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Category Archives: Aviation
Dinner Conversations About Fear
We were sitting with friends at a great restaurant on the beach. The temperature was just right, the humidity relatively low, and the wind was light, but refreshing. It was a great evening and since we were aviators, our conversation … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying
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Tagged airplanes, airspeed, altitude, being ready, control the fear, Conversations About Fear, discipline, emergencies, engine failure, Flight instructors, flight training, flying, flying careers, inexperienced pilots, judgment, learning to fly, pilots, professional pilots, student pilots, survival, survival training, training
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2 Comments
The Cub Versus the Champ
One of the ongoing 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 →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flight Instructing, Flying
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Tagged airplanes, airspeed, altitude, discipline, first solo, Flight instructors, flight training, flying, inexperienced pilots, judgment, learning to fly, open cockpit biplanes, pilots, professional pilots, taildraggers, training aircraft
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Seeing the Sun
We were driving across Florida through the Ocala National Forest. It was one of those afternoons good for driving, not so much for flying, unless you held an instrument rating and had filed. We were passing near R-2910 and I … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying
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Tagged 200-1/4, airplanes, airspeed, altitude, clouds, discipline, Flight instructors, flight training, flying, GCA, inexperienced pilots, instrument flying, instrument training, judgment, learning to fly, memories, military service, Navy, PAR, pilots, professional pilots, sailors, student pilots, TA-4J Skyhawk, training aircraft
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2 Comments
Leftovers
Leftovers. You have to love ’em. Especially if they have been hanging around the ’fridge for a while and they age appropriately—mixing in flavors in on top of flavors. Sometimes the leftovers are wonderfully tasty and you might think it cannot … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying
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Tagged 100-LL, 100-octane, 150-hp Lycoming, 80-octane, airplanes, alternate destinations, an unsafe practice, Cessna 172, critical thinking skills, day VFR fuel reserves, destinations, discipline, engine problems, excess fuel, flight planning, flying, flying instruments, general aviation airplanes, holding patterns, holding time, how many approaches, judgment, Leftovers, minimum fuel, night and IFR fuel reserves, options, pilots, pilots can never have too much fuel, Piper Cherokee, professional pilots, the ATC environment, useable fuel, weather below minimums
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2 Comments
Seventy Years
Seventy years ago this morning, 80 brave men took off from the USS Hornet on what would later become known as the Doolittle Raid. It is hard to imagine babies were born, lived their entire lives, and died having lived … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying, History
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Tagged 500-pound high explosive bombs, 500-pound incendiary bombs, 80 brave men, Admiral Marc A. Mitscher, Admiral Yamamoto, Afghanistan, American history, an extraordinary display of airmanship, April 18 1942, B-25B Mitchell, bailing out, Beirut, China, Grenada, Hawaii, Iraq, James H. (Jimmy) Doolittle, Japan, Kobe, Lexington to Gettysburg, Nagoya, Normandy, Pearl Harbor, President Roosevelt, Purple Hearts, Russia, sacrifice, secret mission, Seventy Years, sneak attack, the Air Force Museum in Dayton OH, the Ardennes, the Chosin Valley, the Congressional Medal of Honor, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Doolittle Raid, The Eighth Air Force, the Ia Drang, the Japanese army, the sleeping giant, the Twin Towers, the USS Hornet, Tokyo, volunteers, World War II, Yokohama, Yokosuka, “Toujours Au Danger!”
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2 Comments
The Magic Plastic Wheel
Ernest K. Gann, the aviation writer of the Twentieth Century, once wrote about the plastic E6-B flight computer that resided in his top pocket of his uniform shirt. Other pilots had other favorite places in or on their uniform for … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying, Personal
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Tagged Air Force, airplanes, airspeed, altitude, Cessnas, discipline, E-6B, Ernest K. Gann, flight calculators, Flight instructors, flight training, flying, inexperienced pilots, instrument flying, judgment, learning to fly, military service, Navy, pilots, professional pilots, student pilots, training aircraft, whiz wheels
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Ready, Set, GO!
Yesterday, I wrote about my time. Well, there is something more to this time of year than just getting up early and enjoying the mornings. The one great event of this time of year, for all pilots, is the annual … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged Air Force, airplanes, airspeed, altitude, aviators, barnstormers, Cessnas, classic and antique airplanes, Flight instructors, flight training, Florida, flying, friends, homebuilts, inexperienced pilots, kitplanes, Lakeland, learning to fly, memories, oshkosh, Ready Set GO!, student pilots, Sun ’N Fun, taildraggers, training aircraft, young aviators
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My Time
This time of year is my time. There is nothing better than the early morning cool, listening to the birds, and feeling the cool damp of the morning while drinking coffee in the sunrise. When I was learning to fly … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flying, Life in General, Personal, Writing
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Tagged a Sam Lyon’s painting, airplanes, airspeed, altitude, an escapee housecat, cats, Cessnas, early morning cool, early morning writing, early spring, flight training, Florida, flying, flying in the early morning, friends, learning to fly, listening to the birds, memories, military service, most pleasant flying memories, Navy, productive times, Reveille, rising early, sitting outside, sunrise, taildraggers, the delightful things I could see, the first cup of coffee, watching Cubs taking off, watching the fog on the lake, writers
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Pattern Discipline
Flying the landing pattern is one of those simple tasks that makes use of all the fundamentals of flying. It also uses other skills and disciplines–along with math and physics–and a “dash” of common sense. The start of a good … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying
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Tagged airplanes, airspeed, altitude, Cessna 170, Cessnas, discipline, flight training, flying, inexperienced pilots, judgment, landing, learning to fly, pilots, professional pilots, short field landing, soft field landing, student pilots, taildraggers, training aircraft
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Alaska
Earlier, when I checked my email, I found a message from a former student who recently graduated. Like the graduates before him, it was time for him to figure out what to do with the rest of his life, starting … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged airplanes, airspeed, Alaska, altitude, Cessna 170, Cessna 182, Cessnas, floatplanes, flying, friends, inexperienced pilots, instrument flying, judgment, mountains, Navy, pilots, professional pilots, seaplanes, taildraggers, water flying
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4 Comments
