December 23, 2022
Part 5: Aftermath (The morning of June 4 onwards) June 4, 1989, 6:00am – Morning commuter is greeted by an army at south end of Tiananmen Square. June 4, 1989, 6:00am – Local residents in western Beijing commute through a still-burning war zone. June 4, 1989, 6:00am – Beijing residents show spent bullet casings from […]
December 23, 2022
Clear the Square (May 30 – June 4) May 30, 1989 – Plainclothes policeman warns students protesting at Beijing police HQ they are violating martial law. May 30, 1989 – Pro-democracy demonstrators wave from bus windows in Beijing. May 30, 1989 – Student tells New York Times: “Tiananmen Square has become a symbol of democracy […]
December 23, 2022
Part 3: Attempts to Impose Martial Law (May 20 – May 30) May 20, 1989 – New York Times front page: May 20, 1989 – In early morning hours, troops successfully sweep hunger strikers from Shanghai’s People’s Square. May 20, 1989 – Crowds of unarmed citizens block army troop convoys from entering Beijing to enforce […]
December 22, 2022
In my book, I mentioned one particular YouTube video posted by Charlie Gasmire of Airplane Academy, which helped me gain more control over the last few seconds of landing. His tip is to treat landing as a flight maneuver, in which you “feel for the ground” with the main wheels. I found it useful and […]
December 22, 2022
In my book, I mention watching an AOPA Air Safety Institute case study that drilled into me the importance of not raising your flaps all at once during a go-around. Here is that video:
December 22, 2022
In Chapter 27 of my book, I mention that the day after my check ride, another small airplane violated the Presidential TRF (Temporary Flight Restriction) that had so up-ended my own flight planning, and was intercepted by F-16 fighters. Here, for your edification, is the ATC audio of that incident:
December 22, 2022
On November 12, 2022, a tragic midair collision took place at an airshow in Dallas, Texas, between a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber and a P-63 Kingcobra fighter. The two World War II aircraft were destroyed, and six people (the 5-person crew of the B-17 and the single pilot of the P-63) were killed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_Dallas_airshow_mid-air_collision The […]
December 22, 2022
Here are videos (taken by my CFI) of the takeoff and landing from my first solo flight, at Lincoln Park (N07) on April 27, 2021. Takeoff: Landing: Now that slight rise after I nearly touch down isn’t a bounce. It’s a “balloon”, because I’ve pulled back just a touch too much on the yoke. Rather […]
December 20, 2022
Down the Columbia. It’s time now to scoot back up the Columbia River, like the salmon at Bonneville Dam, to rejoin where we left the other, water-bound leg of the Oregon Trail. A view of the Columbia River Gorge from the northern (Washington State) bank. Before the Cascade Locks were constructed around them in 1875, […]
December 20, 2022
Busted Wheels. We’ve rejoined the Trail again, at the town of Pendleton, Oregon. The Working Girls Hotel in Pendleton, Oregon used to be a … well, I guess you can figure that out. I just hope they got new mattresses. The hotel is associated with Pendleton Underground Tours. Apparently there’s a warren of subterranean saloons, […]