Search Results for: Lockheed

Its easy to look at controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) accidents as the kind youll never get into. Sure; you may suffer an engine failure from contaminated fuel, or scrape a wingtip while landing in a stiff crosswind or even forget to put down the gear before landing. But flying a perfectly good airplane into the side of a mountain? Never happen. The thing is, Im relatively certain every pilot who was ever involved in a CFIT accident said the same thing at one point or another, perhaps right up until the moment a tree trunk came through the windshield.

As a requirement for our upcoming flying safari trip in New Zealand, I had to produce evidence of a “type rating” in a Cessna 172. The type rating was part of the qualifications necessary to obtain the equivalent of a Private Pilot license. Although I have flown a C-172 periodically throughout my flying lifetime, I […]

Schweizer RSG, a newly formed company affiliated with Rotorcraft Services Group in Fort Worth, Texas, plans to restart production of the Schweizer 300 by the end of the year after purchasing the product line from Sikorsky. Sikorsky’s exit from the light helicopter market brings some clarity after years of ambiguity surrounding the S-300’s fate following […]

Another year has passed, and, by all measures, 2017 provided a lot of terrific aviation news as seen in our Top 25 Aviation Stories of 2017. But there is a lot of exciting development going on this year, too. Here are some new airplanes that we are looking forward to hearing more about. Bend, Oregon-based […]

When I earned my private ticket in 1960, jet aircraft were still rather rare, even in the San Fernando Valley. My home field, Whiteman Air Park in Pacoima, California, was near Van Nuys and Lockheed airports, both of which were busy commercial fields. The local landing and departing traffic was mainly at piston-engine airspeeds, which […]

When Boeing tweeted an eight-second clip of a mysterious aircraft last week with the idea that it might be “changing future air power,” speculation ran wild that this was either some sort of space airplane or perhaps a new VTOL aircraft with a “hairdryer-type engine.” Close, but no cigar. Instead, as Boeing revealed this week, […]

There have been recent reports in aviation-related media suggesting that Chino, California-based Planes of Fame Air Museum is considering moving its stellar fleet of airworthy historical artifacts to the Lincoln Regional/Karl Harder Field in Lincoln, California, just north of Sacramento. And with the difficulties the museum has had with its neighbors at the Chino Airport […]

August 1, 2017, Phoenix, Ariz.Grumman AA-1B TrainerAt about 1300 Mountain time, the airplane was substantially damaged when it impacted terrain shortly after takeoff. Both the flight instructor and student pilot sustained serious injuries. Visual conditions prevailed.According to witnesses, after the airplane lifted off and was in its initial climb to the west, the wings started to rock back and forth. The airplane began to descend, struck the airport’s western perimeter fence and collided with terrain before coming to rest on a road bordering the airport.

It was once believed that all swans were white. No one considered the possibility of black swans until a Dutch explorer discovered them in Australia in 1697. That is the nature of a Black Swan event: Its rare, has an extreme impact and is predictable in retrospect.

On a cold night in ­early spring, I took off from Lunken Airport in 72B, my beloved (I think) Cessna 180. I came back to climb power at 500 feet agl and the engine began running rough, missing and losing power — which sort of caught my attention. So, I pulled on the carburetor heat […]