[sc:Top-of-Post ] Hot off the presses from General Aviation News:  http://www.generalaviationnews.com/2012/11/01/71216/ Editorial WACO Classic Aircraft has won FAA approval of the S-TEC System 55X autopilot STC for installation in the WACO YMF-F5C and 5D. I must have hit my head as child because I don’t get it. Why in the world would I want an…

[sc:Top-of-Post ] Naming Contrary Mary How did my RV-8 come to be called ‘Contrary Mary’? Early in the construction of my RV-8 I needed to decide on a paint scheme. I wanted something that would pop, the traditional white base with some kind of accent strip(s) wasn’t going to cut it. Lots of RV-8 has pseudo-military paint…

[sc:Top-of-Post ] Father and Son First Solo This came across the Twitter feed and I couldn’t resist the urge to put it up on my blog. Father and son Michael and Gregory B. both solo’d a C-172 on the same day in Kissimmee, FL. According to Sun State Aviation’s Facebook page, this occurred on Wednesday, Oct…

[sc:Top-of-Post ] I’m a Barnstormers.com addict… If you aren’t familiar with the website Barnstormers.com then hopefully you can run now and be spared from the addiction. Barnstormers.com is an aviation classified site that is chocked full of used airplanes and parts for sale. I was first introduced to Barnerstormers.com back in 2004 when I was…

[sc:Top-of-Post ] We now have a dedicated Facebook page for iflyblog.com Check it out at http://www.facebook.com/iFLYblog This will allow me to provide some additional functionality for folks who like to use social media. Let us know what you think by commenting below or posted on our Facebook page! [sc:Before-Sponsor ] [sc:VisitSponsor ] [sc:After-Sponsor ] [sc:Subscribe ] [sc:Bottom-of-Post…

[sc:Top-of-Post ] How To Fly a Taildragger: 201  We pick up where we left off in 101 and venture into more of the nuances of conventional gear aircraft. If you haven’t read How To Fly a Taildragger: 101 go there first. One area not mentioned in 101 was how gyroscope precession, spiraling slipstream, p-factor and torque…

[sc:Top-of-Post ] Hawker Beechcraft to emerge from Bankruptcy as Beechcraft If you own a propellor-driven Beechcraft hopefully this is a spot of good news. The idea of having the tooling that makes our precious parts being shipped halfway around the world in China (if that’s how it would have went down), had to be a…

[sc:Top-of-Post ] How To Fly a Taildragger: 101 I have taught dozens of pilots how to fly taildraggers and in this article, I summarize how it’s done. Note: This information should not be used in lieu of actual flight instruction. Also the terms taildraggers, tail wheel and conventional gear are all synonymous. Pontification: Everyone should…

[sc:Top-of-Post ] Smoke in the Cockpit If there is one thing that strikes fear in the hearts of any pilot, it’s an inflight fire. Talk to pilots and ask what risk do they worry about the most and they will almost universally tell you, fire and structural failure (some say mid-air, but that is the…

[sc:Top-of-Post ] What Should You Do To Help The Declining Pilot Population Editorial There has been a lot published lately on the deterioration of our sport, but I haven’t seen much on what we should be doing to help. Setting aside the barriers, we all know that if you want to fly you will find a…