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Category Archives: Flight Instructing
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
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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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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Sleep, Food, Water, and Performance
I have taught about the relationship between a pilot’s need for proper rest and flying for a long time. Corollary to having the proper rest is eating right and proper hydration. It is a complex equation, and I was pleased when … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying
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Tagged Air Force, airplanes, airspeed, altitude, Cuba, discipline, flying, judgment, memories, military service, Navy, pilots, professional pilots, sailors
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2 Comments
Maximum Cruise Range
Engineers love playing with numbers, equations, and graph paper. They like playing with lines, French curves, straightedges, and their triangles. From all of their frivolous number-crunching and sketching, sometimes they come up with specific useful information. They, the engineers, discuss … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying
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Tagged airplanes, airspeed, altitude, Cessnas, computers, discipline, flight training, flying, judgment, learning to fly, pilots, professional pilots, student pilots
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1 Comment
Cruising, Explained
Sometimes, I think there are pilots who do not understand the relationship between speed, building time, and money. Especially those with only a bit of flight time in their logs. They need to build time; yet, they fly their cross-country … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying
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Tagged 55 percent power, 75 percent power, a “need for speed”, airplanes, airspeed, altitude, Cessnas, cruise speeds, Cruising—Explained, discipline, enjoy the ride, flight training, flying, inexperienced pilots, learning to fly, pilots, professional pilots, responsible for the fuel bill, student pilots, the cost of fuel
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4 Comments
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
