Airspeed Junkie

AUGUST 2, 2024

This system includes modes for: roll pitch heading vertical speed altitude hold approach These modes allow for a steady rate of descent, ascent, and consistent speed and altitude ranges. The control yoke and rudder pedals offer precise control, contributing to the ease of flying. It is powered by a 180-hp Lycoming IO-360-L2A engine.

Knot 98

Knot Cockpit Pilot Gross Weight 98

Flying Magazine

MAY 15, 2024

VFR to MVFR…then 2 miles visibility and a ceiling of 1,200 feet agl. Put the aircraft in level flight to give them a moment to consider their next course of action so they are not anxiously doing climbs, descents, and unplanned turns. You may even put the learner in and out of the clouds.

Crosswind 105

Crosswind Airplanes VOR Runway 105

Photographic Logbook

FEBRUARY 2, 2025

Weather conditions on Groundhog Day were better than the week prior, characterized by a high ceiling and no thin screen of clouds hiding the ground from view. In the descent, wind direction rotated counterclockwise until it became a direct southerly crosswind. Same course, same altitude, same frequency handoffs as the week prior.

Runway 89

Runway Knot Weather Turbulence 89

Air Facts

OCTOBER 30, 2024

Consisting of timed, coordinated climbs and descents, Patterns A and B required the pilot to be on altitude, on heading, and on time. Rolling down the runway with reference only to my DG, I’d make minor heading corrections with the rudder to remain centered. We flew the usual approaches: VOR, ILS, and the now extinct NDB.

NDB 52

NDB Checkride VOR Approach 52

Photographic Logbook

AUGUST 11, 2023

The entire route to Pickens County was under IFR conditions with low ceilings. I established a more aggressive descent rate than the usual 500 feet per minute, but was still too high upon reaching CICCA. That was a pleasant surprise from a big corporate kind of FBO at a big corporate kind of airport.

Descent 52

Descent Approach Airplanes Runway 52

Fear of Landing

OCTOBER 18, 2024

Weather reports from the Naval Auxiliary Landing Field on the island warned of a low cloud ceiling, overcast at 700-800 feet. My feet danced on the rudder pedals as I fought to keep the plane going straight down the runway. San Clemente Island is the southernmost island in the same island range, about 45 miles from Catalina.

Runway 52

Runway Altimeter Pilot Lift 52

Plane and Pilot

OCTOBER 3, 2024

Precisely what the single-engine ceiling is, the team can’t say. “We We just fly the thing around at 1000 feet, so the ceiling, we don’t know. An elegantly simple rope system inside the fuselage raises and lowers the Gweduck’s water rudder mounted inside the base of the main rudder (right).

Airplanes 79

Airplanes Rudder Knot Aileron 79