Search Results for: DC-3

(August 2011) As I rolled through the security gate at the GA side of the Key West Airport, I glanced toward the ramp area reserved for corporate jets and larger equipment. I caught a glimpse of the tail and upper fuselage of a hulking airplane as it taxied to a parking spot. Even with my […]

Rain or no rain, the show goes on.

With clear blue skies and full crowds, AirVenture 2011 starts with a bang.

How can busy flight schools make their students feel like they belong, that they’re one of the family? Eric Radtke is an airline transport pilot, Gold Seal flight instructor, advanced ground instructor and NAFI-accredited Master Flight Instructor. Eric has been involved in aviation education since 1998 and currently serves as president and chief instructor of […]

(June 2011) I jumped down from Don’s red Ford 350 pickup and, with what I hoped was a disarming grin, sauntered up a gravel lane toward two men standing stolidly, feet apart, holding shotguns. Don Harner wasn’t a pilot but was one of those people who have a lifelong love affair with airplanes. And there […]

Reality TV continues to present the wild side of flying. This week a hit Canadian aviation series, Ice___ _Pilots, makes its U.S. premiere on the National Geographic Channel. The 13-part first season, which airs on Fridays at 10 p.m. ET/PT (check local listings), follows the adventures of the pilots of Buffalo Airlines, based in Yellowknife […]

Like a lot of people with a love for aviation, I’d definitely say I’m an adventure seeker. Mind you, that doesn’t mean I fit the daredevil mold. For instance, while I’d be the first person to join a group traveling to see the Inca ruins in Machu Picchu, I’d probably be one of the last […]

The old wisdom was that a thick airfoil would carry plenty of ice. It’s a folk tale based, perhaps, on innumerable stories of DC-3s from the early days of the airlines landing with thick coats of ice. The stories might be true, but the fact that DC-3s had chubby wings does not translate to aeronautical […]

It’s the end of an era. Golf legend Arnold Palmer has made his final flight as pilot in command, calling it quits after almost 55 years at the controls of everything from open-cockpit biplanes to a Boeing 747. Along the way, he amassed nearly 20,000 hours in the cockpit. Palmer, 81, flew his Cessna Citation […]

December 2010 — A diverse gathering of aviators from all age groups could probably debate for hours the first airline airplane that required administrative thinking to manage the cockpit. If alcohol were included in this debate, days rather than hours would pass before a collective agreement occurred, if at all. For my purposes, and the […]