More Pilot Talk

Want more pilot stories? Our More Pilot Talk section is full of informative and entertaining flying tales from accomplished pilot authors.

March 8, 2017

Flying The Presidential TFR
Aviate, navigate, communicate? Well, yes, but if you plan to penetrate a Presidential TFR, those happen only after find, phone, copy, file.

Find the NOTAM. Phone TSA at least 24 hours in advance. Copy your confirmation number. File a flight plan, possibly with an intermediate stop. The milk run for Mrs. Levinson and me is between KBED, in the Boston suburbs where we live most of the year, and KMVY on the island of Martha’s Vineyard, where more »
February 16, 2017

Plane Facts: Electric Aircraft
Fun facts about electric aircraft

First Electric-powered Flight, Tissandier Dirigible ‘Number 6’: 1883 Flight’s Origin: Auteuil, Paris, France Average Speed: 7 kts Cruising Altitude: 1,600 ft. Duration of Flight: About 1 hr.  Distance Travelled: 6 nm Manufacturer of Dirigible Powerplant: Siemens Horsepower: 1.5 Powerplant Weight, Number 6: 1,552 lbs. Power to Engine Weight Ratio: 1:100 First Manned, Electric, Fixed-wing Flight: October 21, 1973 Aircraft: Militky Brditschka MB-E1 Adapted From: Brditschka HB-3 single-seat more »
January 25, 2017

Plane Facts: Instrument Flying
Fun facts about instrument flying.

First instrument flight: September 24, 1929 Site: Mitchel Field, Long Island, N.Y. Pilot: Lt. James Doolittle Plane: Consolidated N-2 (biplane similar to Stearman) Altitude data: Kollsman Altimeter Altimeter feature: Barometric setting (a first) Attitude data: Sperry Artificial Horizon Directional information: Sperry Directional Gyro Instrument approach equipment: Audible Localizer  Method of simulated IFR: Hood covered entire front-seat position Outside conditions: Clear, visibility unlimited Length of flight: 15 minutes more »
December 9, 2016

Plane Facts: Highs And Lows
Fun facts about planes and pilots
plane facts

Best year for GA piston sales ever: 1946, 35,000 planes Estimated number delivered in ’46: Less than 10,000 Planes built five years later: 2,302 (down 93% from ’46) Worst year for GA piston sales: 1994, 495 planes Number delivered five years later: 1,748 Best year for piston sales in modern era: 1979, 16,129 delivered Singles more »
November 1, 2016

Plane Facts: Bizjets
Fun facts about business jets
Plane Facts Bizjets

Active business jets in the U.S. in 2014: Approximately 12,500 (on-demand charter included)* Number in 1980: 3,000* Number projected in 2035: 20,815* First bizjet: Lockheed JetStar Year introduced: 1957, to U.S. Air Force Number of engines: Four, fuselage-mounted, two per side, 14,800 lbs. thrust total Seating: 2 crew, plus 10 passengers Max weight/speed/range of JetStar: more »
October 19, 2016

Plane Facts: Seaplanes
Fun facts about seaplanes

First successful flight of a seaplane-like craft (towed kite): 1905 First actual seaplane flight: 1910, the Hydravion First flying boat flight: 1912 First amphibian flight: 1913, Glenn Curtiss, Model D First large-scale production seaplane: Felixstowe F.5 (100 produced during WWI) Number of Curtiss NC-4s that in 1919 attempted the first Atlantic crossing: 4 Number that more »
September 28, 2016

The Art Of Pilotspotting
It takes one to know one.

I enjoy freaking my friends out because I can see someone with a certain characteristic and suddenly my pilot radar activates. I quietly gather clues and enough information to conclude that my radar was correct: That’s a pilot. My friends are in awe when I’m usually correct, and then I’ll verify by asking the target, more »
August 2, 2016

Plane Facts: EAA AirVenture Oshkosh
Fun facts about the history of AirVenture Oshkosh

Founder of EAA airshow: EAA Founder Paul Poberezny Location of first EAA airshow: Milwaukee Timmerman Field Name of umbrella airshow that year: Milwaukee Air Pageant Number of airplanes, 1953: Around 40 (EAA says it was a “handful” of mostly homebuilt or modified models) Number of airshow attendees: Approximately 150 Year of first EAA airshow: 1953 more »
July 19, 2016

Plane Facts: Cubs

Year “Cub” name first used: 1930 Manufacturer: Taylor Aircraft Location of factory: Harri-Emery Field, Bradford, Pennsylvania Designation of first Cub: Taylor E-2 Cub First Taylor E-2 engine: Brownbach Tiger Kitten What young tiger offspring (kittens) are called: Cubs Animal featured in Cub logo: Bear Horsepower of Brownbach Tiger Kitten: 20 Length of cinder runway at more »
June 1, 2016

Plane Facts: Pilots
Without pilots, there would be no aviation (as we know it and like it, anyways). But what do you really know about these special aviation creatures? Here are 50 Facts about fly-boys and fly-girls that you probably didn’t know.

Population of the United States in 1903: 80.6 million Total number of pilots in 1903: 1 Percentage of population: 0.00000001 Population of the United States in 1929: 121.8 million Total number of pilots in the United States in 1929: 9,215 Percentage of population: 0.000075 Population of the United States in 1975: 216 million Number of more »
April 27, 2016

Battling Pro Wrestlers At FL350
The challenges and rewards of flying with sports superstars

I’d walk in the front door of my grandparents’ house with butterflies in my stomach and laughter held tight in the back of my throat, because I knew my Uncle Tom was waiting. My uncle was a professional wrestling fan, and his favorite wrestler at the moment was “The Claw” (aka Baron von Raschke). He’d more »
February 24, 2016

The 100UL Future
An Industry-FAA partnership sets course for an unleaded future

It’s supposed to power today’s and tomorrow’s high-performance piston aircraft, tomorrow.
January 14, 2016

Plane Facts: Airports
Plane Facts

Total number of “airports” in 1903: 1 Total number of U.S. airports in 2014: 19,299 Total number of U.S. airports in 1980: 15,161 Number of public-use airports in 2014: 5,145 Number eligible for federal funding: 3,300 Number of public-use airports in 1980: 4,814 Number of airports used by U.S. in support of WWII: 2,308 State more »
December 28, 2015

The New Plane & Pilot
Greetings from the new guy, and let’s go flying

Hold on to your hats—there will be big changes.
December 14, 2015

Avionics Academy: ADS-B For Factory Glass Panels
Check with the aircraft manufacturer first

As the FAA’s 2020 ADS-B Out mandate approaches, an increasingly wide array of products are available for operators needing to retrofit their airplanes.
December 14, 2015

Aviation 1965-2015
A Half-century of chaotic progress

Aviation is a lot of things, but boring isn’t one of them.
November 20, 2015

Fifty Years Of Plane & Pilot Magazine
Plane & Pilot embarks on its second half-century    

No one could possibly have guessed what would happen to the lightplane industry in 1965 when Plane & Pilot magazine coincidentally published its first issue.

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