In Part 1 of this article, we left off after completing the 53-mile drive across Glacier National Park (GNP) via the famous Going-to-the-Sun Road. We pick up the story along the final stretch of that most picturesque of drives. The final 10 miles of the Going-to-the-Sun Road follows the north shore of St. Mary Lake…
The debut and announcement of new airplane models often dominate the headlines at the annual National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) Convention & Exhibition, but this year there was also plenty of news regarding Beechcraft King Airs at the Nov. 17-19 event in Las Vegas. Among the estimated 26,000 attendees, 1,100 exhibits and 100 aircraft on…
In cruise flight, we had reached the halfway point across the expansive width of Montana. The smoke that had been looming ahead, obscuring the western horizon in a thick and dingy haze, was now upon us and reduced forward visibility to almost nil. Peering out the side window and downward, the terrain features were visible…
Unlike many relatively incomprehensible FARs, the one dealing with alcohol use is reasonably clear. FAR 91.17 prohibits any person from acting or attempting to act as a crewmember of a civil aircraft: 1) Within eight hours after the consumption of any alcoholic beverage; 2) While under the influence of alcohol; 3) While using any drug…
Lifetime Pilot Considers King Air the Perfect Airplane for his Missions Simon Hayot has spent a lifetime accumulating over 12,000 flight hours in a variety of aircraft models as a Caribbean aviation pioneer, business owner and published author. According to Hayot, there aren’t many King Airs operating in the French Caribbean, but his King Air…
King Air B200 owner creates King Air Academy Ron McAlister is a guy who should be retired, but he’s working two jobs and loving it. “I gotta tell ya,” the 62-year-old said, “I’m having a ball.” One of the main reasons he’s having too much fun to stop is that he’s the owner-operator of a…
Ben Ryder is no stranger to hospitals and surgery. Born with a congenital heart block disorder, Ben was flown to Starship for emergency care when he was less than a day old and had surgery when he was three to have a pacemaker fitted. Fast forward eight years and young Ben is your typically active…
King Air 350 becomes air ambulance for Starship Children’s Hospital Almost 25 years ago, New Zealand’s Starship Children’s Hospital was launched as “a culmination of a dream, determination and commitment of a few visionary individuals” who saw the need for a specialist children’s hospital that would provide world-class care to the children of the country.…
In a recent article, I discussed myocardial infarction, a condition that occurs when the blood flow in one or more of the coronary arteries is blocked. A similar situation can occur with the arteries that supply the brain as well. When a portion of the brain is deprived of its blood supply, the person suffers…
Olive Ann Beech was not impressed when first approached, in 1973, by the founders of the newly forming Staggerwing Museum Foundation in Tullahoma, Tennessee. She told the organizers she wasn’t a fan of museums and that they were often underfunded ideas that lost steam. The then-chairman of Beech Aircraft had a change of heart, though,…