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Inbound for Landing: My longest trip
BY GARY WAYNE COX Aircraft: Big Sandy Unicom…Cherokee…3…9…4…3…Whiskey…departing runway 2…1 …to the west… Unicom: Winds calm…have a safe trip… After I finished fueling the Massey Energy jet a few years ago, I reached for their credit card and asked their pilot, my good friend, Dave Nichols, “Where are you guys going to today?” Dave said,…
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Inbound for Landing: First Flights
BY GARY WAYNE COX Aircraft: Big Sandy Unicom…experimental…5…1…5…Bravo…Alpha…inbound for landing from the southwest…airport advisory please… Unicom: We have aircraft in the pattern…please use caution and report your position inbound…winds favoring runway 3… Everyone remembers the first time they were in an airplane or a helicopter, their first time leaving the bonds of earth and taking…
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Inbound for Landing
Airport Road BY GARY WAYNE COX As you can tell by reading these articles, I’m immensely proud of this airport. Managing Big Sandy Regional Airport is more than just a job for me. I consider it a duty to be an ambassador for Eastern Kentucky, especially the four counties that own this facility. When people…
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Inbound for Landing: Aviation Technology
BY GARY WAYNE COX Aircraft: Helicopter…7…3…9…Alpha…Sierra…5 miles to the East…inbound for landing direct to the ramp… Unicom: Alpha…Sierra…no other reported traffic…winds are calm… When was the last time someone bought a road map? We don’t need them anymore with our smartphones. Siri tells me when to make a turn now, and it’s so nice to…
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Inbound for Landing: Payback for Pearl Harbor
BY GARY WAYNE COX Aircraft: November…3…9…4…3…Whiskey…departing runway 21 to the west… Unicom: Winds calm…no other reported traffic… One of my favorite events to attend each year is the aviation conference held by the Kentucky Aviation Association, better known as the KAA. Usually, the conference is held somewhere between the cities of Owensboro and Lexington. Many…
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Inbound for Landing: Look to the Hills
BY GARY WAYNE COX Aircraft: Big Sandy Unicom…Piper…7…8…7…Bravo…Charlie…10 miles to the north…inbound for landing… Unicom: Winds 250 at 6 knots…favoring runway 2…1…no other reported traffic… During the start of the pandemic, general aviation, like everything else, took a big hit. No one was flying; there was nowhere to go, and even the medical flights stopped…
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Inbound for Landing: My 15 minutes of fame
Gary wayne cox Aircraft: Falcon…7…7…Golf…Echo…10 miles to the west…inbound for landing… Unicom: Winds calm…no other reported traffic… I had just finished cutting grass and checked FlightAware to make sure nothing was inbound, nothing was, so I grabbed my book to do some reading in the gazebo. I had just sat down when I heard a…
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Inbound for Landing: Getting my wings
Flight instructor Larry Short GARY WAYNE COX Aircraft: November…7…3…2…8…Golf…departing runway 2…1…to the north… Unicom: No other reported traffic…Have a safe trip… Learning to fly an airplane is not hard to do. It just requires a desire to learn and special training. Managing airspeed and controlling the airplane is what it’s all about. All airplanes have…
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Inbound for Landing: The Medal of Honor
GARY WAYNE COX Ernest E. West, Medal of Honor recipient Aircraft: Helicopter…4…0….7…Mike…Charlie…departing the ramp northbound… Unicom: Have a safe trip… All of the stories I have written have taken place during my tenure as airport manager. This one does not. It originated from Big Sandy and my brother, Larry Joe Cox, was my pilot, but…
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The Big Number 3
BY GARY WAYNE COX Aircraft: Big Sandy Unicom…Cessna 2..3..3…Foxtrot…entering downwind for runway…3… Unicom: Winds light and variable…no other reported traffic… The runway designations at Big Sandy are 3 and 21. Those are the numbers painted on each end of the runway. Now, what do they mean? Imagine a big circle going all the way around…
Category: Inbound for Landing
