Search Results for: Lear 45

Like so many things in aviation, there are procedures for launching into IMC from a non-towered field: File a flight plan, get a clearance, then take off and fly the clearance. Things can get exciting if you get these steps out of order. Before a recent flight, I checked every available scrap of weather info. Nearby observations were reporting decent VFR, but weather at my rural strip appeared fairly low, with undefined visibility.

A year ago and mostly for fun, I decided to obtain an add-on glider rating. For any private or commercial airplane pilot, an add-on glider usually can be accomplished in three or four days, provided the weather cooperates. You dont even need a current medical certificate or a drivers license. It also is one of the least expensive add-on ratings an airplane pilot can attain. Flying gliders is fun, but after flying single and multi-engine aircraft for almost 50 years, glider training also helped me to look at airplane flying techniques with fresh eyes. Here are some of the things I learned.

(February 2011) — It has been seldom in the history of aviation that a single technology has revolutionized the way we fly by addressing multiple problems facing the industry and solving them all. The most important such event was the widescale adoption of the turbine engine in the 1940s. Turbines, as you know, remedied (and […]

(March 2011) IF YOU ARE DEVOTED TO airplanes, you’ll understand. If the maximum number of takeoffs and landings per month is of interest to you, you’ll get it. If you’ve ever found a way to fly from New York to San Francisco on a Boeing 707 that landed in Nashville, New Orleans, Dallas, Phoenix and […]

More than 20,000 rotorcraft aficionados descended on Orlando, Florida, for this year’s Heli-Expo, held at the Orange County Convention Center from March 6 to 8. Helicopter manufacturers unveiled several new models at the show and offered special pricing that for many apparently was too enticing to let pass. Eurocopter kicked things off with the introduction […]

It hasn’t happened very often this winter: For one full day last week, the weather from Maine to Florida was severe VFR. I’d been keeping an eye on the long-range forecast for days in a sincere desire to avoid areas of icing for a planned trip from New Jersey to North Carolina. Never once did […]

During my time as a full time flight instructor, most of my students (including myself when I was training) took upwards of 70-80 hours to complete their private pilot certificates. This is about twice the number of hours the FAA requires to get the rating. There were many reasons for this, the most significant being […]

November 12345, cross 20 southeast of the Nashville VOR at 4000….” “Maintain best speed to the outer marker….” “Hold as published, expect further clearance at one-five past the hour….” “Radar contact lost, intercept Victor 509, report crossing NXTFX intersection….” “November 12345, an amendment to your direct clearance; fly heading 220 degrees to intercept the OKC 355 radial, then cleared to the OKC 30 DME fix, thence inbound on the Pioneer VOR 195 direct Pioneer, Victor 77 Wichita, direct….”

The U.S. Sport Aviation Expo, kicking off today, should provide a forum for further answers to the future of Czech Sport Aircraft’s SportCruiser. Last week, Piper announced it was breaking off its relationship with the Czech Republic-based company, and the name PiperSport has been stripped from the aircraft’s marketing resume. The 13 U.S. dealers quickly […]

(December 2010) — High-frequency radio, used for beyond-the-horizon communication prior to the introduction of satellite relays, was subject to the whims of various ill-natured atmospheric elves and goblins; but when it was good it was very, very good, with the clarity and nuance of a fine telephone connection. So it is that I can still […]