Search Results for: oxygen

Nearly as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to be a pilot — nothing more, nothing less. I said as much in a second-grade project that my mother saved for posterity. Over time I developed additional interests and even dabbled with the idea of becoming an architect or practicing law, but I never seriously […]

Some users of the National Airspace System live by Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and some do not. This is arguably the most significant difference between air carriers and general aviation when it comes to training, testing, and cockpit cultures. This is also, by some measures, a factor in accounting for the differences in accident rates. General aviation, particularly the single-pilot, personal-flying kind, relies not on the use of SOPs, but basic personal minimums for aeronautical decision making.

A cloud is the visible manifestation of liquid water droplets or ice. It forms when humid air cools sufficiently for water vapor to saturate and produce condensation-the dewpoint temperature. On a dry summer day in California, this temperature might be 20 degrees F, and the weather remains clear. On more humid summer days in California, the cloud formation temperature might be 50 degrees, producing morning clouds along mountain peaks. When air is chilled to the dewpoint, the humidity becomes 100 percent and from the texts we expect saturation to occur. But in real life this doesnt always happen. If a given volume of air doesnt contain condensation nuclei-microscopic bits of dust, pollen, etc.-the relative humidity may exceed 100 percent without producing clouds. But for the most part, this relationship between temperature and dewpoint is correct.

There’s a new hauler in town. Textron Aviation announced last week the introduction of the Cessna Turbo Stationair HD T206H, which brings greater carrying capacity and versatility. The single-engine airplane, which is powered by a turbocharged 310-horsepower Lycoming TIO-540-AJ1A engine spinning a McCauley propeller, offers five seating configurations for as many as six people. For […]

The use of a pulse oximeter allows pilots to monitor the oxygen saturation of hemoglobin in their blood. How a pulse oximeter works is pretty ingenious. Rather than directly measuring hemoglobin concentration, the small device, which costs about $40 and can be purchased online, takes constant measurements of the absorption of specific wavelengths of light […]

The pilots of a Learjet 36 cruising high over Cleveland Center’s airspace are fighting a desperate battle for survival — but they don’t realize it. Suffering the effects of extreme hypoxia in the thin air at 32,000 feet, the copilot is passed out. The captain in the left seat is barely hanging on. Most chilling […]

When Honda Aircraft Company announced it had received FAA type certification for the HA-420 HondaJet on December 9, the company’s president and CEO, Michimasa Fujino, described the document as “the crystal of sweat and tears.” The sign-off was the culmination of decades of hard work. Fujino became involved in Honda’s aircraft program in 1986. The […]

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Drivers, motorcyclists, bikers and pedestrians craned their heads to the skies as military trainers, combat fighters, bombers and reconnaissance aircraft made their way over the city in a series of formations, commemorating the 70th anniversary of V-E Day (victory in Europe). World War II was a special era in the history of aviation, the likes […]

Josephine Marie was supposed to be born in mid-May, but she got into an argument with her mother long before then. As January ice-walked into February during a cold Boston winter, the argument grew testy and then became life threatening. Kelly, her mother, reluctantly took to bed and soon thereafter submitted to hospitalization at Brigham […]