Ormer Locklear, the Wing Walker Who Stepped From One Jenny to Another in Midair and Then Died on Camera Chasing the Shot
How barnstormer Ormer Locklear pioneered midair plane changes and died filming a stunt for The Skywayman in 1920.
TaildraggerAll Articles
Every article from Radio Hangar - aviation history, technology analysis, flight training, destinations, and news.
Pardo's Push, the Two F-Four Phantoms Over Laos, and the Day One Fighter Pilot Flew a Crippled Jet Home on His Own Windscreen
How Captain Bob Pardo pushed a crippled F-4 Phantom nearly 100 miles over Laos in 1967 using his own windscreen.
TaildraggerPicture of the Day, an Open-Cockpit Morning Around Mount Hood and Why the Oldest Way to Fly Still Teaches the Most
A biplane over Mount Hood is a reminder that the simplest airplanes demand the most skill - and why hand-flying still matters.
TowerRobin Olds, the Handlebar Mustache, and Operation Bolo - the Day the F-Four Phantoms Pretended to Be Bombers and Ambushed the MiGs Over Hanoi
How Robin Olds and his F-4 Phantoms disguised themselves as bombers to ambush North Vietnamese MiGs on January 2, 1967.
TaildraggerRoscoe Turner, the Powder-Blue Showman Who Flew With a Lion Named Gilmore and Won the Thompson Trophy Three Times
How Roscoe Turner, his lion Gilmore, and a self-made uniform led to three Thompson Trophy wins and aviation immortality.
TaildraggerSlow Flight, the 2017 Rewrite of the Airman Certification Standards, and Why the Stall Warning Horn Should Stay Silent on Your Checkride
The 2017 ACS rewrite means slow flight is flown just above stall warning - horn silent. Here's how to fly it right and pass your checkride.
PatternThe Bahamas Retroactive Aircraft Fees, Back-Bills to Twenty Twenty-One, and What Every Pilot Flying South Needs to Check Before Departure
The Bahamas is issuing retroactive aircraft fee bills dating to 2021 - here's what pilots flying south need to verify before departure.
TowerThe DECIDE Model, the Six-Step Loop the FAA Built for the Moment the Plan Falls Apart, and the Marginal-VFR Afternoon That Puts It to the Test
Radio Hangar explores The DECIDE Model, the Six-Step Loop the FAA Built for the Moment the Plan Falls Apart, and the Marginal-VFR Afternoon That Puts It to the Test.
PatternThe Engine-Out Forced Landing, the ABCDE Flow, and Choosing Your Field Before the Propeller Ever Stops
Learn the ABCDE forced-landing flow and how choosing your field early turns a total engine failure into a routine glide.
PatternThe FAA Airworthiness Directive on Boeing 737 Passenger Seats, Why Loose Seat Tracks Made the List, and What a Cabin Installation Problem Says About the System That's Supposed to Catch It
The FAA is requiring mandatory inspections of passenger seat installations on certain Boeing 737s over how the seats are secured to the airframe.
TowerThe FBO Courtesy Car, the Beat-Up Loaner With Two Hundred Thousand Miles and a Gas Gauge on Empty That Somehow Runs the Whole Social Life of General Aviation
The FBO courtesy car is general aviation's quiet handshake - an old loaner handed to strangers on trust, kept alive by one rule: bring it back with gas in it.
RampThe Fight for Burke Lakefront, Cleveland's Business and Aviation Community Rallies to Keep a Downtown Airport From Becoming a Development Site
Cleveland's business, aviation, and student community is rallying to keep Burke Lakefront Airport open against downtown redevelopment pressure.
TowerThe Flight Director, the Magenta Command Bars, and Why the Autopilot Only Ever Flies What Somebody Already Drew on the Glass
The flight director draws command bars advising how to fly; the autopilot merely follows them. Here's how both work and how to fly them safely.
VectorThe Garmin GFC 500 Digital Autopilot, the Servo-and-Solid-State-Sensor Retrofit That Brought Airline-Grade Envelope Protection to a Nineteen-Seventies Cessna
The Garmin GFC 500 brings airline-grade envelope protection and attitude-based autopilot logic to 1970s piston singles.
VectorThe Gee Bee R-One, Jimmy Doolittle, and the Flying Beer Barrel That Won the Thompson Trophy and Scared Its Own Pilots
How Jimmy Doolittle won the 1932 Thompson Trophy in the deadly Gee Bee R-1 - then walked away from racing forever.
TaildraggerThe Go-Around, the Balked Landing, and the Four Things That Have to Happen in the Right Order When You Decide Not to Land
Learn the go-around: when to decide, the correct power-pitch-flaps sequence, and the common mistakes that turn a routine maneuver into an emergency.
PatternThe Lockheed Constellation, the Triple-Tailed Connie That Howard Hughes Ordered in Secret and Kelly Johnson Shaped Into the Most Beautiful Airliner That Ever Flew
The story of the Lockheed Constellation, the triple-tailed airliner Howard Hughes ordered in secret and Kelly Johnson shaped into a legend.
TaildraggerThe Magneto's Last Stand, Electronic Ignition, and Why SureFly Wants to Retire a Hundred-Year-Old Box on the Back of Your Engine
How SureFly's electronic ignition and FADEC are finally challenging the hundred-year-old aircraft magneto - and why it's taking so long.
VectorThe Marine One Loss of Separation Over the Potomac and What the FAA Review Really Means for the Rest of Us
The FAA is examining a loss of separation involving Marine One over the Potomac - here's what it actually means for pilots.
TowerThe Maximum Elevation Figure, the Little Blue Number in Every Grid on Your Sectional, and How It Keeps You Above the Tallest Thing You Cannot See at Night
The Maximum Elevation Figure is the little blue number in every sectional grid that guarantees terrain and obstacle clearance - here's how to use it.
Pattern