New Blogging Weapon: GoPro Hero3 Black Edition GoPro released it best camera yet in late October of this year and I am happy to announce that I will be adding one to my video arsenal this winter. I have to wait for Santa Claus to deliver it under our Christmas tree. One of the many…
Should I train in a modern or vintage LSA aircraft? A friend of the blog, Dave L., emailed recently asking about completing his Light Sport (LSA) training in a legacy aircraft, in this case a post-war Aeronca Champ, versus a modern LSA trainer. He had taken some lesson in a Sport Cruiser and was leaning…
Christmas light rides for fun or profit As a starving flight instructor working for a start-up FBO in a small town of 25,000 people, we were always looking for ways to drum up new business. The Christmas of 1992 we concocted a great plan; we advertised Christmas Light Rides all over town. Ads were put…
Ohio declares December as GA Appreciation Month I often lament about living in Ohio, mostly because of the lousy weather. One thing I can’t complain about is general aviation (GA) in this state, it is alive and well.
Medically speaking Editorial Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional, nor do I play one on TV. The information herein is not medical advice or guidance. Since this month my 1st class medical is due again, I went to the Doctor’s office like I have done for the last 26 years. Over those years I…
RV-8 cockpit tour The video below is a basic cockpit tour of my RV-8. This airplane has an IO-360 200hp engine with inverted fuel/oil and a Hartzell constant-speed prop. It first flew August 13, 2011. It is equipped with an Advanced AFS3500EE EFIS, Garmin 696 moving map GPS, GNC-300XL IFR GPS/Comm, GTX 327 transponder, and…
A shout-out to aviation’s volunteers Flying creates such an emotional connection that it really draws people in, many of these folks actually never fly. In fact, some of the more important people to our hobby aren’t licensed at all. The good news about aviation is there are so many ways to be involved and you don’t…
Spartan Days I was a student at Spartan School of Aeronautics (their new name is Spartan College of Aeronautics and Technology) back in 1990. At the time Spartan had a boom of pilots coming through with dreams of airline cockpits in their heads. First, I want to say that Spartan is a great school steeped…
Virtual Self-Righteous Aviator As a companion article to the Self-Righteous Aviator(SRA), I present to you the Virtual Self-Righteous Aviator (V-SRA). This particular sub-species of SRA, can usually be found lurking on message boards throughout the Internet as trolls. Their modus operandi is to pounce with impunity on anyone they feel could be a worthy victim.
Does building or restoring an airplane make you smarter? For the sake of the argument lets consider “smarter” as a tangible enhancement in problem-solving skills. After building my RV-8 I pondered this very subjective question. Part of me felt like the almost 5 years of daily construction have translated into better logic and reasoning skills,…