Flying的August 2016目录

ACCESSORIES DeLorme offers extras for the Explorer that allow you to mount it in the cockpit, recharge it with solar panels and protect it with a floating case. The Explorer can also survive in 1-meter-deep water for about 30 minutes. GET EMERGENCY HELP QUICKLY If you are ever flying over terrain that is not near populated areas, DeLorme’s inReach Explorer is a piece of equipment that has the potential to save your life. This portable unit is connected to the Iridium satellite network, which means you can connect with emergency personnel, friends and family wherever you are in the world. Measuring 2.46 inches wide, 1.04 inches deep and 4.5 inches high (5.83 with the antenna) and weighing in at 6.7 ounces, the Explorer has a built-in GPS receiver. You can…

I wanted something that would make navigation easier for my everyday flying, if for nothing more than peace of mind. Recently, I was working with a student pilot on the subject of inflight diversions — a topic I thoroughly enjoy teaching with pilots of all experience levels because a diversion can result from an unlimited number of variables and external pressures. I liken the exercise to a timed puzzle, which often has more than one solution. Beyond the training environment, I enjoy engaging with fellow pilots on diversion strategies because I’ll quickly learn their priorities and comfort levels in dealing with unexpected occurrences, and maybe even pick up a few new strategies along the way. Practically speaking, there are emergency situations where the only right answer is an inflight diversion.…

“My father wasted no time in exposing me to flying with my first airplane ride when I was two weeks old.” — Kyle Franklin KYLE FRANKLIN The desire to fly is a trait that runs strong through some families, and we all know aviators who just seem born to be pilots. A prime example is third-generation airshow performer Kyle Franklin, who, like his late father, legendary airshow performer Jimmy Franklin, has so much aviation DNA that it seems taking to the skies was his destiny. The flying Franklins started with Kyle’s grandfather, Oliver Gene “Zip” Franklin, who bought a 1929 Doyle Special at the age of 16. The eldest Franklin mainly used airplanes as farm equipment to fly between two family ranches, and he had his son Jimmy with him in…

When my cellphone buzzed to life at 0402, I knew it wouldn’t be good news. (A phone call at that time of morning is never good news.) The caller ID displayed “Crew Schedule.” According to the dim red glow of the alarm clock, my reserve assignment period had just begun two minutes prior. I hadn’t been standing at attention in uniform with my bags packed. During the night, a trip to London Heathrow Airport from JFK had to return because of a transponder issue two hours into the flight. Apparently, the main control head of the two transponders compelled both units to enter the test mode, which rendered the entire system inoperative. It left ATC without a discrete radar target to track. In this post-9/11 world, that makes controllers nervous.…

Selfies, in case you have recently emerged from solitary confinement, are those self portraits, preferably set in interesting or unusual surroundings or amid a clump of friends, that one takes with a cellphone camera, sometimes holding it on the end of a selfie stick to gain a wider field of view. They have spawned a great many cartoons, generally satirizing the implicit valuation of the solipsistic photographer’s face above the Grand Canyon or Mona Lisa. There have also been deaths and injuries, often of exotic kinds: falling into volcanoes, getting electrocuted or swept out to sea, or holding a gun in one hand and the camera in the other and getting the triggers mixed up. Falls from precarious places and encounters with moving trains seem to be among the more…

“Keep it in tight.” These words, sometimes uttered by frazzled tower controllers working busy traffic patterns, should set off a pilot’s internal master caution alarm. Loss of control is now the No. 1 killer in general aviation and a high safety priority on the radar screens of both the National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA. As you might guess, the majority of fatal loss-of-control accidents occur in the traffic pattern, more often than not on the baseto-final turn where “keeping it in tight,” especially with a strong tailwind on base blowing across the final approach course, can be a prelude to disaster. Maneuvering above a pretty patchwork of farmland in far northwest New Jersey recently, I was given permission — encouragement, actually, from my teacher, a former Navy F-14…

