Search Results for: Citation X

Not long ago, I was conducting a two-day, six-flight, expanded instrument proficiency check (IPC) with the owner of an A36 Bonanza. We were above an undercast at 7000 feet en route from Wichita, Kans., to Emporia Municipal (EMP), a non-towered airport a short 25 minutes to the northeast. Had the skies been clear, we would […]

At its graduation ceremony for the Class of 2020 held on June 11, the Aerospace Center for Excellence at the Central Florida Aerospace Academy in Lakeland, Florida, announced the winners of a roster of scholarships intended to support the students’ continuing study in aviation and STEM fields. The eight scholarships granted totaled $110,000. The leading […]

December is the cruelest month in the Culebra Range of southern Colorado. This chain of lofty mountains is rugged terrain, where the raging winds of winter have caught several airplanes in downdrafts. in my Navion, I have sniffed out the range’s updrafts and downflows, trying to identify weather conditions leading to airplane disasters and to […]

Pete Bunce said, “While the year started off strong, the health and safety restrictions put in place to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic began to significantly impact global operations, supply chains and deliveries towards the end of the first quarter.” Bunce’s remarks were part of the General Aviation Manufacturing Association’s report of first-quarter aircraft shipments—Bunce […]

Growing up in the pre-9/11 era, I was fortunate to take international family vacations. Going through a commercial airport without TSA, high-sensitivity metal detectors and the spirit-deadening routines of today is something I never thought would have happened. September 11, 2001, was a turning point, of course, and governments worldwide responded, forcing flight and ground […]

“Hey, Dick. Just so you know, the airport is closed.” It’s Max calling from the FBO in Lebanon, New Hampshire, about an hour before our proposed takeoff time. “There’s ice on the runway; they are scraping it now. If we can just get a little more sun, it won’t take long before they’ll open 18/36.” […]

My instructor was in the seat behind me. He was always yelling at me. This time, he was yelling that I needed more rudder when I used aileron. I was a teenager. I thought he was mad at me. I know now he was just trying to be heard over the ambient airplane noise. The […]

Well, yes, I had left my phone on the Virgin Atlantic flight to London. So, yes, I was out of touch for the six days it took me to get it back from “Missing X” somewhere in the ductwork of Heathrow Airport. So, yes, there was a delay in receiving your voicemail. When I did […]

February 2, 2020, Florence, Colo. Piper PA-28-150 Cherokee 150 At about 1355 Mountain time, the airplane collided with terrain shortly after takeoff. The flight instructor and student pilot were both seriously injured; the passenger was fatally injured. The airplane was substantially damaged. Visual conditions prevailed. An eyewitness watched the airplane’s takeoff roll on Runway 29 […]

On March 22, Michigan, Ohio and Louisiana joined Illinois, New York, Delaware, Connecticut, California and Oregon as states that have ordered residents to remain in their homes as the nation wrestles with the deadly COVID-19-inducing Coronavirus. The illness can be spread when an infected individual coughs, sneezes, or even touches an object later touched by […]