In Flight USA Article Categories
In Flight USA Articles
Goodies and Gadgets - November 2012
Holiday Ideas for the Pilot on Your List
Watches For The Adventurous Woman
The Abingdon Co. is a specialty watch company that was created with one goal in mind: to provide adventurous women with stylish, practical and high-quality aviation and travelling watches.
Founded in 2006 by a young woman pilot, Abingdon Welch, The Abingdon Co. offers three models – the “Jackie,” the “Amelia” and the “Elise.” The watches feature multiple times zones, flight calculations and conversion capabilities (foreign exchange, imperial to metric units), date function, chronograph timer and luminous hands and markers. The assemblies in each watch come from all over the world, including the US, Switzerland, Japan, and Hong Kong. They are crafted using top quality materials and techniques: quartz movement, surgical grade stainless steel or ionized 18k gold plating, genuine mother-of-pearl dial, sapphire crystal glass and interchangeable leather or stainless steel bands.
The Abingdon Company’s complete line of aviation watches are available at http://theabingdonco.com/
Are Pilots Control Freaks
By Herb Foreman
Dr. George CohenI was recently having a check up by my cardiologist, Dr. George Cohen, at Peninsula Hospital in Burlingame, Calif. I mentioned to him that when flying in a light plane I would prefer to be in the left seat as PIC (pilot in command) than any of their others as I felt I was a competent pilot and trusted my judgment and expertise over most of the pilots I have flown with. There are a few exceptions such as my friends Butch Pfiefer, Carl Mauck and Walt Ramseur who are retired airline pilots with many thousands of hours in their log books and owners of their own aircraft. Dr. Cohen felt most pilots were “control freaks” and told the following story to illustrate his remark.
The 104th Aircraft Recovery Squadron
By Steve Weaver
I was driving the other day and I spotted a small airplane, mounted on a trailer and being towed down the interstate. I was wondering what sad occasion had brought it to such a low state and I fell to thinking about my old friend Willie Mason and the “104th Aircraft Recovery Squadron.”
Willie came into my life in the late 60s as a flying student, while I was teaching flying and running a small country airport. Something between us clicked and in the process of teaching him about flying we became great friends. Through the next few years he taught me about the art of the small adventure.
Tips from the Pros - March 2012
Upgrading to Jets
By Mitchell Ange
President, Arizona Type Ratings
More and more, we see private owners of light jets deciding to upgrade their personal flying skills and obtain the training and ratings needed to operate their jet aircraft personally. Doing so allows them to lower operating cost and enhance schedule flexibility. But, what is it like to move up to these high performance, turbine aircraft. Let’s take a quick look at speed control.
One jet characteristic that takes getting used to is the amount of thrust lever movement required to effect a significant airspeed change. Pilots transitioning from anything with propellers, whether piston or turbine powered, are accustomed to gently “tweaking” thrust levers, with the correct expectation of being rewarded with a rapid response. This gentle thrust lever movement makes the flying experience in propeller-driven airplanes smooth and comfortable. In turbocharged piston-powered aircraft, being smooth with power changes is desirable from a maintenance point of view as well, reducing shock-cooling concerns. In addition, the cabin altitude of many pressurized piston aircraft responds uncomfortably to brisk thrust lever movement. None of these “comfort” concerns apply to small, modern, civilian jets. But speed changes in a jet may require significant movement of the thrust levers. Fortunately resulting acceleration or deceleration will be gentle and comfortable. Don’t be afraid to aggressively move the thrust levers on a small jet, nothing bad will happen.