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Monthly Archives: March 2009
How World War I Air Combat Improved the Breed
You can roughly divide the escalation of aviation technology by two-decade segments. It all started with the Wright Brothers in 1903, and it almost ended with them as well. Few know that the brothers Wilbur and Orville slapped a patent on their wing-warping device which extended to any controls used to keep the wings level and that included future ailerons. We all know now, that wing-warping was counterproductive in all aspects; it was the invention of the aileron that made safe flight possible. This Wright brothers’ patent slowed down aviation development around the world, except for those who ignored it. Continue reading
Posted in UnderTheRadar
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Anthony Fokkers D-VII The Best of World War I
There is no debate regarding the best aircraft, the most advanced
aircraft and the best-looking aircraft of World War I. It was the Fokker D-VII.
When the fighting in the air started, the German Air Force had Fokkers, but they
were just a little more than kites. The Eindekker (one wing) did a good job in
combat against opposing aircraft, also of very obsolete design. However, the
hand writing was on the wall that the aviation firm to watch was Fokker. Continue reading
Posted in Bird of the Week
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Beech before Beechcraft or The Other Travel Air
Walter Beech was a biplane fanatic and loved to be best at whatever he tackled, be it designing aircraft, racing aircraft or selling aircraft. You could say that Walter Beech had aviation tunnel vision. In the early 1920s, three of the big names in aviation were indeed Walter Beech, Clyde Cessna and Lloyd Stearman. Continue reading
Posted in Bird of the Week
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The Reign of the Beechcraft Baron
Nineteen sixty one was a great year. I was working as a producer/director for an ABC TV station and flying a CAP L-16 on search missions in the New England mountains, driving to the airport in my nine-passenger Land Rover, complete with roof- mounted camera platforms. Continue reading
Posted in UnderTheRadar
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How did you get into flying? Who was most inspirational/influential in you receiving your certificate?
Posted in On Final
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A True Story from the Outer Limits The Revenge of the Parachutists
In the 1960s I was part of a small group of pilots who formed what we called the Yankee Air Force, similar to the then Confederate Air Force. We all lived in the Western Massachusetts area and kept our fleet at Pilgrim, North Hatfield and Turners Falls Airports. The Texas boys had big bucks and lots of airplanes; we had no bucks and only a few aircraft. We did have three Texans and one SNJ-6; that one was mine. We had a Grumman FM-2 Wildcat, two PT-17s and a B-25 that were owned by the club members. It was our B-25 that had a notorious history. Continue reading
Posted in Bird of the Week
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Getting the Most for Your Flying Dollar
We live very close to the traffic pattern at Apple Valley Airport in Southern California. Yesterday was absolutely perfect for flying. Brother Dick and I were on a adjacent dry lake within sight of the airport. The 75-degree weather had beckoned us and our cameras to photograph desert wild flowers. We have lived here for the past 35 years. But, something was missing. No airplanes, no students in their Cessna 172s or Piper Warriors, doing touch-and-goes, no homebuilts flying, not even an ultralight’s two-stroke engine buzzing away to break the silence. Continue reading
Posted in UnderTheRadar
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