Recent content by GreatLakesFlying

American Airlines airplane taking on a load of Atlas beer, circa 1933, location unknown, but probably somewhere in the Chicago area for two reasons: (1) Atlas Brewing was based in Chicago and (2) I found the photo in the "Forgotten Chicago" group on Facebook.

This is a good point. I never thought about the possibility of forgetting the checklists behind, and someone else using them. I will do add the disclaimer (or perhaps, rewrite my lists in Greek). Thanks! The more I think about this, the more I realize how important it is, regardless of age...

During my primary training, I started typing my own checklists, mostly as an exercise to commit tasks to memory, and establish a process flow that was more ergonomic and cleaner than the flight school's. One thing led to another, the inner geek kicked in, and I have automated the entire design...

I am 100% with you about UV protection; I am only offering the "advice" above in jest. My mistake is that I put the sunscreen on minutes before the flight. I should have known better. As a diver, I avoid applying sunscreen an hour prior to a dive. Landing with one eye I can do. Dive with both...

As the use of sunscreen increases during the summer months, avoid applying sunscreen on the forehead. Verily, verily, I say unto you it is better to deal with a mild sunburn than a droplet of sweat carrying sunscreen into your eye; it's a heck of an irritant. On somehow related news, I can now...

I fly the shoreline quite often, flying at 1700. There are few places within gliding distance -- excluding the water itself. As others have mentioned, now that the weather is improving, those places become populated. That's good news and bad news. The bad news is you can't land where there are a...

I could have done a better job writing my OP yesterday, but my frustration was not about the other pilot's radio calls, nor about his landing in a tailwind. It was about landing in the opposite direction than everyone else. The Chart Supplement says that 29 is the preferred runway for 06C...

I did. He wasn't the talking type.

As a CFII, are you telling me that if an airport has a preferred runway listed in the Chart Supplement, if the conditions for the preferred runway prevail, and if traffic uses the preferred runway, there is nothing wrong with intentionally landing on the opposite runway? When we talk about...

I was out practicing between 06C and KDPA today under calm or very weak winds from the SSW. The airport asks pilots to use runway 29 in calm winds or direct crosswinds, for noise abatement. As I announced my entry into left downwind 29, a "blue RV" came on CTAF announcing a fly over the field...

In the 172, two rounds of trim did the trick for me (by "round" I mean a turn from the top of the trim will to the bottom). Right steep turns were easier for me because I had figured out that a rivet line on the left side of the top cowling sliced the horizon at exactly 45 degrees of bank. For...

The first thing I notice in the video is your taxing: is your airplane equipped with some autotaxi system that keeps it nailed on that yellow line? :-) Then, seriously, I was left to wonder where I'd be looking if I was advised to yield for a jet crossing "left to right", if there was a jet...

When knowledge flows one way and money the other, it may be difficult to establish an equitable relationship and prospective students may be put off by your approach. Personally, I would have given it a try, but I am saying this only after the fact of having worked with a CFI who was not a good...

He did a great job. The audio recording left me with this question, however: how usual, or unusual, is it for a tower not to have a readily available list of emergency contact numbers for schools located at the airport? Tower and airport staff spent a good deal of time on the recording, trying...

Last Sunday, I took a dear old friend flying with me. It was a beautiful day. A bit bumpy but beautiful. We departed 06C, transitioned KPWK, and followed the shoreline to the south. My "standard" skyline route is to turn west over Monroe harbor and take I-290 back to 06C. This time, I did...