I’d just sunk my hands into a gloriously gluey lump of flour and water when the wall phone rang. Yes, I still have a landline, bake bread, can pickles, put up preserves and make mud pies. I grabbed the receiver with my grossly sticky hand and spent most of a half-hour listening to a young student pilot who wanted advice about her attempts to get an FAA medical. Because of those years on the dark side I guess people think I have the inside scoop on medicals, violations, accidents, airplane certifications and unscrupulous mechanics. While that’s rarely true, I can often come up with a suggestion or point them in some direction. But this lady’s situation was as sticky as the wad of sourdough I was kneading. It was a…

What you feel as an updraft or downdraft is not necessarily a vertical movement of the surrounding air. “Is there a way to compute the strength of up- and downdrafts based on the amount of increase or decrease in airspeed? If I’m cruising along at an indicated 135 knots with a constant power setting, maintaining altitude and see my airspeed decrease to 110 knots as I pitch up to overcome downdrafts while maintaining altitude and power, it seems there should be some way to calculate the strength of those downdrafts based on the loss of airspeed. Coming out of the downdraft and into an updraft would have the reverse effect, with maybe 155 knots or so the resulting airspeed as the airplane pitches down to maintain altitude. I thought this…

BENDIXKING AEROWAVE 100 Inflight Internet just got more accessible for general aviation aircraft. The FAA has approved installation of BendixKing’s AeroWave 100 inflight data unit in popular turboprop and turbine airframes, including the Cessna Mustang, M2, CJ2, CJ3, CJ4 and Caravan; Embraer Phenom 100 and 300; Pilatus PC-12; Daher TBM 700, 850, 900 and 930; Textron King Air; Mitsubishi MU-2; and Turbo Commander. SERVICE PLANS AeroWave 100 provides worldwide Internet access over the Inmarsat satellite network for a prepaid $40 per hour service plan. The AeroWave 100 hardware retails for $24,995 with an installation kit and standard ARINC 600 tray included. Optional Wi-Firouters and data-only and voice-data packages are available.…

There are airplanes out there, and I know it because they’re all stepping on each other over the radio. The CTAF is a cacophony of squeaks, squawks and indecipherable gibberish clearly announcing that everyone and their brother is flying today. And why not? It’s a gorgeous Saturday in coastal California. It would be nice to actually see the traffic though — I am squinting in vain to pick up something shiny and moving amid the patchwork of golden fields, vineyards and caramel hills that surround Watsonville Airport (KWVI). My wife, Dawn, ever the eagle eye, spots what she confidently proclaims to be the RV-6 that just announced turning crosswi — SQUEESHHRRWOOOP! I hopefully turn in trail. Our Piper Pacer has 9 gallons of avgas in the left tank, and my…

When I first started flying Part 135 on five-day rotations, I anticipated meeting up with earthbound friends on overnights in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, New Haven, Boston and Bozeman. I further expected to fetch up in various locales with flying friends on their trips. For airline friends, I thought Baltimore, New York, LA, Oakland, Sacramento, Chicago or Dallas might be common crossing fixes where we could share a drink, a dinner and a laugh. With 135 pals, I thought we’d find ourselves happily tucked away in Aspen or Martha’s Vineyard. Little of this activity has occurred in almost three years and 1,000-plus hours of flying. There are just too many variables, routes, overnights, schedules and unexpected developments. It is true that it is easier to catch up with nonflying…

Fifty years ago, on August 12, 1966, the Lear Jet 25 made its maiden flight in Wichita, Kansas. It was the last model to reach the market before Bill Lear — inventor of ADF, the eight-track cassette and 150 other things — sold his interest in the company to the Gates Rubber Co. in the midst of a crushing recession. Sharp-eyed readers will recognize the three gentlemen in this iconic photo, playfully trying on the Lear mockup for size. For the full story, visit flyingmag.com/Learjet.…