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Tag Archives: airplanes
Hey – what’s happening here?
Those were the last words of Captain Robert Loft, 38 years ago tonight. Eastern Airlines Flight 401 departed New York’s JFK airport at 9:20 in the evening enroute to Miami International Airport. The flight progressed normally until about 11:30. On … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying, Life in General
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Tagged airplanes, autopilot, Captain Robert Loft, cockpit voice recorder (CVR), Eastern Airlines, Eastern Airlines Flight 401, famous last words, First Officer Albert Stockstill, Flight 401, flying, Hey - what's happening here?, indication on the nose wheel, judgment, Lockheed Tristar, Miami International Airport, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), New York’s JFK, pilots, professional pilots, Ray Dickinsin, Robert “Bud” Marquis, sawgrass, the Everglades, water
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1 Comment
Modern Day Heroes
When people might ask about heroes, a few names always come to mind. They are names from the era of naval aviation just preceding my time. A couple of those names somewhat go together; James Bond Stockdale and Douglas Hegdahl. … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation History, Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged A Couple of My Heroes, Air Force, airplanes, captivity, commitment to God, discipline, Douglas Hegdahl, flying, Hanoi Hilton, Hornet pilots, In Love and War, James Bond Stockdale, judgment, military service, Navy, Navy attack pilot, Navy North Island, required reading, Richard A. Stratton, SERE School, Sybil Stockdale, the North Vietnamese, USS Canberra
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What Makes a Good CFI?
Some believe you must be a great pilot to be a good flight instructor. Others think you have to have great teaching skills. Then there are those who believe it all boils down to patience. For those who believe it … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged airplanes, discipline, flying, good flight instructor, great pilot, inexperienced pilots, instrument flying, judgment, learning to fly, patience, pilots, professional pilots, professional reputation, stress, student pilots, teacher, the Law of Effect, training aircraft, What Makes a Good CFI?
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Heroes
My student and I finished our flight a little early and when we returned to the ramp, I saw an early model Cessna 210 sitting in front of the flight dispatch building. From afar, the airplane looked good. As I … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged a true American hero, aeronautical engineering, airplanes, an older gentleman, Cessna 210, Cessnas, Douglas D-558-II Skyrocket, Eastern Airlines, Edwards Air Force Base, flying, Hawker Siddeley, heroes, just another Cessna pilot, military service, National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics' (NACA), Navy, North American Aviation, pilots, professional pilots, Scott Crossfield, test pilot, the fastest human alive, the U.S. House of Representatives Committee for Science and Technology, the X-15, World War II
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4 Comments
The Juan T. Trippe
These days, if you don’t know who Juan T. Trippe is, the old airplane guys can almost excuse you because we have now moved so far down the timeline away from the glorious days of airline travel. This was a time … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying, Life in General
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Tagged air-taxi service, airplanes, Aviation Company of the Americas, Boeing 707, Boeing 747, Clipper flying boats, Colonial Air Transport, Cuba, Eddie Rickenbacker, Florida, Havana, Howard Hughes, international jet travel, Key West, Long Island Airways, Mojave CA, Pacific Ocean, Pan Am, Pan American World Airways, pilots, the early airline industry, The Juan T. Trippe, the Tony Jannus Award
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4 Comments
The ICON A5
Yesterday, I had an exchange of comments with one of the readers which prompted me to send her a link to the ICON A5 aircraft. If you have never seen this new airplane, and you are a pilot who likes … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flying
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Tagged airplanes, amphibious airplanes, Cessnas, flying, hangar fees, he ICON Complete Airplane Parachute recovery system, learning to fly, Lycoming, pilots who like the water, Rotax 912 ULS, safe low-speed handling capability, seaplanes, the folding wing, The ICON A5, training aircraft, very impressive light sport aircraft
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2 Comments
Jimmy Stewart
Jimmy Stewart, born James Maitland Stewart in Indiana, Pennsylvania on May 20, 1908, was one of the most beloved movie actors of the Twentieth Century. Stewart was a gentle man who also happened to be an excellent piano player. Moreover … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying, Life in General
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Tagged 453rd Bombardment Squadron, 703rd, a natural born leader, acting, Air Force, airplanes, B-24 Liberators, building model airplanes, Captain Andy Low, Hollywood, Hollywood star, James Maitland Stewart, Jimmy Stewart, judgment, military service, Old Buckenham, pilots, Princeton, Revolutionary War, War Between the States, World War II, “Old Buc”
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1 Comment
What Makes a Cessna 172 So Safe?
OK, so I was checking out the stats on the blog and I came across this search term. Someone had actually asked the question of Google or Bing or Yahoo, “What makes a Cessna 172 so safe?” What a great … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flight Instructing, Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged airplanes, Cessna, Cessna 172P, Cessna 210 Centurion, Cessnas, Clyde Cessna, engine failures, flying, gross weight, inexperienced pilots, maneuvering speed, stall speed, the 100-series Cessnas, What Makes a Cessna 172 So Safe?
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4 Comments
Building Time
Today’s young pilots face the same age-old number one question as pilots in the last century: namely – how do I get a job? Of course, as it was in the Twentieth Century, so it is in the 21st. New … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying, Life in General
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Tagged airline industry, airplanes, Alaska, banner towing, Building Time, bush flying, Catch-22, charter flying, checkrides, chicken and egg conundrum, commercial pilot positions, flight instructing, flying, flying jobs, flying skydivers, great time building, how do I get a job?, inexperienced pilots, insurance criteria, judgment, learning to fly, mountains, Part 135, professional pilots, sightseeing flights, taildraggers, the menial jobs of aviation, training aircraft, working for a living, young pilots
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4 Comments
Automation
One thing which tends to strike fear into the heart of a young student pilot working on a career in aviation is the word, automation. Young people hate to hear that word because they think it might keep them from getting … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying
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Tagged airline crews, airline pilots, airplanes, Airplanista online magazine, Automation, Charles Lindbergh, FedEx, first officer, flight engineer, flying across the Atlantic, Fred Smith, fully automated cockpits, life support systems, navigator, passenger flights, pilot, pilots, professional pilots, radio operator, student pilots, unmanned aerial vehicles, Unmanned aircraft systems (UAS), young student pilots
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