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Category Archives: Flying
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
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
“CHRISTMAS AT SEA”
The sheets were frozen hard, and they cut the naked hand; The decks were like a slide, where a seamen scarce could stand; The wind was a nor’wester, blowing squally off the sea; And cliffs and spouting breakers were the … Continue reading →
Posted in Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged airmen, airspeed, altitude, black shoe sailors, coastguardsmen, discipline, flying, friends, inexperienced pilots, instrument flying, judgment, loved ones, Marines, memories, military service, Navy, professional pilots, Robert Louis Stevenson, sailing ships, sailors, soldiers, writers
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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
So Long, Allan Wise
Two or three years ago, the veterans of World War II were dying at an alarming rate of more than 1000 per day. Of the 16 million who saved the world while wearing the uniform of one of the United … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged Air Force, airplanes, airspeed, Allan Wise, altitude, EAA, flight training, Florida, flying, friends, homebuilt airplanes, memories, military service, open cockpit biplanes, Pietenpol Air Camper, pilots, professional pilots, World War II
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