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Friday Photo: beautiful Bahamas water

As we flew across the southwest corner of Eleuthera, the water got very green and looked very shallow. It was nearly impossible to tell where the surface of the water was. We were just at the right altitude to see the greenish cast in the water, white clouds, and blue sky at the same time. There were just two frames like this before the colors faded.

Friday Photo: over the moon

Our local EAA chapter had a late afternoon picnic right at sunset at Ovid, NY (D82) – also known as “Ovid International.” Waldo was kind enough to take a number of members up in his beautiful Cub on an absolutely perfect autumn evening.

Friday Photo: sharing the sky

I hadn’t been to the Reading WWII Weekend at KRDG in many years. As I was going through my photos picking out the best shot of each airplane in the show I stumbled across this shot of the P-51 along with a small winged friend sharing the sky. I’d love to say, it was planned, but it wasn’t. Never saw the bird while making the photo.

Friday Photo: blue Bahamas water

The first time I flew to the Bahamas was in the spring of 1974 in a 1952 Piper TriPacer. On this flight, we’re in our Aerostar following the magenta line – precisely knowing our position, ground speed, ETA, etc. The technology may have changed, but the beauty of the islands has not.

Some thoughts on landings

I was TERRIBLE at landings. Not just bad–TERRIBLE. I either stalled the plane at three to five feet (or more) above the runway or drove right into it. My airspeed control was marginal. My sight picture was non-existent. Here’s how I got better.

When the automation heads out to lunch

Over the past 37 years of flying GA aircraft, I’ve become a strong proponent of totally understanding and using the available automation in the cockpit. I use the autopilot in our Aerostar 601P/700 a lot and make sure that I understand how the A/P or other automation works in every airplane I fly. I just don’t like surprises. But once in awhile, surprises still happen.