A private pilot and US Civil Air Patrol major explores the envelope of aviation, one corner at a time. About Steve Tupper
October 27th, 2009
As an aviation and aerospace podcaster, this is always a unique time of the year for me. By now, airshow season in the northern United States is over and I usually have a huge pile of content from the season that I can sit back and really think about.
It’s not that I don’t fly or go after great experiences in the winter (in fact, the Super D gets great hang-time on the hammerheads during the colder weather!), but the pace slows up a little. Year-end stuff at work is going to keep me out of the sky to some extent and I’m not actively working on any particular rating again until spring. Many of my fellow aviators and aviation enthusiasts are also scaling back a little, too. Read More >>
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
September 22nd, 2009
Aviation is always and ever about having new experiences. And, ideally, sharing those experiences with others. At Oshkosh, I had the opportunity to fly the Remos GX, a light sport aircraft (“LSA”) manufactured by Remos Aircraft. And I did it with a group of good friends that ran the gamut of skillsets, missions, and capabilities. Read More >>
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
August 14th, 2009
We’re all familiar with the broad efforts by AOPA, EAA, and others to promote general aviation to non-pilot constituencies. Films like One-Six Right and the upcoming A Pilot’s Story tug at heartstrings. And merely flying slowly over a neighborhood some severe clear Saturday morning could capture the imaginations of dozens of neighborhood kids. Read More >>
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
August 4th, 2009
I’ve been a little quiet here on the blog, but with good excuse. I spent the last couple of keeps either getting ready for AirVenture Oshkosh or being there with tens of thousands of my best friends. But now I can take a little time to reflect on some of the experiences there.
I had the chance to fly a couple of aircraft at the show, the first of which was the Cessna Citation Mustang, Cessna’s single-pilot-certified, 340-knot, six-place very light jet (“VLJ”), and cover the experience for Airspeed.
It was a great demo. Jo Hunter, David Allen, and Rod Rakic shot all kinds of video and stills to supplement the cockpit audio I was recording up front. I’ll have audio and video episodes up soon and I’m excited about getting to the editing workstation. Read More >>
Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
July 15th, 2009
CBS Story Screen Grab
CBS Evening News ran a report by Sharyl Attkisson on Monday titled Tiny Airports Get Big Cut of Stimulus Cash. You can check it out at http://tinyurl.com/ltk3dr.
A half-researched and poorly-understood effort by an editorial team that doesn’t understand the subject matter that it’s covering. And doesn't seem to care. And, most disturbingly, it appears not to matter to these folks that the public is likely to take the reporting at face value despite the inaccuracies and innuendo. This is, afer all, CBS News. I heard once that Walter Cronkite spent some time there. I could be wrong. Read More >>
Posted in News Related | 13 Comments »
July 6th, 2009
Ah, this summer gets better and better! First the formation photo flight with Billy Werth at the Indianapolis Air Show. And now, full-up formation aerobatics with some of the masters of the craft, the AeroShell Team. Read More >>
Posted in Aerobatics | 2 Comments »
June 29th, 2009
If you ask SSgt Jason Bireley what he does for a living, he might say that he lies on his belly and passes gas. SSgt Bireley doesn’t give me the impression of a guy who’d actually put it that way, but it’s true in a sense. Read More >>
Posted in Airplanes, Careers | 4 Comments »
June 15th, 2009
When you get into aviation, it creeps into your blood and every part of you is somehow influenced by it. If you’ve ever spelled your name for a restaurant reservation using the phonetic alphabet, you know what I mean. Read More >>
Posted in Aerobatics, Airplanes | 6 Comments »
June 10th, 2009
So I was out covering the Indianapolis Air Show this weekend. Friday was media day and I showed up early to roam around and meet people and generally get a whiff of freshly-mown grass and recently combusted avgas and JP-8 jet fuel. Read More >>
Posted in Aerobatics | 1 Comment »
May 26th, 2009
It’s been something like 18 months since I completed what I consider to be my “core” training. By that, I mean the private pilot certificate and the instrument rating. The certificate and rating that make aviation practical and fun and give you the best initial set of capabilities. Read More >>
Posted in Advanced, Airplanes, Certification | 4 Comments »
