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Soloed there in 1988, got my ticket in 89. They've been after that airport for a very long time. It was on its last legs in 88 when I started according to the local news. The mall at the approach ends of 31 L and R was supposed to have killed it prior to that but it soldiered on. It always...

Just to clarify here.....the airforce isn't the only ones who do this silly crap. Pretty much all the govt agencies are guilty, not just the flyboys. Glad I'm out of the gov contracting biz. Less stress and better profit in the private sector. More appreciative customers too. Frank

After spending some time doing a bit of contract work back in the 80s I learned how the system works. Its really bad. Does the airforce waste money? You bet your butt. We had a contract to make some aircraft parts and had to fight tooth and nail to get information and tooling that was part of...

You guys are so involved in fixing the engine problems you're missing the real issue. Fuel. Simple truth here is that while diesel can be produced around the world with pretty much the same characteristics and no problems with vapor pressure or turning into a neat polymer, unleaded gasoline...

You can measure the lift without pulling pushrods. Since you're not after a yellow tag inspection on the part all you want to do is verify that the lobes are all more or less the same. Bad ones will read enough smaller that you should see it. Normally there will be a couple really different if...

If you don't shoot than why clean? Just oil. When I lived out west I didn't even oil....just attracted dust and with no moisture in the air rust was a spectre rarely seen. Out here we oil because of humidity. Oily patch down the bore from the Breech end (a breach is a broken area like a wall...

I've never even heard of the Barber track.....guess I've been out of it for a while. Worked on indy cars from 1990 til 2006 and always hated the ovals....loved the road courses. I too miss the legends, some because they're gone like Rich Vogler and others because they took themselves out like Al...

I landed a Taylorcraft F19 backwards at the nut tree airport in Fairfield california. Winds were straight down the runway and I was on my long dual cross country. Tailwheel popped into swivel when we touched down. It was quite unnerving for a student but turned out to be a non event. It is very...

Its possible that the nozzle droops when power is removed or who knows? Assuming anything (everything?) without knowing is a good way to become a journalist. Why would the nozzle point downwards for takeoff? That makes no sense. It would load the nosewheel and prevent rotation since the nozzle...

We used gelcoat on molded 15meter fiberglass/carbon gliders because it gave us a base to sand on that didn't involve weakening the structure through sanding fibers. It was cheap and disposable. The paint used on the glider was a non-gelcoat epoxy. We used gelcoat on 9 meter windmill blades...

Like Dan Thomas noted and pictured, nothing changes the distance between the shafts so no change in gears other then replacement for wear like any other gear. Line boring doesn't move the hole, it only opens it back up after facing off the mating surfaces of the case. Frank

One detail often left out is that most gelcoat is unwaxed so it never hardens on the surface. The wax is put in with the intention that it will float to the surface and seal it from the oxygen in the air. This allows the surface to cure as much as it will. Without the wax the polyester resin...

I don't think I've ever seen an aircooled airplane engine with a chain drive for the cam....at least nothing still in use and not 100 years old. I think the Wrights used a chain to drive the prop? Centerlines of the cam, crank and gears don't change even if you grind the journals down to nothing...

Its obvious that when a huge number of people believe that the news media, social media and schools are telling the truth, without ever looking at things for themselves....there is going to be trouble. Socialist or Conservative makes no difference. If you aren't willing to actually look into...

Like most of us who flew marginally powered aircraft like the 65HP T-Cart we learned a lot about thermalling, ridge lift, and other means of climbing in places where our engines were not able to pull us at the rate we wanted. I used to fly the T-cart out of Moriarty, a field at an elevation of...

I flew a 41 taylorcraft with an A65 from the bay area (san francisco) to Albuquerque with no problems. Over tehachapi pass, across edwards and followed I-40. Very good route. From Albuquerque east is no problem. You can go around the mountains if you need to or fly the pass following I-40. I've...

Not a CFI but I fly from the right occasionally just for fun. Perhaps driving in Australia and England have helped teach that either side is the same but different. The plane doesn't know what side you're sitting on and as others noted you don't need the instruments to land. Keeping your eyes...

I thought there was no such thing as a crosswind in a cub.....just a really short runway or a long one. I've landed a J3, J4, and a Chief across a 150ft runway a few times due to crosswinds....over 15mph. Landed my T-Craft across runway 21 at Roswell due to crosswinds one day. Had to add power...

Couple days ago I was in Providence Rhode Island watching them deice a couple RJs and it was quite amusing to see. The first one I think was a delta feeder and must have been a training mission because there were two guys in the bucket. They half heartedly hosed off one wing then moved the truck...

Its always good to remember that the whole point in these TV shows is to make a show. The reality of the thing has little to do with the Show aspect so there is no reason to insure that it is emphasized. Sliding around, smoke and flame make good TV and that is much more important. As for...