#78 Soaring with Pelicans
"While she craned her peepers to see the small flock of large birds, I was slowly gaining on her. That wasn’t going to last."
"While she craned her peepers to see the small flock of large birds, I was slowly gaining on her. That wasn’t going to last."
"If, like me, you fly a little low-horsepower beater, you may very well want to consider porpoising."
"Ironically, the skid, which is the condition that flat turn is based on, is rarely practiced in the instruction I give now. "
"She sat on a corner of the airport. She had been largely forgotten. There were no concessions to her reputation or the plans afoot to commemorate her. The B-17 was by herself. Her hatches were open. Her tires were low or flat. Her paint was fading and her overall look was one of dishevelment."
"As I taxied in to the resort’s tiedown area, there was a New Standard D-25 parked on the ramp, its little stool waiting to help passengers into the front cockpit. It was "Stanley". "
"All my students hear me say the same things. One of them is, 'Where ya gonna go if your engine quits now?' "
"Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that rascal, Hooper, releasing his seatbelt and shoulder harness. How else could a guy float off his seat?"
"For an aviator, staying in your comfort zone virtually guarantees that you will not become a better pilot. Keep on doing that long drawn out 45 degree entry to the downwind. Keep practicing the stabilized approach. Keep doing only what you know how to do. Don’t fly a sailplane, don’t go upside down and, above all, never simply try to fly with more precision. That way you will guarantee that you will never leave your comfort zone."
"I felt like I was doing a “Pony Express Mount” on my little airplane as I chased Eric and Jami in their T-Craft down the taxiway and blasted into the air for Prospect."
"With that innocuous statement, the flight instructor has just set his student back and doomed him to perhaps a lifetime of faulty flying technique."