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Tag Archives: open cockpit biplanes
High Flight
My last blog was about the men who saved England, no, indeed the world. The documentary I watched about the pilots who flew in the Battle of Britain moved me. Their story overwhelmingly impressed me because of my realization of … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying, History
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Tagged airplanes, Canada, discipline, England, fighter pilots, flight training, flying, friends, High Flight, inexperienced pilots, John Gillespie Magee, Jr., judgment, learning to fly, military service, No. 9 Elementary Flying Training School, open cockpit biplanes, pilots, professional pilots, RAF, RCAF, student pilots, taildraggers, the Battle of Britain, the Fleet Finch, training aircraft, Winston Churchill, World War II
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1 Comment
The Battle of Britain
This week, I had the opportunity to watch a very well done documentary on the Battle of Britain. Hosted by Ewan McGregor and his brother Colin, they told of how they grew up in England studying about the fighter pilots … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying, History
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Tagged airplanes, airspeed, altitude, British pilots, Colin McGregor, discipline, Ewan McGregor, flight training, flying, friends, Harvard, inexperienced pilots, judgment, learning to fly, military service, open cockpit biplanes, pilots, professional pilots, Stampe trainer, student pilots, T-6 Texan, taildraggers, training aircraft, World War II
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1 Comment
The Souls of Airplanes
I remember the first time I realized an airplane could seem as though it were a living being. I was out at the Zephyrhills airport near Tampa, where I met a young man who owned a Republic Seabee amphibious aircraft. … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying
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Tagged airplanes, airspeed, altitude, Cessna 170, Cessna 182, Cessnas, discipline, engine failures, first solo, Flight instructors, flight training, flying, for the sake of flying, friends, inexperienced pilots, instrument flying, judgment, learning to fly, memories, open cockpit biplanes, pilots, Piper Cubs, professional pilots, Republic Seabee, student pilots, taildraggers, training aircraft, Zephyrhills airport
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6 Comments
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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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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The Éole
Today, 121 years ago, Frenchman Clement Ader’s steam-powered airplane flew for the first time. Yes, you are correct in your math if you said that was 13 years before the Wrights flew. And yes, it was a steam-powered airplane. Ader … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying, History, Life in General
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Tagged a steam-powered airplane, airplanes, aviation history, barnstormers, Brothers George and William Besler, clean emissions, flying, Frenchman Clement Ader, internal combustion engine, Lead-based fossil fuels, open cockpit biplanes, the Besler Steam Airplane, the Doble Steam Motors Company, The Éole, the First World War, the Travel Air 2000, the Wrights, very quiet operation, William Besler
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Flying, Biplanes, and Museums
This morning when I got up, I began trying to catch up on some of my reading. One of the emails I read came from [email protected] and the lead article, titled, “Plane Jane makes last flight,” made me reflect on … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying, Life in General
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Tagged a 1929 Fleet biplane, a birdcage of flying wires and anti-drag wires, [email protected], barnstormers, Charles Lindbergh, emails, Ernest K. Gann, flying, Flying Biplanes and Museums, Gene Breiner, maintaining older planes in flying condition a retired FAA maintenance inspector, museum artifacts, open cockpit biplanes, qualified pilots and mechanics, rare antique airplanes, Richard Bach, Sarah Brown, Smithsonian, struts, the secret, training aircraft, two wings, working on antique airplanes, World War II, “Plane Jane makes last flight”, “the peculiarly sensual delight” of flying an open cockpit biplane an open cockpit, “You haven’t flown until you’ve flown a double-winger.”
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Dreams of Waco UPF-7s
A very long time ago, my best friend, Paul, rather jinxed me. He introduced me to one of the airplanes I have always wanted to fly, rebuild, own, and showcase: the Waco UPF-7. (Found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuRT7fstFxs.) The UPF-7 is a … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged 220 horsepower Continental radial engine, a loop, a training airplane, a wingover, airplanes, barnstormers, barrel roll, Dreams of Waco UPF-7s, flight training, flying, flying in the cooler air, friends, little wind, memories, my best friend, no turbulence, open cockpit biplanes, pilots, PT-14, rebuilding a classic airplane, the barnstorming era, The best time to fly, the Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP), The Great Depression, The United States Army Air Corps, the Waco UPF-7, Waco Aircraft Company of Troy OH
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Back in the Old Days
The old days. What is the definition of “the old days?” It depends on your point of view, that point of view being age. If you are young, the old days were back in kindergarten, perhaps. If you are in … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged accidently scraping the tail, aerobatic pilots, Air Force, airplanes, airspeed, altitude, AOPA’s weekend FIRC in Jacksonville, Back in the Old Days, barnstormers, Cessnas, charter pilots, Colonel Ernie Moser, drinking coffee, Flight instructors, flight training, Florida, flying, friends, Great Lakes 2T-1A, inexperienced pilots, Jim Holland, Jim Moser, Jim Moser’s Aerosport, judgment, learning to fly, memories, open cockpit biplanes, pilots, professional pilots, sitting around the FBO, student pilots, taildraggers, talking airplanes, the good old days, the St. Augustine airport, training aircraft, weekend airshow
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More Books About Flying
After finishing yesterday’s blog about books on the subject of the Doolittle Raid, I began thinking of other books written of flying that all serious pilots should read. There are so many great novels and historical accounts written of flying that once … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flying, History, Life in General, Personal, Reading
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Tagged a very unconventional life, Beryl Markham, British East Africa, England, Ernest Hemingway, flight training, flying, friends, great novels and historical accounts about flying, inexperienced pilots, judgment, Kenya, learning to fly, memories, More Books About Flying, mountains, Mt. Kilimanjaro, one of the most talented writers ever, open cockpit biplanes, pilots, professional pilots, student pilots, taildraggers, West with the Night, writers
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3 Comments