Ready For Takeoff - Turn Your Aviation Passion Into A Career
613 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 1 month ago - ★★★★★ - 136 ratingsThe Ready For Takeoff podcast will help you transform your aviation passion into an aviation career. Every week we bring you instruction and inspiring interviews with top aviators in their field who reveal their flight path to an exciting career in the skies.
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Episodes
RFT 360: Airline Pilot Guy Captain Dana
January 13, 2020 07:01 - 39 minutes - 54.6 MBHello APG fans! I am Captain Dana and would like to share a bit of my background with all of you. My first logged flight was on my seventeenth birthday in August 1987. Ever since I can remember as a child I always loved airplanes and flying. I graduated with my degree in aviation management from a small college in southeastern Massachusetts with a fairly large aviation program. While going to school I was hired by ACME JR in Boston as a customer service agent, eventually moving up to a super...
RFT 359: Nigerian Airways Flight 2120
January 09, 2020 18:02 - 6 minutes - 9.84 MBNigeria Airways Flight 2120 was a chartered passenger flight from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to Sokoto, Nigeria on 11 July 1991, which caught fire shortly after takeoff from King Abdulaziz International Airport and crashed while attempting to return for an emergency landing, killing all 247 passengers and 14 crew members on board. The aircraft was a Douglas DC-8 operated by Nationair for Nigeria Airways. Flight 2120 is the deadliest accident involving a DC-8 and remains the deadliest aviation dis...
RFT 358: Reflecting on 2019
January 06, 2020 07:01 - 7 minutes - 11.7 MBLast year found me teaching at Metro State and working on my podcast and my script. It was actually a fairly fun schedule, with interviews for each Monday episode and educational information for each mid-week episode. Whenever I interviewed someone who had written a book, I would read the book before interviewing them. Altogether, I read about 30 books in 2019. In 2019 I started doing some speaking engagements. So far, all of the appearances have been pro bono, but I'm hoping to start e...
RFT 357: Decade Retrospective
January 02, 2020 07:01 - 17 minutes - 24.5 MBAs we start a new decade, I'd like to share my experiences of the last decade with you. As I've mentioned in episode 300, my employment with Jet Airways in India ended toward the end of 2009. The Indian pilots were fully up to speed, and it was time for us expat pilots to leave. So there I was, 64 years old, unemployed, and no pension. I filed to start drawing Social Security payments and started looking for work. As so many of our podcast guests have advised, networking is the key to fi...
RFT 356: Astronaut Dr. Tom Jones
December 30, 2019 07:01 - 35 minutes - 49.9 MBspacewalks to install the centerpiece of the International Space Station, the American Destiny laboratory. He has spent fifty-three days working and living in space. After graduation from the Air Force Academy, Tom piloted B-52D strategic bombers, earned a doctorate in planetary sciences from the University of Arizona, studied asteroids for NASA, engineered intelligence-gathering systems for the CIA, and helped NASA develop advanced mission concepts to explore the solar system. Tom is th...
RFT 355: IOE
December 26, 2019 22:06 - 5 minutes - 9.09 MBFrom AOPA: When ground and sim training are complete, it’s finally time to fly the airplane! Back in the day, the first step was to get some landings in an actual airplane, usually conducted in the middle of the night at a small outstation under the guidance of a specially trained pilot. Those days are largely gone because of cost and safety concerns (mostly cost). Simulators are now so good that the airlines and the FAA agree that “familiarization flights” are no longer needed. Initial ...
RFT 354: 21Five Podcast Hosts Dylan and Max
December 23, 2019 07:01 - 39 minutes - 54.7 MBHey, we’re Dylan and Max. We met at flight school many years ago and have remained friends while navigating our careers as professional pilots. If you know a pilot, then you know they love to talk about aviation (probably a little too much). We both love radio and podcasts and are huge fans of some of the real pros in the business: Howard Stern, Joe Rogan and Bill Simmons, just to name a few. We saw an opportunity to create something that professional pilots would enjoy, and we're striving t...
RFT 353: Emotional Support Animals
December 19, 2019 21:29 - 7 minutes - 11.2 MBAn emotional support animal (ESA) is a type of assistance animal that alleviates a symptom or effect of a person's disability. An emotional support animal is not a pet and is generally not restricted by species. An emotional support animal differs from a service animal. Service animals are trained to perform specific tasks (such as helping a blind person navigate), while emotional support animals receive no specific training, nor even, necessarily, any training at all. (It therefore stands...
