Índex per May 2019 a Flying

Has there ever been a better time to become a pilot? Across the United States flight schools are taking on new students at a pace we haven’t seen in years. Fledgling pilots can decide to learn in a variety of aircraft, from the latest glass-cockpit-equipped trainers to light sport aircraft or — my personal preference — a vintage taildragger for a more visceral seat-of-the-pants experience. If your aim is to fly for pleasure, you can get your license relatively quickly and inexpensively. You might choose to start out as a new pilot by renting airplanes from the local flight school or joining a flying club before possibly making the leap to aircraft ownership. For wannabe professional pilots, the airlines can’t wait to receive your employment application. In this issue, we…

Like many aviation enthusiasts, my introduction to general aviation and piston airplanes was Flying magazine. As a kid in the 1990s, I always looked forward to heading to the barbershop with my dad where I could read the latest copy of Flying while waiting my turn for a haircut. I hoped to see a full parking lot with a long wait inside so I’d have plenty of time to flip through all the pages and check out the latest pictures of Beech Barons, King Airs and the new Cessna 172s and 182s that were coming off the line again in Wichita, Kansas. Every issue was an adventure, and I was especially drawn toward Richard Collins’ articles, even though most of the content was way over my head at the time.…

Kevin O’Halloran is a dentist who rebuilds Beechcraft landing gear motors in his spare time. Well, that’s not exactly true. He does so for Bonanzas. Not Barons. And only if that motor is a Lamb, not an Electromech. Oh, and 12V electrical systems, not 24V. Before I dropped my 1973 Bonanza off in Greeley, Colorado, in January to begin a long period of repairs and improvements, I thought I knew what the word “niche” meant. Not so. In the past few months I entered a world so specialized that it felt like looking at a honeybee’s eye through an electron microscope — I only thought I knew what it looked like. Initially, the idea was to simply switch over the interior, avionics and those fancy anodized-aluminum vernier controls from my…

Paul Holmes and I first met back in the late 1990s at Miami’s infamous Columbus Day Regatta in Biscayne Bay, a boating weekend of craziness. The regatta actually involves a sailboat race, but most are unaware because of their participation in the side event, which is a massive overnight rafting of boats in all sizes from dinghies to 150-foot yachts. Add the ingredients of alcohol with a tropical climate, and the activities lend themselves to … well, use your imagination. My wife and I had just started dating and were enjoying the relaxing opportunity to watch the insanity from our perch on the bow of my boat. Paul was cruising the neighborhood via a personal watercraft, enjoying the same entertainment. At that time, he was a captain for Northwest, associated…

HOW TO MAKE GAS Reading Martha Lunken’s recent article “Fuel-ishness” [February], I was reminded of an experience I had many years ago. I bought a Cessna 180 like hers, which was a step up for me. I flew it by the Cessna handbook and was pleased with the performance, but assumed the 16-gph fuel consumption was the price I had to pay for it. I was a civilian attached to an Air Force engineering base in Pennsylvania and met an Air Force pilot who flew the U-3 (Cessna 310), which had the same engines as my Cessna. When I took him flying in the 180, he asked if I always flew with those MAP/RPM settings, and if so, didn’t it burn a lot of gas? He then offered a better…

To many GA pilots, asking whether a pilot’s iPad is ForeFlight-equipped has become nearly as generic a question before takeoff as wondering if there will be Kleenex aboard. In early March, aerospace giant Boeing added Houston, Texas-based ForeFlight to its stable of subsidiaries that includes Jeppesen and its entire line of navigation databases, charts, aviation training courseware, pilot supplies and flight-planning services. Since it opened for business in 2007, ForeFlight has focused on a single mission: creating software that makes flight planning easier. Users have, over the past two years, been able to use Jeppesen’s aeronautical charts through ForeFlight’s popular mobile platforms that now include the option to view any airport in 3-D. Besides the ability to pan and zoom, the airport 3-D view option includes quick-access buttons that offer…

