Tag Archives: altitude

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

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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

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I Woke Up Old Today

When I woke up today, the talking heads on television were talking about historic events—in particular, John Glenn’s three-orbit flight around the world. I remember that flight. Just like it was yesterday. It was, however, 50 years ago. I turned … Continue reading

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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

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“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

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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

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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

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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

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Inexperienced Pilots and the Just Highlander

Someone had an interesting query for Google the other day. It was “highlander aircraft inexperienced pilot.” The Google machine brought the Googler right straight to my blog. When I saw the query in the software, I started thinking about it … Continue reading

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Reno

As usual, the news media is doing a terrible job on the continual reporting of the Reno crash.  There is a modicum of fact and the remainder of their reports, articles, and videos contain unsubstantiated conjecture and a lot of … Continue reading

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