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Tag Archives: flight training
Pilot-Engineer Wars
There is a thought that engineers created performance charts just to drive pilots crazy. And, as if that were not enough, they had to include “notes,” “cautions,” and “warnings.” The pilots need to heed all those, too, just to keep … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flying
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Tagged "cautions", "notes", "warnings", airplanes, airspeed, altitude, becoming familiar with the charts and graphs, becoming very familiar with the airplane, Cessnas, engine failures, flight training, flying, grass runways, hidden in plain sight, inexperienced pilots, instrument flying, judgment, learning to fly, performance charts, Pilot-Engineer Wars, pilots, professional pilots, student pilots, taildraggers, training aircraft
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6 Comments
The Aeronca Champ
The Aeronca Champ is one of the most classic of airplanes from the 1940s. As with most of the old airplanes from that era, the Champ was able to fly based on a very fine balance between large wing area … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flight Instructing, Flying
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Tagged a near-perfect landing, a very honest-flying airplane, adverse yaw, airplanes, airspeed, altitude, Cessnas, Continental C-65 engine, discipline, engine failures, first solo, flight training, flying, flying at very slow airspeeds, generous wing area, how to use rudders, inexperienced pilots, judgment, keep the stick back, learning to fly, Mr. Piper’s J-3 Cub, neophyte pilots, pilots, professional pilots, sitting in the backseat, slow flight, stalls, student pilots, taildraggers, the 7AC, The Aeronca Champ, the counterpart to the 11AC Chief, the most classic of airplanes from the 1940s, training aircraft, very well balanced controls, World War II, “purist pilots”
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3 Comments
Close Calls, Near Misses, and Collisions
I have been following the blogging of a new student pilot from Down Under. Dave refers to himself as a middle-aged pilot learning to fly for the first time in Sydney, Australia. As with pilots all over, he is now … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged a middle-aged pilot learning to fly, airplanes, airspeed, altitude, and collisions, Cessnas, close calls, Close Calls Near Misses and Collisions, danger and fright, engine failures, first solo, flight training, flying, inexperienced pilots, instrument flying, judgment, learning to fly, MidLifePilot’s Flying Blog, near misses, pilots, professional pilots, student pilots, Sydney Australia, taildraggers
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1 Comment
A Lesson in Ricochets
One day, the weapons instructors introduced us to the technique of firing live rounds. Now this is a little different from going down to the rifle range and learning to shoot; what we were going to do was learn how … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged A Lesson in Ricochets, airspeed, altitude, Cuba, discipline, experienced instructors, firing live rounds, flight training, flying, friends, Guantanamo, guns pattern, inexperienced pilots, judgment, learning to fly, learning to shoot, live fire exercises, Marines, memories, military service, Navy, never overfly the target, pilots, professional pilots, pushing 540 knots, sailors, salty lieutenants and lieutenant commanders, student pilots, TA-4J Skyhawk, the weapons instructors, tracer rounds, tracers ricocheting in all directions
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4 Comments
The Cessna 120 and 140
One of the best airplanes Clyde Cessna’s company put out was the little 140. The 140 also has a little twin, the Cessna 120. Both airframes are very similar, with only slight differences. The most notable difference is the 120 … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flying
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Tagged a stall speed of 39 knots, a wing area of 159.3 square feet, airplanes, Cessna 150, Cessnas, Clyde Cessna, Continental C-85 engine, conventional landing gear, flight training, flying, gross weight of only 1450 pounds, inexperienced pilots, judgment, learning to fly, memories, monocoque fuselage, pilots, professional pilots, seeing over the nose, student pilots, taildraggers, The Cessna 120, The Cessna 140, the Cessna 140A, the Cessna taildraggers, three-point landings, training aircraft, tricycle landing gear, wing loading of only 9.1 pounds per square foot, “metalized” wings, “S-turning” during the taxi
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2 Comments
OK, My Turn
It’s my turn now, to talk about the napping controllers. This is mainly for the benefit of the non-flying public; most of us who fly realize pilots and passengers face little danger in the case of sleeping controllers at 1 … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged Air Traffic Controllers, airplanes, Cessnas, controllers, discipline, Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), flight training, flying, high-density traffic operations, inexperienced pilots, instrument flying, J. Mac McClellan, judgment, learning to fly, napping controllers, natural circadian rhythm, newspapers, non-flying public, OK My Turn, pilots, pilots in command, professional pilots, publicizing a problem that is not really a problem, punitive action, sleeping controllers, student pilots, taildraggers, training aircraft, wimps, “Are We Pilots Or Wimps?”
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6 Comments
Flying at (Density) Altitude
I am a Florida boy who learned to fly at mean sea level. As such, I do not care for a couple of things. The first is cold, the second is high density altitude. Many pilots do not understand the … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flight Instructing, Flying, Personal
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Tagged airplanes, airspeed, altitude, Cessnas, discipline, flight training, Florida, flying, friends, inexperienced pilots, judgment, learning to fly, memories, military service, mountains, Navy, pilots, professional pilots, student pilots, taildraggers, training aircraft
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9 Comments
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
The Doolittle Raiders
Sixty-nine years ago this morning, 80 very brave men in 16 B-25 Mitchell bombers launched from the deck of the aircraft carrier, USS Hornet. They and their leaders planned the mission well, but as they steamed toward their targets, they … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Aviation History, Flying, History
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Tagged Air Force, airplanes, airspeed, altitude, discipline, flight training, Florida, flying, judgment, military service, Navy, Pearl Harbor, pilots, World War II
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11 Comments
Uncle D’s Swift
D was a different kind of pilot. For one, he owned a Globe Temco Swift, powered by a 125-horse Continental. The Swift was a gorgeous airplane; she had tapered wings, a round tail, and pronounced dihedral. I will always remember … Continue reading →
Posted in Aviation, Flying, Life in General, Personal
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Tagged 125-horse Continental, a different kind of pilot, a man of action, a tinkerer, airplanes, an airline pilot, D, flight training, Florida, flying, friends, Globe Temco Swift, groundlooped, he could fly anything, he was an ATP, inexperienced pilots, judgment, learning to fly, no tailwheel experience, one of the prettiest airplanes ever built, pilots, professional pilots, taildraggers, the airplane was crashed, The old codgers, the shenanigans, Uncle D’s Swift, vacation traveling by car, years of reconstruction, “Ya’ll ought not do that”
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3 Comments