The Piper Turbo Saratoga departed Dallas Addison Airport (ADS) a few minutes after noon on an unseasonably warm December day. The pilot did not file a flight plan, and his destination is unknown. At 1327, the pilot radioed Kansas City Center for flight following, reporting his altitude as 11,500 feet. At 1400, the pilot reported that he was descending to 3,500 feet. The controller asked the pilot whether he was above an overcast and needed a clearance to descend through it. The pilot replied, “No, we’re on top of the overcast. I think we can get down through it, get on down where we need to be.” The pilot’s “we” was the Lindberghian one; he was alone in the airplane. At 1405, the controller, who must have sensed from the…

Pete Daniels flies Boeing 787s for one of the world’s largest airlines. He makes $380,000 a year and works an average of nine days per month. He has been flying commercially for more than 30 years. He is one of scores of airline pilots who will reach the FAA’s mandatory retirement age, 65, within the next decade. Fortunately for those looking to one day find themselves in Pete’s seat and income bracket, it’s a buyer’s market right now. Boeing predicts a global need for some 790,000 new pilots over the next two decades, with more than 200,000 of those positions needing to be filled in the United States. Airlines are so concerned about current and future cockpit vacancies that virtually all have partnered with prominent flight academies or, in the…

There are folks who collect date nails. There is even a publication dedicated to the hobby called Date Nails. What, one might ask, are date nails? These are the 2-inch little fellows which the railroad drove into each of their crossties. There are approximately 800 million crossties in the United States, and each is identified by a date nail. They are made of iron, steel or aluminum. The shape of the head — square, pentagon, hexagon, round — and of the shank, told the beginning of the story, which was completed by a stamped or molded code on the head, indicating the tie’s composition, coating, manufacturer and date of installation. Folks devote their lives to collecting date nails. And to collecting keys from all the world’s Holiday Inns; and license…

The first free flight of a manned balloon took place, as is well known, in France. The king, who took an interest in the experiments of the Montgolfier brothers, suggested that the passengers on the first manned flight should be two convicts, whom he considered expendable. He was persuaded, however, that the honor of being the first humans to fly should go to persons of the better sort. A minor aristocrat and military man, the Marquis François d’Arlandes, and a recently ennobled science teacher and member of the king’s brother’s entourage, Jean-François Pilatre de Rozier, volunteered. Pilatre de Rozier was bold to the point of rashness; he once demonstrated the flammability of hydrogen — and eyebrows — by blowing a mouthful of the stuff over an open flame, and would…

It’s a Tuesday morning in February, and I’m headed to work. Don’t cry too hard for me, dear reader; work in this case involves a round trip to Rio de Janiero and back in the 767. Today’s commute to my base airport is a rare two-legger, and on the first leg I’m traveling on an even rarer paid ticket. A few days ago Windbird made a beautiful starlit passage from tony St. Barth to the sunny isle of Antigua, which my employer serves but once a week. Thus I am starting my day by boarding a Winair Twin Otter bound for Sint Maarten (SXM). Accompanying me are my parents, who are heading home from nine sunsoaked days aboard Windbird, a welcome respite from an exceptionally snowy Minnesota winter. I’ve always…

The ILS 33L at Boston Logan Airport looked decidedly uninviting. The red echoes of rain straddled the approach course and the wind at 3,300 feet was close to 270 degrees at 39 knots, while the wind reported at the field was 350 degrees at 22 knots gusting to 30. The wind shift of 80 degrees was just part of the fun; the wet runway, heavy rain and congested traffic completed the diorama. Instructed to maintain 180 knots, we could see the Southwest jet on TCAS, right in front of us at 5 miles. We couldn’t see anything but cloud out the window. First officer Rob, better known as “Slick,” completed the before-landing checklist callouts. Into the breach we did cavort. Just as we entered the heavy rain, the controller noticed…