Air traffic control has been ground based since its beginning, but under the FAA’s Next Generation (NextGen) program it will be out of this world — and it may cause general aviation some out-of-this-world problems. Air traffic control began in 1929 at St. Louis Lambert Field when Archie League was hired to direct the movements […]
Opinion
The road to the hangar
I left three loads of laundry on the kitchen table, ready to be folded and put away. Grass needed cutting; tomatoes needed canning. The dog begged to go, but for him, a ride in the truck would have to wait until another day. Like me, my green Dodge Ram has seen better days. The right […]
Up Ship! Learning to fly a Zeppelin
I am enamored with airships, so when I found out that Airship Ventures, a start-up company in the San Francisco Bay area, was offering a chance to pilot one, I had to take advantage of the offer. Airship Ventures was started in 2006 by Brian and Alexandra (Alex) Hall. Brian’s background is in project development […]
Defending the slip on approach
LETTER TO THE EDITOR Thank you so much for defending the slip on approach (Short Final: The Land of Perfect). My husband and I fly a Kitfox we built in 1994 (ours), a 1968 Cardinal (mine), and a 1972 Skylane (his). The Kitfox has flaperons, but they act more to increase lift than to increase […]
Fly casual
Guest Editorial By THOMAS P. TURNER “Fly casual.” If you’re a pilot and a fan of the “Star Wars” movies (hey, I was a teenager when the first one came out), this may be one of your favorite lines of the entire series. Han Solo tells his Wookie copilot Chewbacca to “fly casual” to avoid […]
FAA proposes revamping pilot certifications
Washington, D.C. — The FAA’s Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) to change pilot licensing certification should bring welcome changes and, perhaps, some unwelcome rules. Some are changes needed to bring aviation up to date. The trouble is, the changes are about 40 years late. In the 1960s, the Utility Airplane Council, predecessor of the […]
Proposed Hudson River changes might be used in other places
Pending changes in flight operations in the Hudson River airspace — where a collision between an airplane and a helicopter took place last month — might have national applications, according to the FAA’s senior vice president for operations, air traffic organization. Testifying to a Senate committee, Rick Day said the agency will analyze the effectiveness […]
Meg flies a Mustang
When someone offers you the chance to fly in a P-51 Mustang, you do not pass it up. I recently flew “Betty Jane,” a rare two-place P-51 that is making its way around the country on the Collings Foundation Wings of Freedom Tour. The foundation also has its B-17, “Nine-oh-Nine,” and the B-24 “Witchcraft” making […]
Flight & Flyers: Luckey flyer
William Luckey, a test pilot and exhibition aviator for the Curtiss Company, came to aviation late in life. Best known as the winner of The New York Times race around Manhattan Island on Oct. 13, 1913, Luckey was nearing 50 when he took an interest in aviation in 1912. Just a year later, he won […]