Photos

There is frost accumulating inside the windows of my cockpit. I reach a gloved hand up and scrape a clear opening in the ice. The long, graceful lines of the left wing extend almost 50 feet into the impossibly thin air surrounding us. Normally when I fly, I’m off the surface of the planet, but […]

When I was three years old, I wanted to be an astronaut. Mostly because my older sister Gail wanted to be one, I think. But, still. Never mind that girls weren’t allowed to be astronauts back then. Obstacles, even seemingly insurmountable ones, never stopped anyone from dreaming — especially at age three. My father, enlightened […]

“It’ll take an act of God to get her a flight.” So went the first response to the U-2 pilots at Beale AFB who asked about getting me a flight in one of their two-seat training airplanes. In the end, it didn’t quite require an act of God. Only a signature from a three-star general. […]

The Cessna 441 and 425 Conquest turboprops have been among the hottest turbine airplanes on the used market for several years. Both the higher flying, bigger and faster 441 Conquest II and the smaller PT6-powered 425 Conquest I have been selling for near their new prices, even though they are 23 or more years old. […]

Late last year Embraer earned FAA certification for its Phenom 100 very light jet. Deliveries were expected to begin immediately. Based on the unofficial 10,000-pound cutoff for the very light jet segment, the twinjet is technically a VLJ. But with the largest cabin in the segment and a top speed of 390 knots, it’s also […]

Flying’s editors get together every fall to go over the developments of the previous year in order to find a few truly outstanding achievements. Along the way we consider only those aircraft, avionics, pilot services and equipment that have been fully certified and have entered service during the year. Piper Matrix When airplane makers add […]

One way that some instructors whet the appetite of prospective flight students is to take them on a short cross-country flight for a “hamburger” during the introductory flight. It usually works pretty well. The budding aviator returns from the flight brimming with excitement and anxious to share the experience with ground-bound friends and family. After […]

The building that houses the Oakland Flight Service Station is nothing remarkable — just a square concrete structure at the northern end of Oakland Airport’s North Field. But it’s surrounded by history. Old, clapboard buildings from World War II line the airport frontage road that leads to the station. And side streets still carry names […]

Airframe icing has been a safety hazard since the first pilots flew in cold clouds, or in freezing precipitation. Can you imagine those early mail pilots trying to get across Pennsylvania in the winter with its lumpy terrain, perpetual cloud cover and freezing temperatures? With all of those leading edges, struts and flying wires to […]