Photographic Logbook

SEPTEMBER 16, 2023

Unfortunately it was Eric, a relatively new student pilot who was looking forward to riding along on a club adventure. To our surprise, the musician bore a strong resemblance to an A-10 Warthog pilot we met at the Cradle of Aviation Museum on Long Island and a speed skater we once saw in Lake Placid. It was super embarrassing."

Torque 52

Torque Airplanes Clearance Horizontal Stabilizer 52

Vintage Aviation News

MAY 6, 2024

With a crew of three (pilot, copilot & flight engineer) and four volunteers aboard, Liberty Belle took off, bound for Indianapolis. The pilots quickly found a farmer’s field and made a successful, gear-down landing just southeast of the airport. All seven occupants escaped without serious injury.

Tail 126

Tail Airplanes Cockpit Firewall 126

Plane and Pilot

SEPTEMBER 15, 2024

I watched the stick flutter to and fro in sync with the rudder pedals as Wilkins fought to maintain the centerline, all the while pushing in the throttle. Efforts like this freed male pilots for combat missions, and her dedication led to her appointment as commander of Reading Station. Images By Gary Figgins.

Runway 72

Runway Crosswind Rudder Approach 72

Air Facts

MAY 24, 2024

Centerline, centerline, centerline Air Facts Journal It was a beautiful May day as we grabbed the tow bar to pull the 1981 Cessna 182 out of the hangar. I didn’t get the thumb into the wind and I didn’t immediately get on the left rudder pedal to steer us back to the centerline. Let the King Air taxi past, we are headed to the FBO.”

Aileron 72

Aileron Crosswind Knot Runway 72

Vintage Aviation News

SEPTEMBER 2, 2024

This was the same aircraft where the Bellanca Aircraft Company set up its factory and where Air Service had built a new hangar in 1935 on the site of one that had burned in 1934 (Today, Air Service’s 1935 hangar now serves as the home of the Bellanca Airfield Museum). One month later, on February 1, it was sold to Air Service Inc.,

Firewall 98

Firewall Airplanes Hangar Tail 98

Jetwhine

JANUARY 17, 2024

I’ve been flying jets for years as a corporate pilot, but not real jets to some … like fighter jets. When opportunity knocked with an offer to fly an Aero Vodochody L–39 Albatros (one “s” in the Czech spelling)—a single-engine bird still used as a basic trainer for some nation’s fighter pilots—I jumped at the chance.

Knot 52

Knot Rudder Pilot Jet 52

Vintage Aviation News

JUNE 10, 2024

After graduating from DePauw University, where he earned his private pilot’s license through the US government-sponsored Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP), Vraciu enlisted in the U.S. Vraciu would recall later that in fact, he and his fellow Hellcat pilots were looking forward to this mission.

Cockpit 128

Cockpit Tail Pilot Stability 128

Photographic Logbook

AUGUST 11, 2023

But hail is in a league all its own and only a hangar can protect against that. Starting with Pickens County, I called every small airport in the region looking for hangar space. I learned that I could overnight there in a hangar for $65. Nothing was available. I told them to expect me within a couple of hours.

Descent 52

Descent Approach Airplanes Runway 52