It’s time for us to put our individual anger and bitterness behind us. The talent pool of folks who are finding their way into aviation is growing. Some of these new entrants look familiar, some look different. It makes no difference. If they can meet the training requirements, gain the experience, and show proficiency in their chosen field, they deserve a green light from those of us who came before. More than that, they deserve our acceptance and encouragement.
Opinion
Ask Paul: How can I improve my engine’s cruise oil pressure?
During my second test flight, I noticed cruise oil pressure at 55 PSI. As it has the longer housing regulator, I added three washers and replaced the check ball. The result was oil pressure at cruise around 65 PSI and 40 PSI at idle. It’s within spec, but I’d like some more room over minimums.
An expert’s tips on preheating your aircraft engine in the winter
What are the best recommendations for pre-heating an aircraft engine?
Questions from the Cockpit: Weighty words
Noah, a student pilot in Arizona, writes: I’m trying to get my head around weight and balance, especially the terms: Moment, arm, station, datum… None of them seem particularly descriptive. Can you help me out?
Flat light takes out Ingenuity
“When running an accident investigation from 100 million miles away, you don’t have any black boxes or eyewitnesses,” said Ingenuity’s first pilot. Håvard Grip of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). “While multiple scenarios are viable with the available data, we have one we believe is most likely: Lack of surface texture gave the navigation system too little information to work with.”
Patience and persistence pay off
There’s another one out there. Another airplane. Another airport. Another kid who wants to find their way inside the fence to see if aviation is a good fit. I’m pretty sure those of us lucky enough to be players in this industry have the potential to persist and remain patient in our efforts to grow and improve the industry. If we do that, I’m confident everything will work out just fine.
Human Factors: A host of bad decisions
How do two professional pilots lose control of their flight just nine minutes after takeoff? Among a number of factors, what part did the pilot shortage play in this fatal accident?
Ogden Osprey couldn’t outclimb the Depression
The Ogden Osprey sought a niche as a small six-place trimotor suitable as a business aircraft, a feeder, or air taxi vehicle. The 1929 stock market crash was a death knell for the new design.
The woes of winter
Regardless of what you think constitutes uncomfortably cold, winter brings risks to us all. That’s true when driving over a combination of packed snow and ice to an intersection near the bottom of a downhill grade, and it’s true when we climb into an airplane to fly through that thick, clear winter air.