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Category Archives: Aviation
Trim Tabs
Friday was a terrible day for aviation and for air racing in particular. When the elevator trim tab separated from the airframe, Jimmy Leeward lost control of his modified P-51 air racer, The Galloping Ghost, crashing into air race spectators. … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying
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Tagged 1959 Cessna 150, aerodynamic flutter, air race spectators, airplanes, airspeed, altitude, Bruce Raymond, elevator trim tab, excessive g-loading, flight training, flying, football player “Red” Grange, hardware, humanware, Jimmy Leeward, judgment, Leeward Air Ranch, modified P-51 air racer, National Aeronautics Association, Ocala FL, Reno Air Races, Steve Beville, the Army Air Forces, The Galloping Ghost, Thompson Trophy Race, Trim Tabs, Walnut Ridge AR
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Tribute
This is a very good tribute to the old aviators who made aviation what is today. I have no idea as to the author and editor who created this, but they did a good job with the tribute to the … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying
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Tagged 180-horsepower Lycoming engine, a history lesson in verse, a poor man’s F-14, aerobatics, airplanes, airspeed, altitude, flying, homebuilts, John Denver, memories, Navy, Richard VanGrunsven, RV-6, taildraggers, the most delightful airplane, the old aviators, Tribute
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1st Solo, + 40 Years
As I sit writing this, my mind goes back 40 years, almost to the second, of this instant. I cannot believe so much time has passed since the moment I feel as though I was truly born. I was there, … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flight Instructing, Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged "her pound of papers and scraps", "land lubbers", a kaleidoscope of images memories events and people, a life aloft, a life-defining moment, a lucky one, A pilot's logbook, a witness and participant, all the secrets to life, an accident statistic, at one time?, Because I flew, Beryl Markham, Fatal statistics, having fun beyond description, I flew alone, just yesterday, learning to fly, my one and only perfect landing, my share of bad landings, over there, passing lessons down to the youngest pilots, proof of my own life in the sky, reserved only for aviators and sailors, Solo + 40 Years, Sunsets and sunrises, the first time I truly spread my wings, the good and the bad, the other side, the touch of their grandchildren, this instant, too, Was I that young, West with the Night, why he or she was so unlucky, why I was so very lucky, “young whipper-snapper”
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5 Comments
Florida’s Hometown Hero
In the Orlando area, the aviation community is well aware of a gentleman by the name of Joe Kittinger. He has been well involved in the aviation industry almost all of his life. In fact, he has set some significant … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying
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Tagged 102800 feet, 1LT William J. Reich, aeromedical research, Air Force, aviation records, Church Street Station, Clark AFB, Colonel John Paul Stapp, combat tours, F-84s, F-86s, Florida Gator, Florida's Hometown Hero, freefall at 714 miles per hour, Gainesville, he F-4D Phantom, high altitude ejections, high speed ejections, Holloman AFB, Jacksonville, Joe Kittinger, jumped out of a balloon, Marine Corps, Mig-21, Navy pilots, New Mexico, Orlando, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Rosie O'Grady's Flying Circus, Tampa, the A-26 Invader, the Bolles School, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI), the Hanoi Hilton, the Harmon Trophy, the longest freefall, the senior ranking officer, the Sunshine State, the University of Florida, Vietnam
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Doing It the Old Fashioned Way
Well, I guess I have graduated from the School of Geekdom at the University of Hardknocks. Following this past week’s computer emergency, with the help of some friends, a couple of manuals, and the Internet, I was able to teach myself … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flight Instructing, Flying, History, Life in General
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Tagged a mean old cantankerous flight instructor, a sense of collective history, Alexander Graham Bell, am locomotive engineers, ancient sailors, Apple, black and white prints, Captain Ross, commercial electricity, computer emergency, computers, dependent on technology, digital cameras, Doing It the Old Fashioned Way, English, Ernest K. Gann, Fate Is The Hunter, French, Garmins, history, Johannes Gutenberg, Kill Devil Hill, manual typewriters, measured by column inches, mentors, MicroSoft, Nicola Tesla, proportion wheels, re-loading various software, rocket science, sailed across the Atlantic, School of Geekdom, smart phones, Spaniards, storytelling, the ancient Polynesians, the DC-3, the light bulb, the New World, the printing press, the telephone, the University of Hardknocks, the Wrights, Thomas Edison, Tom-Toms, Trimbles, Vikings, World War II, “the old-fashioned way”
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5 Comments
Looking Both Ways
In teaching student pilots, I have been amazed that a few will cross a runway or taxiway without looking. At airports with control towers and active ATC, the instances of this happening are more pronounced than at airports without ground control. The … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying, Personal
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Tagged a late Friday afternoon, airplanes, airports with control towers, Cessnas, clearance to our ramp, crossing a runway or taxiway without looking, discipline, Flight instructors, flight training, flying, inexperienced pilots, judgment, learning to fly, look both ways, Looking Both Ways, making the approach to another airport, pilots, professional pilots, similar runway patterns, student pilots, teaching student pilots, the mighty PA-44 Seminole, using the radio
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2 Comments
Precession – Is It Really A Left Turning Tendency?