RFT 352: Master Pilot tim Donohue
December 16, 2019 07:01 - 37 minutes - 52 MBTim Donohue attended college on a naval ROTC scholarship and earned his ratings and worked his way through college as a CFI. After college, he attended pilot training at Pensacola, then flew the A-4s at Miramar. Following four years in the A-4, Tim went to Pensacola as a flight instructor, this time flying T-39s. After the Navy, Tim interviewed with several airlines and was hired by Eastern Airlines. At Eastern, he started out as a B727 Flight Engineer. It took six years for him to be pr...
RFT 351: Suicide By Pilot
December 12, 2019 20:52 - 12 minutes - 17.9 MBAlways adhere to the IMSAFE checklist: I - Ilness S - Stress A - Alcohol F - Fatigue E - Eating/Emotion
RFT 350.1: Remix Admiral Robert Shumaker
December 11, 2019 00:37 - 43 minutes - 60.1 MBBob Shumaker was born in New Castle, Pennsylvania in 1933. His father was a lawyer and his mother a writer. After graduating from public schools he attended Northwestern University for a year and then the United States Naval Academy where he was a boxer, a cross-country runner and a scholar. After flight training he joined VF-32, a fighter squadron in Jacksonville, Florida flying F8 Crusaders. He was a finalist in the Apollo astronaut selection, but a temporary physical ailment prevente...
RFT 350: Admiral Robert Shumaker
December 09, 2019 07:01 - 42 minutes - 59.7 MBBob Shumaker was born in New Castle, Pennsylvania in 1933. His father was a lawyer and his mother a writer. After graduating from public schools he attended Northwestern University for a year and then the United States Naval Academy where he was a boxer, a cross-country runner and a scholar. After flight training he joined VF-32, a fighter squadron in Jacksonville, Florida flying F8 Crusaders. He was a finalist in the Apollo astronaut selection, but a temporary physical ailment prevente...
RFT 349: De-Icing Fluid
December 05, 2019 20:48 - 8 minutes - 13.3 MBFrom Wikipedia: Deicing fluids come in a variety of types, and are typically composed of ethylene glycol (EG) or propylene glycol (PG), along with other ingredients such as thickening agents, surfactants (wetting agents), corrosion inhibitors, colors, and UV-sensitive dye. Propylene glycol-based fluid is more common due to the fact that it is less toxic than ethylene glycol. Type I fluids have a low viscosity, and are considered "unthickened". They provide only short term protection becau...
RFT 348: World War II Gunner Richard Kolodey
December 02, 2019 07:01 - 33 minutes - 47.1 MBRichard Kolodey grew up near a small airport in Dallas, Texas, and had taken numerous flights in general aviation aircraft. He signed up for the marines at age 17 as soon as he graduated high school, five months after the attacks on Pearl Harbor. He attended training in San Diego, and was one of only two recruits selected for flying. In this podcast, he describes his training as a gunner. His actual firing from an aircraft didn't occur until he was overseas. His first combat mission occurr...
RFT 347: A Sad Anniversary
November 28, 2019 07:01 - 6 minutes - 9.25 MBTWA 514 crashed into terrain while attempting to land at Washington Dulles International Airport. from Wikipedia: "The flight was being vectored for a non-precision instrument approach to runway 12 at Dulles. Air traffic controllers cleared the flight down to 7,000 feet (2,130 m) before clearing them for the approach while not on a published segment. The jetliner began a descent to 1,800 feet (550 m), shown on the first checkpoint for the published approach. The cockpit voice recorder l...
RFT 346: Virgin Galactic Astronaut Mike Masucci
November 25, 2019 03:51 - 31 minutes - 44.4 MBMike "Sooch" Masucci has over 9000 hours in 70 different aircraft. He was accepted into the Air Force Academy, and took flying lessons while at the Academy and earned his Private Pilot certificate, and majored in Astronautics. After graduation, he attended Undergraduate Pilot Training at Vance Air Force Base and then remained there as a T-38 instructor pilot as a First Assignment Instructor Pilot (FAIP). After three years as a FAIP, Mike was selected to fly the U-2 high-altitude long-end...
RFT 345: Runway Incursions
November 22, 2019 05:49 - 7 minutes - 11.8 MBWhat is a Runway Incursion? Any occurrence at an aerodrome involving the incorrect presence of an aircraft, vehicle or person on the protected area of a surface designated for the landing and take off of aircraft. What is a Surface Incident? A surface incident is an unauthorized or unapproved movement within the designated movement area (excluding runway incursions) or an occurrence in that same area associated with the operation of an aircraft that affects or could affect the safety o...
