New Yorkers often stand as a national litmus test of just how tough Americans can be in a crisis. The weeks and months after 9/11 showed us that even they have their limits although most found a place somewhere to bury those ugly days. In just a few seconds Monday, however, thousands were brought face-to-face [...]

Fly-in pancake breakfasts have been a grassroots aviation staple for nigh on a half century or more. Most of them are hosted by EAA chapters or local flying clubs, which is why the feast hosted by the Fox Valley Technical College at its aviation campus on the Wittman Regional Airport caught my eye, tickled my [...]

Across the aviation arc on the Internet many have bemoaned the April 9 passing of the old control tower at the Wittman Regional Airport, better known to the world by its location–Oshkosh. Photographers from the organization that  calls OSH home–and made it famous worldwide with its annual summer fly-in convention, AirVenture–the Experimental Aircraft Association recorded [...]

The world watched in awe a few months back as Capt. Sullenberger put a US Airways A320 just where he wanted it – well so to speak – on the Hudson River, close by to a half dozen small boats that allowed for the quick rescue of all aboard. For those of you who might [...]

The failed suicidal cross-country flight of 31-year-old Adam Leon drew a lot of media attention here in Wisconsin. When it was clear that he was approaching Madison (he never got closer than 5 miles), Governor Jim Doyle ordered the capitol evacuated. Curious about the details of this odyssey that started in Thunder Bay, Ontario, an [...]

Most airline passengers understand that pilots are required to qualify initially through FAA guidelines, are also required to regularly undergo a physical exam just to make sure some small problem doesn’t lead to incapacitation aboard a flight. Did you know that flight attendants are not normally required to undergo any kind of regular physical exam? [...]

Roaming around the online aisles of Sporty’s Pilot Shop looking for something to keep my head in the sky while the economy has me tied to the ground, I ran across the “Download Center.” Curious, I gave it a click, expecting I’m not sure what. What I found was Sporty’s Flight Training Downloads, a bonanza [...]

Until the 1980s, most pilot saw homebuilding as a lunatic fringe. Its stereotypical practitioners were older guys with rough hands and patched jeans rooting around in airport boneyards, looking for a deal. And then a funny thing happened: the production of store-bought airplanes tanked and new homebuilt kits, which reduced the number parts builders had [...]