PropBlast

This great video from Fighter Combat International shows how quickly you can get yourself into trouble by skidding into a turn (like on final). You've all been told not to do this but perhaps seeing it will teach you to heed this warning.

To prevent these stall/spin accidentsyou can do two things:

1. Keep your airspeed well above stall speed except just before touching down.
2. Always fly coordinated. Don't use the rudder alone to turn you back onto final if you overshoot the base to final turn. You must keep that ball (or electronic equivalent) centered in order to keep your turn coordinated.

Thanks to the "Over The Airwaves" newsletter for this great tip!

The Airplane Owners and Pilot's Association (AOPA) believes that user fees would devastate the U.S. economy by impacting general aviation flying for agricultural purposes, medical evacuation, and other missions essential to the country's safety and well-being.

While the airlines may want user fees, it isn't because fees would be good for their passengers. That's why AOPA went public with anti-user fee TV commercials this holiday season.

You can also visit the AOPA's GA Serving America Web site to learn more about why the FAA funding debate is important to everyone.

Please pass along the following link to everyone you know to help fight the upcoming GA User's Fee before it sneaks its way into our lives!

Looks like Tom Cruise's P-51 doesn't offer him enough thrills any more. Either that or he now needs a plane with room for Katie and Surrey(sp?).

Great taste in planes! Now if only I could could step up into a P-51<G>. I guess I would settle for a P-47...

Ok, I'm not one to go gaga over "celebrities." Just the opposite lately as we've been seeing too much inappropriate behavior from the current flock of wild-child celebs...

That is why it is so refreshing to see an article about a celebrity that includes some really great writing about aviation. Check out this article about Angelina Jolie from Vogue's website. It describes her and "Brad's" love for Dagget field (in Barstow, CA) as well as tidbits about their flying life. Make sure you check out the slide show of images found on this page taken by famed photograperh Annie Leibovitz.

I love the comparison between Jolie's Cirrus being the family sports car to the Cessna Caravan that is described as the family mini-van. Gonna be hard-pressed find a mini-van with a 600 to 675 hp turbine engine that cruises at 184 knots.

Of course, the flip side is journalists who are obviously writing out of their asses. The ignorance and lack of fact checking just amazes me...

Found a link to Richard Seaman's website, and more importantly, to his slideshow on the 2006 Chino Airshow. Fantastic stuff. Not only is there the obligatory photography, but some really interesting trivia about each of the planes like the factoid in his slideshow about this formation flight of a AT-12 and a P26.