RFT 344: Juan Serrato
November 18, 2019 07:01 - 33 minutes - 46.8 MBJuan Serrato came from an aviation family, and was immersed in flying from an early age. His father was a Vietnam era helicopter pilot, and took him flying often. Juan attended a school as a teenager where aviation was part of the academic curriculum, and earned his Private Pilot certificate. After high school Juan attended A&P school, and then was hired servicing airplanes. He then entered an ab-initio program with Mesa Airlines, barely making the cutoff because he had 148 hours and the l...
RFT 343: Lithium Batteries
November 15, 2019 01:54 - 8 minutes - 12.5 MBA single personal electronic device with a lithium battery that overheats and catches fire in the cargo hold could potentially down a commercial airliner. That’s what the US Federal Aviation Administration found in its latest research. Regulators had originally thought that the fire suppressant systems in cargo holds would be able to extinguish flames if they were to arise from an overheated lithium-battery-operated device. However, the most recent study has shown that the systems don’t ...
RFT 342: F-105 Pilot/POW/Authors Smitty and Louise Harris
November 11, 2019 07:01 - 50 minutes - 69.8 MBSmitty Harris was born in 1929 in Parkersburg, West Virginia. He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force on January 2, 1951, and made Sgt before entering the Aviation Cadet Program on August 10, 1952. Harris was commissioned a 2d Lt and awarded his pilot wings in September 1953, and then completed advanced flight training in the T-33 Shooting Star and F-84 Thunderjet. His first operational assignment was as an F-86F Sabre pilot with the 45th Day Fighter Squadron at Sidi Slimane AB, French Morocco, fo...
RFT 341: Fatigue
November 07, 2019 03:50 - 15 minutes - 21.7 MBIt has been estimated that 4-7% of civil aviation incidents and accidents can be attributed to fatigued pilots. "In the last 16 years, fatigue has been associated with 250 fatalities in air carrier accidents." Robert Sumwalt, NTSB vice chairman, said at an FAA symposium in July. Symptoms associated with fatigue include slower reaction times, difficulty concentrating on tasks resulting in procedural mistakes, lapses in attention, inability to anticipate events, higher toleration for risk, f...
RFT 340: F/A-18 WSO Caroline "Jetgirl" Johnson
November 04, 2019 07:00 - 35 minutes - 49.3 MBCaroline Johnson was born and raised in Colorado Springs, CO, with her older brother, Craig and parents Marty and Nancy. Her childhood was full of skiing, hiking, biking and an array of team sports to burn her relentless energy. In high school she caught the travel bug and studied abroad in Germany, thriving in the foreign culture and absorbing as much of the experience as she could. After graduation, she traded the mountains and her skis, for the bay and a sailboat, as she embarked on the a...
RFT 339: The Halloween Hijacking
October 31, 2019 18:09 - 6 minutes - 9.54 MBTWA85: 'The world's longest and most spectacular hijacking' By Roland Hughes BBC News At the high point of the 1960s spate of hijackings, a plane was held up on average once every six days in the United States. Fifty years ago this week, Raffaele Minichiello was responsible for the "longest and most spectacular" of them, as one report described it at the time. Could those on board ever forgive him? 21 August 1962 Under the hills of southern Italy, a little north-east of Naples, a fau...
RFT 338: Pilot/Airport Owner Moose Pier
October 28, 2019 06:01 - 25 minutes - 35.7 MBMartin "Moose" Pier is a NASA flight crew member, airline instructor and airport owner. Moose started out in the Air Force and decided to take flying lessons at the base aero club. He was introduced to the club manager's daughter, and the rest was history - they are still married. In addition to pursuing airplane flying, Moose became interested in hang gliding, and eventually bought an airport property in Colorado, intending to become active in hang-gliding. In the process, he acquired air...
RFT 337: Instructor Navigator Graciela Tiscareño-Sato
October 24, 2019 06:01 - 36 minutes - 51.4 MBGraciela Tiscareno-Sato is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley. She completed the Aerospace Studies program as an AFROTC (Air Force Reserve Officer Training Program) scholarship cadet while earning her degree in Architecture and Environmental Design. During her active duty career in the U.S. Air Force, she deployed to four continents and dozens of countries as aircrew member, instructor and contingency planning officer. Flying many combat sorties over Southern Iraq in the ...
