“Night flying introduces challenges that are reflected in the data,” said Robert Geske, AOPA Air Safety Institute manager of aviation safety analysis. “More than one-quarter of fatal night flying accidents occurred because of spatial disorientation, a condition that can bring about loss of control in flight — the leading cause of all night flying accidents.”
Aircraft
How do you celebrate your 100th birthday?
A Fox Carolina news report documents the amazing 100th birthday flight of “Uncle John” Hartness at Triple Tree Aerodrome in Woodruff, South Carolina. Uncle John, who has volunteered at Triple Tree for years — he even has a fly-in named after him — says there’s “not a single thing I’d rather be doing” than flying.
NASA grounds electric aircraft project
While the electric aircraft prototype never flew, NASA officials say the project provided groundbreaking research and technology for the future of electric aviation.
E6B Classroom Trainer debuts
The new E6B Classroom Trainer functions exactly like a handheld E6B flight computer, according to ASA officials. It features a wind component grid and crosswind correction chart on one side, while on the other side the slide computes time, speed, distance, altitude, true airspeed, and density altitude problems, as well as conversions.
Air Power History Tour visits Air Force museum for July 4th
The public is invited to the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, to see three World War II-era aircraft flown by the Commemorative Air Force: The B-29 Superfortress “FiFi,” B-24 Liberator “Diamond Lil,” and a T-6 Texan, the legendary trainer of World War II.
Kitfox upgrades backcountry landing gear
“The new Black Ops suspension allows the strongly triangulated Kitfox main landing gear to articulate smoothly and controllably over the roughest terrain, improving controllability during backcountry operations and providing better passenger comfort,” company officials noted.
Picture of the Day: A perfect sunrise
Sidney Pinney submitted this photo and note: “A T6 yearning to fly and a red sky beckoning. This is my idea of a perfect sunrise.”
Questions from the Cockpit: Burning off the fog
Denise, working on her private ticket in California, writes: Help me out! I’m getting ready to take my written, and I keep mixing up my fog types. Is there any clever way to sort them out?
Flying for good
The 32-page eBook, which is free to download, is full of stories of inspiration from volunteer pilots, but also provides tips on how you can use your skills as a pilot to become involved with charitable organizations.