Like many of us, many interests have expressed themselves over the years–compartments of life that consume time and provide enjoyment. While flying has been the most powerful , others have held sway as described below. And now, if there’s one thing I would love to be, it would be a missionary of rationality: basing our […]
Continue ReadingI’d just gotten hired at my first employer as a flight instructor. I was determined to be good at it–to teach safely, effectively, and to let the students fly the plane without excessive interference. I remembered instructors who were too handsy on the controls, making it difficult to get the feel. Was it him or […]
Continue ReadingI get it, vision deteriorates with age. But we don’t put braille in cockpits, and in fact, airline pilots must demonstrate 20/20 vision at least every year. So it was with some amusement that I noticed the N-Number on this particular 737. Notice how BIG it is! Admittedly, I’m not fond of having to search […]
Continue ReadingIn the U.S., tandem (two place) paramotor instruction is legal using an exemption such as 9575 from USPPA.org. It is NOT legal for recreational use; that’s what Sport Pilot is for. This, of course, a HUGE safety improvement for training since there is no excuse not to ensure students can handle the craft’s oddities before […]
Continue ReadingIt’s an unsavory but necessary calculation. What’s a life worth? Let’s say we can save 1000 lives by requiring airlines to spend a billion dollars. That makes the cost per life saved (1B / 1000) $1 million. What about a safety initiative that only costs $100 million but only saves 10 lives? That’s (100M / […]
Continue ReadingBoeing said it’s building an airliner intended for only one pilot. Is that a good idea? In short: not yet. The technology itself is essentially there but not at the reliability that we need. It’s about 90% there but there’s a lot of devil in the last 10% of detail. And there are other problems. […]
Continue ReadingMy paramotoring started in March of 1999. There was no formal (read consensus) training program so I opted for the next best thing: paraglider training using the US Hang Gliding Association (USHGA)’s program. Through my long exposure to aviation I’ve had numerous flying friends die which enforced more respect for the dangers of flight and […]
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