RFT 336: Army/Air Force Pilot Randy Larsen
October 21, 2019 06:01 - 38 minutes - 54.1 MBRandall Larsen is the CEO of Randall Larsen Presents, a company dedicated to bringing great stories in film and print to the American public. He also serves as the National Security Advisor at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. From 1998-2012, Larsen served in a variety of executive positions in national and homeland security including: Chairman, Department of Military Strategy and Operations at the National War College Foundin...
RFT 335: Pilot/Author Beth Ruggiero York
October 17, 2019 06:01 - 35 minutes - 49 MBAt thirteen years old, Beth’s heart was broken when her father died suddenly. But there was a bigger challenge ahead when doctors told her she probably had multiple sclerosis at 22 years old. Beth vowed that this new challenge would not put restrictions on her life and embarked on a lifelong dream to fly for the airlines. Starting at the small local airport, the aviation world swallowed her whole, and the next five years of her life were as turbulent as an airplane in a thunderstorm, never k...
RFT 334: Navy Pilot/LSO Brad "Brick" Conners
October 14, 2019 06:01 - 24 minutes - 35.1 MBIn a Career that was 99% pure exhilarating fun balanced by 1% of pure terror the lessons of leadership, survival, faith, love, perseverance, and camaraderie were plentiful, direct, and changed his life. As a Navy Strike Fighter, Brick amassed over 4500 hours and nearly 1000 arrested carrier landings during multiple combat deployments. His tours of duty include F/A-18 Hornet Squadron Command and he also provided leadership and instruction to two of the Navy’s elite air power training organiza...
RFT 333: PRM Approach
October 10, 2019 04:24 - 8 minutes - 12.3 MBSimultaneous Close Parallel Precision Runway Monitor (PRM) Approaches are independent approaches conducted to runways with centerline spacing of less than 4300 feet (1310m) but at least 3000' (915m). PRM is an acronym for the high update rate Precision Runway Monitor surveillance system which is required to monitor the No Transgression Zone (NTZ) for specific parallel runway separations used to conduct simultaneous close parallel approaches. PRM is published in the title as part of the appro...
RFT 332: Navy/Airline Pilot Paco Chierici
October 07, 2019 06:01 - 27 minutes - 38.7 MBDuring his active duty career in the U.S. Navy, Francesco “Paco” Chierici flew A-6E Intruders and F-14A Tomcats, deployed to conflict zones from Somalia to Iraq and was stationed aboard carriers including the USS Ranger, Nimitz and Kitty Hawk. Throughout his military career, Paco accumulated 3,000 tactical hours, 400 carrier landings, a Southwest Asia Service Medal with Bronze Star, and three Strike/Flight Air Medals. Unable to give up dogfighting, he flew the F-5 Tiger II for a further ten ...
RFT 331: Helios 522
October 03, 2019 18:31 - 13 minutes - 19.5 MBWhen the aircraft arrived from London earlier that morning, the previous flight crew had reported a frozen door seal and abnormal noises coming from the right aft service door. They requested a full inspection of the door. The inspection was carried out by a ground engineer who then performed a pressurization leak check. In order to carry out this check without requiring the aircraft's engines, the pressurization system was set to "manual". However, the engineer failed to reset it to "auto" ...
RFT 330: Airline Pilot Anna Rice
September 30, 2019 06:01 - 28 minutes - 39.4 MBAnna Rice fell in love with aviation as a child, as she accompanied her flight attendant mother on trips to Europe. She attended Metro State College of Denver (now Metropolitan State University of Denver), majoring in Aviation, and was selected as an intern at American Airlines. After graduation, she became a CFI and then a pilot for a small airline, and was on track to become a pilot with American Airlines when the attacks of September 11th crippled the U.S. airline industry. She continue...
RFT 329: AQP
September 26, 2019 18:04 - 9 minutes - 14.3 MBThe introduction of the Advanced Qualification Program (AQP) in the early 1990s marks another stage in the evolution of error management. Under AQP, a voluntary program, the FAA allows air carriers to develop training programs specific to their individual needs and operations. A condition for AQP authorization is the requirement to have a CRM program that is integrated into technical training. To accomplish this objective, air carriers began to “proceduralize” CRM by incorporating desire...
RFT 328: NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt
September 23, 2019 06:01 - 28 minutes - 40.3 MBUnder Chairman Sumwalt’s leadership, the agency’s ranking in the Best Places to Work in the Federal Government has advanced 33 percent to the agency’s current position of Number 6 of 29 small federal agencies. He is a fierce advocate for improving safety in all modes of transportation, including teen driver safety, impaired driving, distractions in transportation, and several aviation and rail safety initiatives. Before joining the NTSB, Chairman Sumwalt was a pilot for 32 years, including...
