In Flight USA Article Categories
In Flight USA Articles
Wings Over Waukesha Airshow
12th Gary South Shore Airshow
By Mike Heilman
Aeroshell AT-6 “Texan performing a loop at the Gary South Shore air show. The show was held July 15-17 in Gary Indiana on Lake Michigan. (Mike Heilman)Sand, sun, surf, smoke and spectators were all part of the 12th Gary South Shore Air Show. The three-day event was held at Marquette Park Beach on the shores of Lake Michigan in Gary, Indiana. The airshow was produced by the Indiana South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority and was free to the public.
The airshow opened with a twilight show on Friday that included a large fireworks display. Many of the airshow acts flew their demonstrations at the Friday night show. It was a great start to the weekend.
The headliner for this year’s show was the Heavy Metal Jet team. This civilian team is new to the 2011 airshow season. Heavy Metal team flies four L-39s and either a T-33 or MIG-17. The team flew the MIG-17 at the Gary Show. The team performs at airshows that do not have a military jet as part of the line up.
EAA Reports: Presidential TFRs Follow Obama Bus Tour This Week
House Lawmakers Call For Federal Intervention On Avgas Claim in CA
Warner's Mines More Aviation Gold from it's Archives
By S. Mark Rhodes
Warner Archives keeps cranking out great chestnuts from its vaults and making them available as a “Made to Order” disc. The latest releases are four great aviation melodrama/thrillers.
Bombardier is a 1943 film concerning the training program for bombardiers of the United States Army Air Forces. The film, starring Pat O’Brien as Major Chick Davis and Randolph Scott, is solid action with a plot revolving around the central clash of whether specific bomber training was necessary as a component of the USAAF. In the course of the film, Major Davis manages to demonstrate the superiority of high altitude precision bombing which allows for the creation of a training academy for bombardiers. As with many of these films, the trivia is particularly fascinating; reportedly this film’s plot reflected some of the debate about the role and effectiveness of specialized bombing during World War II. Much of the film was shot at Kirtland Air Force Base, which employed some of the cadets as extras. Bombardier has many near documentary elements reflected in it’s approach to the subject matter. Most interesting of all is the film’s prologue which is delivered by Brigadier General Eugene Eubank who was the commander of the first heavy bombardment group of the US Army Air Forces to see combat in World War II. In this prologue, General Eubank praises the bombing crews, which “must vindicate the greatest responsibility ever placed upon an individual soldier in the line of duty.”
FAA Programs Still in Limbo as Congress Departs
Wrong Way Corrigan - A Last Bit of Fun Before World War II
By Alan Smith
In October of 1925 when 18-year-old Douglas Corrigan went for a ride in a Curtiss Jenny, he had no idea that in thirteen years he would be both famous and notorious. What the ride did was change his goal in life from being an architect to living in the growing world of aviation. He started taking flying lessons every Sunday and after twenty Sundays he soloed. The government rules and regulations of aviation were still forming and Corrigan soon had a pilot’s license in hand. He also had good mechanical talent gained from a few years in the construction business. When his parents divorced, he had quit school and gone to work to earn money. His father was a construction engineer and Douglas had learned a lot from him.
Claude Ryan and his partner B.F Mahoney were building airplanes as the Ryan Aeronautical Company at the California airfield where Corrigan learned to fly and also had a shop in San Diego. They offered Corrigan a job as a mechanic at their San Diego operation when they decided to shut down their factory near Los Angeles and move south. It was 1927 and Corrigan saw about a half dozen partially built airplanes in Ryan’s San Diego plant. They just sat there because of cancelled orders. Corrigan went to work wondering how long this job would last.
Tips from the Pros - August 2011
When is the “Truth” a “Bad Habit?
By Mitchell Ange, President
So you’ve been flying your single engine Cessna, Piper or Beech for a few years and consider yourself a pretty good pilot. You’ve earned your instrument rating and then your multiengine rating in the Seminole or other light twin-engine trainer with several hundred hours total time logged. Now you’re looking for a new challenge, perhaps to advance your flying skills or even move into a new career. Many small businesses are discovering that ownership or time-share of a small business jet makes a lot of sense in today’s environment of hostile airline travel.
Ever wondered what it’s like to fly a jet? What pilot hasn’t? “But,” you may ask yourself, “is the flying experience I have in that Cessna or Piper really applicable to flying a jet?” Well, the answer is “yes and no.” Of course there are differences, but not as many as you might have been led to believe. And those differences are manageable with a reasonable amount of training. Let’s take a look at a few of the new skills you will learn as a jet pilot.
Safe Landings - August 2011
Goodies and Gadgets - August 2011
FAA Shut Down Looms
EAA: User Fee Idea Just Won't Go Away
See Burt Rutan (and his new book) At Wick's Booth at AirVenture
Voice Your Opinion: GPS Interference by LightSquared
House Lawmakers Call on DOT to Shelve Plan to Disable BARR
13th Annual Olympic Air Show
Story and Photos by Paul Tannahill
Despite less than ideal weather conditions the 13th annual Olympic Airshow went on June 18-19 without any major incidents. Hosted by the Olympic Flight Museum, and held at the Olympia Regional Airport, in Olympia, Wash., the show has become a Fathers day weekend tradition for many aviation enthusiasts in the Northwest.
Light Sport Flying With In Flight USA - July 2011
What's Up? - July 2011
It Blows My Mind
By Larry Shapiro
For the more than 12 years I’ve had the privilege and pleasure of writing this column I’ve never been more surprised than by the lack of response to the beginning of my June column. I actually thought about wearing a helmet and body armor while writing it and for days after it was published.
I always get a few emails or anonymous calls from nameless readers with a comment or two and a mild threat on my life. Surprisingly, it didn’t happen once since my June column hit the ramps. I have surmised that all the copies were gone before you got yours, you were away having plastic surgery done, in the middle of the divorce you wanted so badly, or you are so old now you can’t read the small print.
Light Sport Flying With In Flight USA - July 2011
Strange Plane?
By Ed Downs
No, the title does not mean to imply that the airplane you are about to fly is “strange,” but that you are strange to the airplane. In other words, that slick little S-LSA in which you are about to take a demo at AirVenture is just fine, but you may not be.
Many of those reading this month’s column will do so while at EAA AirVenture 2011. A subset of that “many” will be touring the wide selection of S-LSAs on display, with some of you signed up to take a “fly-to-buy” demo. The question is, are you really ready to fly that LSA for the first time and give it a fair evaluation? How are your skills when it comes to jumping into an airplane that is quite different than anything you have flown before?
Safe Landings - July 2011
What Would You Have Done?
This month we present an incident that required quick decisions on the part of the ASRS reporter. How did our reporter do? You be the judge. In “the first half of the story,” we report an excerpt followed by several plausible action choices. Next, you will find “the rest of the story,” the actions actually taken by the reporter to resolve his situation. This incident will give you a chance to draw on your own operating experience to anticipate what you would have done in the same situation.
The First Half of the Story
“My Climb Would Not Safely Increase”