Recent content by dbahn

I also like the scimitar props, but probably my favorite of the collection is this rare Bleriot X1 prop for a 25 HP Anzani engine, circa 1910, in original condition having evidence of being previously flown. (Link to page.) .

Yeah, and some of the earliest props had this curved shape based on the Wright's theory that the blades should act like two wings spiraling around a central axis. That shape, and many other concepts, were quickly abandoned in the 1920s and 1930s as blades took the symettrical, balanced and...

I was recently asked to display some of my collection of WW1 era propellers at a local art show (Waitsfield, VT) with a theme of "Aloft" - mostly birds, butterflies, photography, paintings and anything aerial. I did this once before in another location, and we found that the pilots gave the...

I wonder how many people who insist that they be able to glide to a landing also depart in such a way that they can glide back to a landing? After all, an engine failure on takeoff is more likely and the power is more necessary in that phase, not to mention that you are typically flying in the...

Generally that's true, but you can't buzz someone just because you're in the process of taking off or landing. The regulation includes "when necessary" for take off or landing, so a FSDO could pursue a violation in some circumstances and end up with an administrative law judge making a...

Brutal.

Does anyone know the status of this AD proposal? I've tried to find it via Google but I can't find a useful search link, and I'm not sure what the time frame is for a final determination after a NPRM.

. . . or focus on process and outcome over nomenclature. :)

OK, I'll fess up. I've always flown NDB approaches using the concept of radials rather than the mental math forumula. It stems back probably 30 or 40 years to the attached article by Tom Block, a writer for Flying magazine, and captain on USAir I believe at the time. Ever since I used his...

I'm not worried about that. :) Nobody will ever use ADFs again since GPS is dominant, but I always thought that NDB approaches were a great test of situational awareness, and a perfectly flown NDB approach will constantly have the aircraft on "radial" from the station for the entire approach...

What I'm trying to say is that the goal of a NDB approach is to fly a direct line from point A to point B, and that line is a radial from the station (point B) to point A. So in the approach shown below you are flying inbound on the 204 degree radial and outbound on the 024 degree radial to...

I think we're saying the same thing. Wherever the NDB is you try to fly on a radial to or from that station. The bearing relative to magnetic north may change, but the bearing to the station represents a line from point A to point B, e.g. an initial approach fix and an on-field NDB. Unless...

I'd suggest that an NDB has radials as well. You just have to do more work to find which one you're on. ;)

In some cases that may be true, but in most cases it's the reader not reading it clearly.

That's it. People will often cite the regulation in the notes, which I think can be helpful when an examiner is reviewing the logs (particulary if the entry was made by the CFI) but it's not necessary.