Let me say right up front that I thank and applaud Cessna for its decision to bring the SkyCatcher to market. But I, too, was a little saddened to hear that Cessna will be building the C-162 SkyCatcher in China (SkyCatcher’s ‘Made in China’ label upsets some pilots, Jan. 11 issue). Not that I have […]
Letters
How many wonderful stories are lost?
In your Dec. 7, 2007, issue, in the article about David Tallichet (“David Tallichet, restaurant pioneer and airplane collector, dies at 84”), I found one lonely sentence that really caught my attention. “He found another fleet of Martin B-26s in western Canada, where the whole lot had crashed on the way to Alaska.” What a […]
CROSSFIELD’S DAUGHTER EXPRESSES GRATITUTDE
To Tom Norton: I am Sally, Scott’s daughter, child number five of six. Now that I am done crying, may I say how very grateful I am to you for writing that article (“NTSB: Lack of weather update killed Crossfield; Final report cites ATC failure to advise, Crossfield failure to ask,” Oct. 19, 2007 issue). […]
KERSHNER’S FAMILY PROUD OF WHAT HE ADDED TO AVIATION
Ace Aerobatic School, founded by William K. Kershner, closed on the day of his death, Jan. 8, 2007. Catherine Cavagnaro, highly thought of by my father as a pilot and aerobatic instructor, has her own school, Sewanee Aerobatic School. I was honored to deliver my father’s Aerobat, N7557L, to the National Air and Space Museum. […]
‘ZERO GRAVITY’ DEBATE CONTINUES
No airplane is ever in zero gravity! Physicist spend their time thinking about black holes, dark matter, dark energy, string theory and time. They do not think about why they are weightless in orbit or why they are weightless in an airplane named “Zero Gravity.” Physicist deny that there is a centrifugal force! Therefore, I […]
COWS AND AIRPLANES DON’T MIX
I was feeling pretty good, so I decided to fly my 1946 Luscombe 8A about an hour before dark. I put in five gallons. I had maybe two or three gallons in it already. I figured I would be in the air only about 30 minutes, so I reasoned I was good for about one […]
MORE ON OSH FORMATIONS
Regarding the highest number of airplanes flown into Oshkosh, read “The Cessna 120/140 Story Book” by Dorchen Forman for a number never to be duplicated by one kind of civilian plane: 163 Cessna 120s, 140s and 140As flew in a trail into Oshkosh. All one kind of plane, within 15 horsepower of each other — […]
AIRPORTS UNDER FIRE FOR HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE?
As an environmental health physician I’m aware of the association between noise exposure and high blood pressure (hypertension). People exposed to noise are more likely to have hypertension. European researchers have identified more hypertension in those who live near airports. My environmental medicine and airplane owner interests piqued when I recently found a Reuters news […]
FLYING A 1911 WRIGHT ‘B’ FLYER
I just want to share an experience I had in September of this year. I traveled to Dayton, Ohio, to see a replica of the 1911 Wright “B” Flyer aircraft and the museum that is at the Dayton Wright Bros. Airport. I understood that under certain conditions there was a chance of flying in the […]

