All Entries in the "Essays & Opinion" Category
The Old Curmudgeon
By Jeremiah Wainwright
Due to the overwhelming response from my initial column -(isn’t “old curmudgeon” redundant?) - I’ve been asked to reveal more of my plans for the future.
Once I seize control, of course.
CONVICTED POLITICIANS
Any politician convicted of a felony - perjury, obstruction of justice, fondling pages, taking bribes, having affairs (a la’ Newt Gingrinch,Bill Clinton, [...]
Blind pilot & dog
By Jeremiah Wainwright
The FAA is pretty generous when it comes to who is allowed to fly, allowing via waivers all manner of persons with physical challenges to overcome them in pursuit of a pilot’s license.
Lose a limb? No problem. Lose the use of your legs?
Both arms? No problem. Even deaf folks have been able to [...]
Why I Cry On Memorial Day
My father served honorably in the United States Air Force for almost 20 years until diabetes struck him down.
He was at Normandy and later went on to fly B-17s because he was already a pilot and got transferred to the Army Air Corps. I grew up around military men and women and never quite understood [...]
Just Flying Around
By Jeremiah Wainwright
I’m confused.
I’ve just read an NTSB report, listened to an NBC story and read MSNBC’s detailed accounting of the crash of a Continental Airlines Dash 8-Q400 Bombardier, a twin-engine turboprop near Buffalo, NY last year, that killed 50 people.
Conclusion, Captain Marvin Renslow got himself into a stall and instead of pushing the [...]
Stuff You Think About While Flying Alone
By Jeremiah Wainwright
I’m flying at 5,500 feet.
Think of it, a mile high. I’m even higher than Denver (the town, not the artist). I’m all alone, too.
I know there are people on the ground tracking my every move and if I veered suddenly toward a power plant or something else such as a military base, I’d [...]
The Jet That Could Have Won The War
By Sanford Hughes
Military Affairs
Name one of the biggest mistakes Adolph Hitler and his top officers made before kicking off World War II.
They ignored the invention of the world’s first jet aircraft, the Heinkel He-178 which, had its development been pursued, could likely have meant the defeat of Allied Air Forces, most [...]
Just Flying Around
By Jeremiah Wainwright
Thanks to Cox Cable’s On-Demand movie service, I finally got to see “Amelia” with Hillary Swank and Richard Gere.
If it ever showed up in a movie theater, I never heard about it.
First, let me say that I’m one of those perfectionists who believe that if you’re going to make a movie about a [...]
Taking the right road
By Craig Fuller
AOPA President
Recent events have set us on a new path - one I am pleased to say is of our choosing.
The events I refer to focus around new budget plans for 2011. A year ago, the Obama Administration had said it planned to introduce some $9.6 billion in “direct user charges” in its [...]
Don’t Just Sit There, Do Something For USA
"Society in every state is a blessing, but government, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil, in its worst state, an intolerable one."
- Thomas Paine, Common Sense, 1776
By Jack Cowan
Thomas Paine had it figured out, no doubt.
The present band of bandits doing their dirty work on the banks of the Potomac [...]
Why Do We Do The Crazy Things We Do?
By Wayman Dunlap
Editor/Publisher
The issue has always been; why do we do what we do?
I have been a pilot even longer than I've published this paper and have lost more than 100 close friends (my very best friend, in fact), acquaintances and business clients to airplane crashes - usually very high time, experienced former test pilots, [...]
