Aircraft

“Holy Cow, it goes on forever!” exclaimed my friend’s 16-year-old son, Connor, who was experiencing his first Oshkosh. He stared wide-eyed at the endless field of planes as we moved along the flight line from the homebuilts to the classics, to the antiques, to the ultralights, to the amphibians — almost halfway to the seaplane […]

The great thing about Oshkosh is that everybody who is anybody in aviation is there, and in that environment hanging around the world’s busiest airport for a week, there is plenty of time to talk. Because of the variety of people and the time we all have, I probably learn more at Oshkosh than any […]

One of the best resources that I can access in the cockpit is available without a three-ring binder. This resource does not involve a red warning light, an electronic siren or a SATCOM radio. The best resource that I have is by far the guy or gal who’s seated to my right. At no other […]

For the first time since it began seven years ago, the annual “migration” of Cirrus owners will not flock to Duluth, Minnesota, but rather to Dayton, Ohio next June 17-20. Curtis Sanford, president of the Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association said the group is moving from the place “where two brothers brought a new generation […]

Out of the mouths of babes, seen through the eyes of a child; you’ve heard the clichés that describe the cut-to-the-heart-of-the-matter thought process of children. What, I wondered, would Oshkosh be like this year with a youngster in tow? Would a child’s needs slow me down or would a child’s view take me somewhere I’d […]

At this year’s EAA Airventure, there was just a whiff, or lack thereof, of change in the air, as a small bevy of electric airplanes made an appearance on the AirVenture stage. And there were a few such creatures flying at the show, including the first electric two-seater to go airborne at Oshkosh. The e-plane […]

The hamstrung economy has affected almost all aviation projects, and the developmental single-engine PiperJet is no exception. Piper now plans first deliveries for 2013 – a schedule based partly on available funding, but also on when the company expects the economic recovery to occur. Piper initially announced program delays, then enjoyed a funding infusion from […]

There used to be this guy on late-night television who would promote a home decorating store and would yell, “It ain’t just paint!” Wandering around Wittman Field at Oshkosh during AirVenture, I was reminded once again that, for me, the annual gathering “ain’t just planes!” Sure, on display there were more than 2,500 airplanes of […]

At about 8:25 A.M. on Sept. 3, 2007, Steve Fossett took off from a friend’s ranch, about 60 miles southeast of Reno, Nevada, in a borrowed 1980 Bellanca Super Decathlon. A few minutes later, about nine miles south of the airstrip, an employee of the ranch who knew the airplane well saw the Decathlon fly […]

Someone once told me that aircraft accidents happen every 5,000 hours during a pilot’s flying career. Well, mine came at 6,000 hours rather than 5,000. I have been flying small airplanes and helicopters since I was a teenager. My life has been pretty much the epitome of “will fly for food.” Stints as a police […]