Search Results for: oxygen

Using a single-engine airplane for long-distance, literally cross-country trips, usually isnt a good choice. That is, of course, until you survey all the other choices-including the airlines-and decide the flexibility and utility of using a personal airplane is the only way to go. Often, of course, the flight is the trips purpose, not the act of getting to a destination. Watching various landmarks and other magnificent scenery slide underneath the wings-albeit relatively slowly-makes up for the time it can take, especially when headed west into prevailing winds.

(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 […]

My first takeoff out of Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the EA500 was anything but an anticlimax. We’d just finished up our pre-takeoff check and Jerry Chambers, Eclipse Aerospace’s chief pilot, was giving me some last-minute advice on the takeoff when the tower came with a takeoff clearance, “No delay for landing 737 traffic, three-mile final.” […]

(January 2010) — My medical’s due next month and I’m mindful of one of the rules of flying: “The medical profession is the natural enemy of the aviation profession.” But we’re lucky to have good choices around here, and I’m actually dithering about which of three to call for an appointment. These are good physicians […]

(January 2010) — We were settled in at 24,000 feet, cruising along at around 225 knots true, burning 24 gallons of 100LL every hour while watching the nautical miles slip behind us. We’d taken off from Orlando Executive (ORL) in a Cessna Corvalis and were an hour into our flight, cruising at an altitude that […]

Two safety systems announced at last year’s EAA AirVenture for Cirrus models have been approved by the FAA. The systems work within the Garmin Perspective avionics suite and use the avionics technology to enhance safety. The Electronic Stability and Protection (ESP) system provides control pressure when it perceives excessive pitch, bank or airspeed. It is […]

The opening line of Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” is an apropos description of today’s used-airplane market. For buyers these are great times to be in the hunt for an airplane that’s gotten some gentle use and good care. But for […]

“And then we’ll drop down to, oh … 15,000 or so and do some stalls if you’re up for it,” Learjet demo pilot Chris Barnett said casually during our preflight briefing. As a jet pilot for many years, I’ve tried to keep the words jet and stalls in separate corners of the universe. “Are we […]

It seems as though our most vivid memories come from some of our worst experiences in life. While many pilots don’t remember their first exposure to structural icing, they probably will never forget their worst. For many, it remains etched in their brain forever. But, we can avoid making painful lasting memories if we do […]

Weve all been through enough ground school to know and understand that high ambient outside temperatures adversely impact aircraft performance. The relationship between temperature and altitude, of course, is termed density altitude, which describes a locations pressure altitude adjusted for temperature. To put it another way, density altitude is your elevation when measured in terms of the density of the air rather than height above sea level. It can be higher or lower than your actual altitude above sea level.