In 1972, “American Pie” by Don McLean, “Rocket Man” by Elton John, “Saturday in the Park” by Chicago and “Go All the Way” by The Raspberries were hits. My hair was shoulder length, shoes were platform, pants were bell-bottom and I did not yet have 100 hours flying time. I ventured to Oshkosh that Read More
Aviation humor is a dialectal minefield for a writer and can easily poke an eye out if misused. Cartoonist Gary Larson was great at it. And a tactful, tastefully presented and good spirited bit of humor (or sarcasm) can help information and lessons stick in our memory better than IMSAFE, CIGAR, ARROW, GUMP or Identify, Read More
Why the alliteration? 6−1−1. Pilot Responsibility and Authority In an emergency requiring immediate action, the pilot-in-command may deviate from any rule in 14 CFR Part 91, Subpart A, General, and Subpart B, Flight Rules, to the extent required to meet that emergency. The plan of this pontificating, but penitent, professional pilot was to pen Read More
Much has been written over the past several months about the reason(s) for the Boeing 737 Max crashes – and not just in aviation circles. The events garnered worldwide attention not only because of their commonality, the perceived culpability of the manufacture and implied pilot training deficiencies, but because aviation crashes remain the modern-day version Read More
Many nursery rhymes express fear, suffering and disaster. Ring Around the Rosie was about the bubonic plague; Peter Peter Pumpkin Eater couldn’t keep his wife, so he imprisoned her; a farmer’s wife amputated the tails of three visually impaired mice and the parenting techniques of The Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe would today Read More