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Category Archives: Flying
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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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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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
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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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