Sometimes when I write these newsletters, I feel like I am banging two rocks together, creating sparks and attempting to direct them towards the dry, feathery threads of kindling material, hoping that something will catch fire. My hope is that
On Saturday, November 12, 2022, a B-17 and Bell P-63 Kingcobra collided in mid-air at a Dallas airshow. The accident resulted in the loss of all six people on the two aircraft. The topic of Airshows first appeared in the
Just this week, all of the FTEs flew north for the winter (I mean…annual symposium in London, Ontario), and a week earlier, the international Flight Test Safety Workshop ended in the UK. Both meetings resulted in countless discussions that deserve
I spent part of the holiday on Monday shooting sport clays with a shotgun. Before we started, I was talking to one of the instructors who learned the skill while hunting ducks. That’s a tough way to learn on the
The other day I ran into my stats professor, and I said, “what are the chances?” Almost unbelievably, I happened upon my geography teacher from elementary, and she said, “small world.”** I joke, but understanding the limitations of the 2d
What is the first thought that goes through your mind when you read about a flight test accident? That’s probably the kind of question we all feel comfortable asking, but do we ever consider what goes through our hearts when
Words have the power of life and death. With a single word, we can command the abort of a dangerous flight test maneuver, but the power of our words extends beyond the cockpit and the control room to the cubicle
Ever wonder what life is like as a hang glider test pilot? (I’m not sure I had that particular thought, but I’ve often imagined what it would be like to fly a hang glider.) This month’s feature article is written
If you could travel back in time (something Turbo discusses inside this month’s edition) to continue your work as a flight test professional, but you can’t tell anyone that you are from the future, and further suppose that all you
On 25 May, EASA published document number MOC SC-VTOL Issue 1, “Proposed Means of Compliance with the Special Condition VTOL” on their website. Comments are due by July 24, and I hope our readers will take time to look it