Spring Flying Begins in the Far North

I live at a latitude that’s north of 60 degrees. Winter held its grip on us even longer this year than usual. It’s only been in the last few weeks that the ice has melted on the lakes. Several times a day now I watch floatplanes pass overhead. Many of them are seasoned bush pilots who make a hard living hauling people and supplies into and out of various camps. Others are simply pilots who live for those moments of flying.

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Cessna May Use Kit Building Trick in New Plane

After Cessna’s prototype for the light sport plane was received well by attendees at the AirVenture airshow in Oshkosh this year, the company is now thinking about how they may want to manufacture the plane. To keep it under their target price tag of $100,000, Cessna will have to minimize building costs and consider more innovative production methods. They’re even thinking about using a trick that homebuilders of kit planes have been doing for years. It’s called matched-hole drilling.

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Mountain Flying

Mountain flying offers the opportunity to see some spectacular scenery, but it also presents the pilot with additional challenges. They include the possibility of increased turbulence, limited or non-existent emergency landing locations, boxed-in and narrow canyons. And just like when you’re hiking in the mountains, help may be far away or impossible to reach. For all these reasons, it’s essential to learn proper mountain flying techniques before you even take off from the airport.

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Honda Will Produce New Light Jet by 2010

Honda is now selling the HondaJet, their new experimental very light jet that the company says will roll off the production line beginning in 2010. The price for a standard HondaJet model will be $3.65 million. Honda has also applied for FAA production and type certification. Once they’ve gained FAA approval and have reached maximum production levels, Honda expects to manufacture 70 HondaJets per year.

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To the Moon, Alice, to the Moon

I know many people who save up their frequent flyer miles for something special, a “big trip” to somewhere. But a trip to the moon? That’s thinking big. Really big. Recently, Virgin Atlantic Airways formed a new subsidiary called Virgin Galactic. The company will provide commercial flights to the moon beginning in 2009. Tickets cost $200,000 each. (I wonder if they’ll ever offer one-way fares.)

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More Than One Kind of Autopilot

A Cessna 185 amphib lost power shortly after takeoff. Authorities determined that the pilot had selected Fuel Off instead of Fuel Both for tank selection. How did it happen? The fuel tank selector cover was broken which allowed full movement of the selector knob. The pilot relied on feel for sensing the knob’s location. The accumulator tank contained enough fuel for full operation of the plane until shortly after takeoff.

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