RFT 327: Go Around
September 19, 2019 16:48 - 8 minutes - 12.9 MBIn RFT 086 we discussed Stabilized Approaches. According to AINOnline fully 96 percent of all airline flights conclude with stabilized approaches. Of the 4 percent that are not stabilized, virtually NONE of them (3%) result in a go-around! FAA recommends that approach stabilization start as far out as possible. Simply stated, a stable approach is a 3-degree glide path, executed on-speed and fully configured for landing. It's easy to calculate a 3-degree glide path - simply take half your g...
RFT 326: Thunderbird/Author/University President Chris Stricklin
September 16, 2019 06:01 - 50 minutes - 71 MBFrom LinkedIn: Chris “Elroy” Stricklin is an award-winning leadership author, a highly sought after motivational keynote speaker and a Combat-Proven Senior Military leader retiring after 23 years which culminated with CEO-Level leadership of a 7,000-person strong, $7B worldwide organization. During this time, he was responsible for 11,383 personnel, $323M Payroll, $160M Contracts, Creation of 1,891 jobs and local economic impact of $566M. His style combines the skills acquired as a comba...
RFT 325: Failure of Imagination
September 12, 2019 06:01 - 7 minutes - 11.6 MBSecretary Rice: “I don't think anybody could have predicted that they would try to use an airplane as a missile” 1972: Southern Airways Flt 49 threatened to crash into Oak Ridge National Laboratory 1974: S. Byck attempted to hijack Delta DC-9 to crash it into White House 1993: Iran training pilots to fly into buildings 1994: Air France Flt 8969 1994: FedEx Flt 705 1994: Terror 2000 1995: Bojinka plot included crashing planes into Sears Tower, Transamerica Bldg, WTC, John Hanc...
RFT 324: Pittsburgh Aviation Animal Rescue Team CEO Jonathan Plesset
September 09, 2019 06:01 - 16 minutes - 23.4 MBWhat began as one dog on an airplane several years ago has evolved into a team of over 100 volunteers who fly or drive animals from danger to safety. Founded in 2009 by pilots and friends Brad Childs and Jonathan Plesset, the organization become a recognized 501c(3) entity in 2012. Since then our teams have conducted a wide range of missions including hoarding cases, saving animals from dog fighting rings and natural disasters, and helping overcrowded shelters. We now have the capability...
RFT 323: Climb Segments
September 05, 2019 17:33 - 7 minutes - 11 MBmmonly known as “takeoff safety s The second segment requirement is often the most difficult one to meet. Segment two begins when the gear is up and locked and the speed is V2. This segment has the steepest climb gradient: 2.4 percent. This equates to a ballpark figure of around 300 feet per minute, and for a heavy airplane on a hot day with a failed engine, this can be a challenge. Often, when the airlines announce that a flight is weight-limited on hot summer days, this is the reason (th...
RFT 322: Fighter Pilot Discipline
September 02, 2019 06:01 - 40 minutes - 56.5 MBThis week we're having a flashback to hear Brigadier General Steve Ritchie tell his story. Steve shot down five enemy aircraft in Vietnam, making him the first (and only) Air Force pilot ace of the war. Most striking is his description of almost getting a sixth MiG, and the iron discipline involved. Before you listen to Steve Ritchie's interview, please read this passage from Hamfist Over Hanoi, based on a true story: “Now before I tell you what I consider the most important quality of a f...
RFT 321: SOP
August 29, 2019 19:37 - 7 minutes - 11.5 MBFrom Skybrary: SOP is a Standard Operating Procedure. Many industries use SOP’s as a common way of ensuring tasks or operations are completed correctly, however SOP’s are essential in aviation. They ensure that aircraft are flown correctly in accordance with the manufacturers guidelines, but also it allows 2 pilots that have never met before who may be from different crew bases and different cultures or backgrounds to fly together as a flight crew team on the same aircraft fully unders...
RFT 320: Pilot/Airline Executive Steve Forte
August 26, 2019 06:01 - 27 minutes - 38.6 MBSteve Forte got his introduction to flying by sitting next to his father in the family airplane. After seeing The High And The Mighty, he was fully bitten by the aviation bug, and took flying lessons while still in high school. Steve "paid his dues" in civilian aviation, working various jobs and finally becoming a pilot, with Cochise airlines. One of his jobs was collecting the airsick bags at the end of every flight! After serving as an air ambulance pilot and flying Metroliners, he was f...
