I was asked for my logbook in Heathrow when being ramp checked on a 777 by the CAA. Fortunately, I have such a thing and the Inspector was happy with my "Recency". The F/O was not asked; good thing, he didn't have one and we would have been grounded. AOPA just pointed out that a logbook is a legal r...

It was a DC8 I was on a DC8 course in Montreal at the time; had been working on the ramp in YYZ just prior. The airplane was being fuelled; F/A's were on board preparing for flight. Possibly flight crew as well. One F/A told me that the interior of the airplane was starting to smoulder in the time i...

Remember JetsGo?
Leblanc required Training Bonds; 30K, a lot of pilots were out of substantial amounts of money when the company failed.

Don't forget the Boeing history of covering up flaws in their aircraft. The 737 rudder actuator had a flaw that made it go hardover; caused several crashes which were blamed on everything but the unit. Finally, a British crew managed to land an airplane with the fault, and Boeing had to re-design th...

It seems that perhaps the tail of the MAX is too small to deal with the power on pitch up at low speeds; so, instead of using the elevator (stick pusher) they used the Trim System which is many times as powerful. If the tail is too small, making it bigger would be a solution; one that Boeing clearly...

We don't know what happened yet, but it seems there was a control problem. Putting the MCAS system in and not putting it in the Flight Manual is ridiculous! Why? Runaway MCAS should be trained for; repeatedly; can't do that if it is not in the Manual. Hopefully if there is any indication of MCAS pro...

Even if you don't fly commercially, get egress training and always wear a life jacket when flying over or onto water. You won't even notice it after the first few times. Get one designed for constant wear and without automatic inflation. Buy a model for which replacement cartridges etc are available...

I was a Training Captain for nearly twenty years. On aircraft with no tiller, I would have the F/O exit the runway if the taxiway could be negotiated with rudder pedal steering. On aircraft with a tiller on the right side, (when training F/O's) I would get the F/O to taxi after the appropriate check...

The galley was below the floor. If you sent both elevators up, then put a food trolley in each elevator bay, no-one could then get down to the galley. There was a US Military competition for a tanker/transport. All three widebodies were in the game; Boeing put a flying fuel boom on the prototype 747...

Milan Krupa (owns Edenvale) is a huge supporter of GA in Canada; support him any way you can!

DeHAvilland is in Toronto; at least till Viking moves it.
Who thought selling Downsview was a good idea?

The 1011 was a wonderful airplane to fly! It had a huge cockpit with enormous windows, it handled beautifully and the engines were wonderfully responsive. AC had two versions; the -100 and the -500; they were really two separate aircraft. Both had the original "Dark Cockpit" design; when all the swi...

I do recall one time when the landing seemed lost; I pushed as hard as I could and it was a thing of beauty!
I tried to do that on other occasions; usually worked.

So far as not being able to go around; that is the situation in a four engine airplane with two out, or a three engine with two out. The commit point is 500 feet; after that, no go around. How many have ever shut down an engine in flight and stopped the prop? In a 172 with either a Continental or Ly...

You are paying them to send you a bill, then take your money, then send you a receipt.

You are not getting anything for this $55.

it depends which version you were flying. The -100 flew much better than the -200. The original short version and the long version shared the same wing, so the little one was easier to land; more forgiving. The -200 was (after flying Douglas airplanes and subsequently other Boeings) a pig. A common ...

I have a DA50 type rating as PIC and a fair amount of experience. The lightest Part 25 airplane I have flown. It is a straightforward aircraft, but it is a high performance jet. It only has a reverser on the center engine; If you landed in the right place at the right speed and used the brakes prope...

I flew professionally for at least 23000 hours Also a couple of retirement gigs which saw me in war zones on a turboprop as well as corporate in North America. I have also flown over fifty types of GA airplanes as old as 1943; every possible configuration from single seat up. I love flying; period. ...

Marc Garneau was a Naval Officer; NOT a pilot. While he may have a couple of Engineering Degrees (no small feat) he does not have a background to help him understand this issue. Many people thought at the time that his selection as the "First Canadian Astronaut" was political. There were several goo...

Previously, once you got through the process to become a Captain at AC, you wore four stripes forever after. If you could no longer hold a Captain position due to cutbacks, or whatever reason, you had still proven you could become a Captain and wore the stripes. Then a few persons got upset if they ...