Tag Archives: news

Gimli glider's last Air Canada flight

Posted on January 24, 2008 by

You’ve probably all seen this already, but today the Gimli Glider takes its last flight as an Air Canada aircraft, almost 25 years after its famous power-off glide to a landing in Gimli, Manitoba. The original pilots and some of … Continue reading →

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It's the runways, stupid

Posted on January 21, 2008 by

Here’s a statement from the U.S. Air Transport Association (ATA) — the airlines’ lobby group — about variable landing fees for U.S. airports (e.g. higher at peak times, lower other times): “Unfortunately, [the policy] does nothing to fix the primary … Continue reading →

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Global orgasm for peace

Posted on December 21, 2007 by

Pilots often already have their watches set to UTC, so this should be easy. At the exact minute of the winter solstice tonight, at 06:08 UTC, is the second annual Global Orgasm for Peace To effect positive change in the … Continue reading →

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In praise of flying a trainer

Posted on December 2, 2007 by

From a news story about a new U.S.-run military flight training school in Iraq: The mission shift is particularly acute for [Lt. Col. Mark] Bennett, who flew 15-hour combat missions over Iraq in 2003 and now finds himself forming steadfast … Continue reading →

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In praise of flight attendants

Posted on November 30, 2007 by

Like pilots, flight attendants are highly-trained professionals; remember that next time you’re tempted to treat one like a waiter or bellhop (though you shouldn’t treat waiters or bellhops that way, either). To see just how important they are, check out … Continue reading →

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Unintended consequences

Posted on October 2, 2007 by

In the U.S., in an attempt to avoid user fees for general aviation, AOPA (the main G.A. advocacy group) worked with the FAA to outsource flight services (briefings, VFR flight plans, etc.) to Lockheed-Martin. AOPA didn’t realize that they were … Continue reading →

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Forced landing near Rockcliffe

Posted on September 17, 2007 by

About three hours ago, a homebuilt Zenith 250 lost power after takeoff from Ottawa/Rockcliffe (my home airport) and made a forced landing in a wooded area a couple of miles east of the airport (CBC News story). It’s a big … Continue reading →

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"Crash" redefined (again)

Posted on September 11, 2007 by

For pilots, the word “crash” generally means an high-speed, uncontrolled descent into the ground or similar collision with terrain (such as hitting a mountain in level flight), followed by total destruction of the aircraft and everyone in it. For the … Continue reading →

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"acting in any capacity other than as a passenger"

Posted on May 1, 2007 by

The online edition of Sports Illustrated (via CNN) has a story about the NTSB report on the Liddle crash. There’s nothing surprising in the report — the rough outline of the accident chain was obvious early on — but the … Continue reading →

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DA-42 engine failure

Posted on April 26, 2007 by

This incident in Germany raises an interesting question about newer aircraft-engine designs. When the pilot(s) of a Diamond Twinstar arrived to find their battery flat, they started both engines using an auxiliary power unit. That’s not an unusual thing to … Continue reading →

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