RFT 319: Sleep Apnea
August 22, 2019 06:01 - 6 minutes - 9.76 MBWhat is Obstructive Sleep Apnea? OSA affects a person’s upper airway in the area of the larynx (voice box) and the back of the throat. This area is normally held open to allow normal breathing by the surrounding muscles. When an individual is asleep, these muscles become slack, and the open area becomes smaller. In some individuals, this area becomes so small that breathing and resulting normal oxygenation of the blood is impaired. The person may actually choke. This causes some degree of a...
RFT 318: Warbird/Airline Pilot Lorraine Morris
August 19, 2019 06:01 - 21 minutes - 30.7 MBLorraine Morris started flying as a young child in the front seat with her father in a General Aviation airplane. She earned her Private Pilot certificate during the summer between high school and college, and continued to fly, working her way through college as a CFI. Lorraine hired on with a major legacy airline, and rose to Line Check Airman (LCA) on the B777. In addition, she started flying warbirds with the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) and is now an Aircraft Commander on th...
RFT 317: Airline Seniority
August 15, 2019 13:07 - 9 minutes - 13.8 MBFrom You’ve probably heard the saying, “seniority is everything.” Well, in the airline piloting business, that’s absolutely correct. Every day you’re not on the roster is another day someone else gets above you. Surely, seniority isn’t everything, right? Yes, it pretty much is. Let’s start with pay. The sooner you get hired, the sooner you can accrue longevity pay increases. Most airlines top out at 12- to 15-year pay, and you enjoy a raise on your hire date every year until you hit the to...
RFT 316: Air Traffic Controller Kendra Kincade
August 12, 2019 06:01 - 19 minutes - 27.8 MBKendra is the Founder and Chair of Elevate Aviation and has been an air traffic controller for 19 years at the Edmonton ACC. Her early life did not start her down a path for success. In her adult life she took control and created her own success story. She has a passion for sharing her story and motivating others to live outside of their comfort zone in order to live a meaningful and fulfilling life. She has raised thousands of dollars for charitable causes by producing and selling calenda...
RFT 315: The C6H12O6 Threat
August 08, 2019 06:01 - 9 minutes - 14.5 MBJust this past week several aviator careers have been ruined by alcohol, so it may be time to review what the alcohol limits are for operating an airplane. 14 CFR § 91.17 states: (a) No person may act or attempt to act as a crewmember of a civil aircraft - (1) Within 8 hours after the consumption of any alcoholic beverage; (2) While under the influence of alcohol; (3) While using any drug that affects the person's faculties in any way contrary to safety; or (4) While having an al...
RFT 314: Blue Angel/Airline Pilot Scott Kartvedt
August 05, 2019 06:01 - 28 minutes - 40.4 MBDURING HIS CHILDHOOD IN EL CENTRO, CALIFORNIA, SCOTT KARTVEDT (’90) WATCHED THE BLUE ANGELS NAVY FLIGHT DEMONSTRATION SQUADRON SWIRL AROUND THE SKY AS PART OF THEIR TRAINING EXERCISES. “I saw them practice while I was riding motorcycles,” says Kartvedt, now a commanding officer in the Navy’s Strike Fighter Squadron 101. Twenty-five years later, it was Kartvedt who was in the pilot’s seat, flying a few inches away from a neighboring aircraft at 800 mph while taking a six-plane vertical delt...
RFT 313: Smoke Goggles
August 01, 2019 06:01 - 6 minutes - 9.19 MBAn in-flight cabin fire is one of the most serious emergencies a crew can encounter. In my blog (Open Ocean, No Comm, On Fire) several years ago I related my experience with an in-flight fire while over the ocean out of radio contact with Air Traffic Control. In 1998, as the result of an airline accident, the FAA mandated installation of smoke goggles on air carrier aircraft. Until fairly recently, many airline aircraft provided separate smoke goggles, stored near the crew oxygen masks. T...
RFT 312: World Traveler Lisa Marranzino
July 29, 2019 06:01 - 25 minutes - 35.5 MBLisa Marranzino was a therapist in Denver when she realized something was missing in her life. It might have been mid-life crisis. Whatever it was, she decided to explore the world and find what made people happy, both for herself and her patients. That started a five-year odyssey in which she traveled to over 40 countries, spoke to scores of strangers in intimate conversations, and tried to find a common theme to what brings people happiness in all cultures. She documented her conversat...