeed, altitude, Cessna 170, Cessna 182, Cessnas, discipline, first solo, Flight instructors, flight training, flying, General aviation, highways, instrument flying, judgment, learning to fly, little airplanes, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), pilots, poor judgment, professional pilots, sailors, student pilots, training aircraft
|
2 Comments
First Flights
When you first go flying with a new student, you should make certain everything is as perfect as possible. In other words, a new student’s first flight should occur very early in the morning when the temperatures are low and … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying, Life in General
|
Tagged airplanes, airspeed, altitude, Cessnas, CFI, engine failures, First flights, first solo, Flight instructors, flight training, flying, friends, inexperienced pilots, judgment, learning to fly, memories, new students, pilots, professional pilots, student pilots, taildraggers, training aircraft
|
4 Comments
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 →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying, History, Life in General, Publishing, Reading, Writing
|
Tagged airplanes, altitude, editors, England, flight training, flying, friends, inexperienced pilots, judgment, learning to fly, memories, open cockpit biplanes, pilots, professional pilots, publishers, sailors, student pilots, taildraggers, training aircraft
|
4 Comments
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 →
Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying
|
Tagged airplanes, airspeed, altitude, Cessna 170, Cessna 182, Cessnas, first solo, Flight instructors, flight training, flying, inexperienced pilots, instrument flying, judgment, learning to fly, open cockpit biplanes, pilots, professional pilots, student pilots, taildraggers, training aircraft
|
Comments Off on On Buying An Airplane, Part IV
