Ercoupe takeoff

Friday Photo: Miss Piggy and me

Still can't believe I can fly by myself at the age of 70. What an accomplishment for a farm girl from Kentucky. The thrill of flying friends and family or just getting away from the earth when you just want to be alone... I always say it's as close as I can get to God and not die, He and I talk a lot when I'm up there.
Eastern 727

Memories of flying the Boeing 727 “three holer”

There was no doubt you were flying a Boeing. It had that same "Mack truck feel" about it as the 707, but also like the 707 it was as sound and reliable as a US Dollar (in 1964). The cockpit and fuselage cross sections were the same as the 707 but that is where the similarity ended. Our first 727s, the dash 100s, grossed out at about a third of the 707-100’s weight but had two thirds of its thrust. Therefore, it was a little rocket by comparison.
Corsair V8

The $20/hour Cessna 172 experiment—Update

With the FAA’s decades-long crusade to eliminate leaded avgas and lower noise, we mistakenly believed the agency would at least consider, if not welcome, any feasible solution. After all, we had a flying prototype that proved the concept and a 60% lower cost that was needed for a solution to be adopted. We soon learned that the FAA was less than enthusiastic about certified aircraft transitioning to experimental, regardless of their age or condition.
F-16

Another tale from the doc side

Steve Mosier told us "Tales from the Doc Side" earlier this year. This is about my favorite flight surgeon. Her name was Karen and she graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1980, the first class to include women. She was an outstanding student and All-American swimmer for the Falcons; after graduating from the Academy and then Baylor College of Medicine, Karen became a flight surgeon.
Quantico

When means, motive, and opportunity come together

Some time ago I was overseeing a project to buy high performance computers for the Department of Defense. I had to do site visits where the new computers were to go. This was mainly to make sure that the infrastructure would be in place in time. This is where the flying opportunity came in.
Cirrus in flight

A safe pilot is a humble pilot—lessons from the Cirrus community

After a recent weekend immersed in the world of Cirrus airplanes, I have renewed appreciation for the old saw: plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose. No matter how you slice the data, and no matter what airplane you fly, the most important driver of aviation safety continues to be the person in the left seat. Even with all the latest technology—in fact, maybe especially with all the latest technology—there’s no substitute for a humble pilot.
MTN airport

Friday Photo: waterfront runway

I started my Private Pilot journey at this airport at Middle River Aviation. In the spring I did a fly over of the airport, doing a transition over the class delta airspace due to the DC SFRA and Aberdeen Proving Grounds restricted area. And then three months later I became a one tenth owner of a Cessna 172SP hangared at this same airport. I had no idea at the time that it would become my home airport as an airplane owner.
Dakota

Flying my Canadian airplane in Trinidad

I flew from Trinidad and Tobago to Calgary and went directly to see the aircraft I was purchasing. My friend was a very particular individual who looked after his aircraft very well. Knowing him the way I did, I put my full trust in him to find me an aircraft. The day I took delivery was October 10, 2009, and the first time I actually sat in the aircraft was when I began my flight to Trinidad. 
BAC 1-11 on ramp

A different kind of concrete jungle

Sometime in the late 80s, somewhere in the Midwest (I think it was Grand Rapids), I taxied a USAir BAC 1-11 toward the terminal after landing on a flight from Pittsburgh. I remember the airport had a small, older terminal and there were no jetways, those loading bridges that almost all airline airports have now, so passengers walked on the ramp. As we came on the ramp, I saw there were blocked sections near the terminal where workmen were replacing concrete.
Diamond DA-42

“Geneva Tower, I have to go back”

Everything looked good: positive rate of climb, gear up, and I pulled back power to 92% as I have done many times before, getting ready to relax and prepare for the Alpine crossing. And then something seemed weird. It took me a second to see it: one engine would not go down in RPM, still well in the "yellow," although the throttle was now well below the usual power setting.
An-2 airplane

Flying a Russian biplane through Alaska

"I'm sorry, but your permission to fly to Russia has not yet been granted." The words echoed and a wave of disappointment resonated before our eyes. We had filled out 80 pages of paperwork, gotten our visas from the Russian embassy, faxed in our passenger manifest, and traveled... all the way to Nome.
Cessna 172

Safe landings are no accident

“No two landings are alike!” They keep saying that, and after thousands of landings I am reluctantly beginning to agree. Many factors are editorialized in that saying. There is the power, configuration, attitude, and then there is the biggest bugaboo: weather, as in wind and its fickle direction. Ah, I exclaim, how about in calm winds, what then?

Friday Photo: peeking into North Vietnam from Laos, 1972

Looking east across the Annamite Range that lies between North Vietnam (NVN) and northern Laos with the monsoon weather over NVN. On this particular mission, I stayed in Laos. A few weeks later, I flew down the "Fish's Mouth" (at one point, the border between NVN and Laos looks like the mouth of a fish jumping out of the water, east to west, to catch a lure).

Go or No Go: hurricane evacuation

Just as the weather forecasters have been warning for a week, Hurricane Ian is bearing down on Florida. You've been watching with interest from your home on the east coast of the state, and the latest projection shows it moving right up the heart of Florida. Your wife is already in Montgomery, Alabama, staying with family—now it's time for you to make a decision.
Preflight Bonanza

Engine trouble over Lake Michigan

Climbing through 8,500 feet over Lake Michigan, the vibration coming from the engine cowling erupted into a full-on ruckus. The cowling was gyrating as if a wild animal was trying to get out. There was water in every direction and the Chicago skyline in the distance off the right wing.
F-4

A surprise sunrise in an F-4 Phantom

I decided to use up the fuel in afterburner instead of doing more instrument approaches. Was it fatigue that made me do it? Was it the thrill of doing something different and special with my Phantom? My plan was hatched from nowhere, a simulated double engine flame out from above 40,000 feet, directly above the approach end of the runway at George.
Skydivers in air

Never a dull moment as a skydive pilot

We lined up, got clearance to go and I opened the tap on the 182. She accelerated a bit slower than normal but we managed to get off the deck OK, when suddenly at approximately 200 ft. the jump master lurched towards the back of the aircraft. Unfortunately for me, his parachute had somehow snared my propeller control and put the 182 into full coarse pitch.
Super Cub

A simple oversight almost ruins a bucket list trip

From Andover I flew the first leg to Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, the Cub’s birthplace. We topped off and I climbed up to check the tanks, which was probably my first mistake. Lyle took the front seat and I squeezed all 6‘ 1” of me into the back. Lyle cranked the starter and we heard a bang like something hitting the plane. We ignored it. Second mistake.
Cirrus over mountains

Friday Photo: Appalachian Spring

The ballet Appalachian Spring was written by Aaron Copland in 1944. Created as the war in Europe was drawing to an end, the titular orchestral suite captured the imagination of Americans who were beginning to believe in a more prosperous future, a future in which men and women would be united again. A powerful song and an equally powerful vision. This photograph, taken on an Angel Flight, visually captures the hope offered every spring.
Flight engineer

The not-so-glamourous life of a flight engineer

Not too long after she left the cockpit, there was a ding on the interphone. It was the A-stew and she had a request. Usually the request was to turn up or turn down the cabin temperature, but in this case she was asking me to come to the cabin and bring one of “my” coat hangers.