Flight instructors teach their students about the left-turning tendencies an airplane encounters on takeoff. Unfortunately, some flight instructors may not fully understand the dynamics of takeoff and might pass a misconception or two on to the next generation of new … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying
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Tagged airplanes, airspeed, altitude, Back in the Old Days, Cessnas, conventional landing gear, flight controls, Flight instructors, flight training, flying, full throttle, high power settings, high-angle-of-attack-flight, inexperienced pilots, judgment, learning to fly, left-turning tendencies, Newton’s third law, nosewheels, novice pilots, P-51 Mustang pilots, P-factor, pilots, precession, Precession - Is It Really A Left Turning Tendency?, professional pilots, propeller blade, right rudder, spiraling slipstream, student pilots, students, taildraggers, tailwheels, torque, training aircraft, World War II
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6 Comments
Time For a Plane Diet?
Yesterday, I talked about the problems of loading an airplane improperly. With a forward or aft cg, especially if loaded outside the limits, you are going to have control problems. Now for the rest of the story, as Paul would … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying
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Tagged absolute ceilings, altitude limits, an overloaded airplane, best angle of climb, best rate of climb, carrying a little extra weight, control problems, exceeding the allowable aft cg limit, flying an overweight airplane, high rotation speeds, higher landing speeds, increased takeoff distance, loading an airplane, lower climb rates, performance issues associated with heavier operating weights, putting too much in the airplane, service ceiling, shallower climb gradients, Time For a Plane Diet?
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Loadin’ Up the Old Family Plane
There is a trick to loading an airplane properly, especially for a long cross-country flight. Many pilots lack a practical understanding of the important concepts of loading. It is not the same as going out to the family SUV and … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying
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Tagged balance equates to controllability, center-of-gravity, elevator control feels very heavy, exceeding the aircraft’s g-limits, FAA private pilot written exam, loading an airplane properly, Loadin’ Up the Old Family Plane, ng cross-country flights, over control the plane, overloading the aircraft, pilot examiner, pitch control is exaggerated, recovery from a spin, stall recovery, understanding the concepts of loading, weight and balance
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The Seventieth Reunion
My friend, Mike, is a very interesting fellow. He is an aviation aficionado of the highest standing. He is also a very funny guy whose wife must absolutely be the greatest understanding wife of all time. Sometimes, I wonder how … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, History
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Tagged an aviation aficionado, an understanding wife, B-25 Mitchell bombers, David J. Thatcher, Dayton OH, drink a very solemn toast to their comrades, Edward J. Saylor, Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Jack Hudson, planning their seventieth reunion, Richard E. Cole, Robert L. Hite, the "Whirling Dervish", The Doolittle Goblets, the Doolittle Raiders, the Hennessey Company, the National Museum of the Air Force, The Seventieth Reunion, the USS Hornet, the “Ruptured Duck”, the “TNT”, Thomas C. Griffin
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