Happy New Years!

Pilots are almost trying to improve their skill. Here at The Wing Wag, we are no different. Join me this week to discuss some of the ways in which I want to improve as an aviator, an airplane owner, and a podcaster in 2026. Let's just hope that these resolutions last longer than my resolution to stop eating candy...

If you have any aviation-related goals for 2026, I'd love to hear about them! Let me know in the comments.

If you are interested in flight training or just want to fly with an instructor, check out Olinde Aerospace: https://olindeaerospace.com/

Santa apologists, sometimes called full-flighters, have long held the belief that Santa himself delivers all the Christmas presents during a single flight around the entire world. My brother Matthew and I set out to prove that this is not possible for a variety of reasons such as the distance of the trip, the number of stops, and the fuel requirements. As we got further into our research, we began to see that maybe the Santa apologists were right after all.

Sources supporting the full-flighter argument:

• https://www.noradsanta.org/en/map
• https://www.altogetherchristmas.com/music/ISawMommyKissingSantaClaus.html
• https://www.altogetherchristmas.com/music/RudolphTheRedNosedReindeer.html
• https://www.adirondack.net/holiday/top-songs/grandma-got-run-over/
• https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43171/a-visit-from-st-nicholas

In this episode, I'm going to answer 5 questions that non-pilots always ask me:
1. What is causing all of the plane crashes recently?
2. What do you do if your engine dies in flight?
3. Is turbulence really dangerous?
4. How much money and time does a pilots license really cost?
5. Do I seriously start my plane with my hands?

Aviation crash statistics: https://www.panish.law/aviation_accident_statistics.html

At first, the vast majority of general aviation aircraft were tailwheels. This all changed in the 1950s when tricycle gear (nosewheel) aircraft became the standard for general aviation. Now virtually all trainers have a tricycle gear.

My brother Matthew, a CFI specializing in tailwheel training, joins us this week to discuss why this shift occurred and why there is still a benefit to learning to fly in a tailwheel airplane.

Trijets, airplanes with 3 jet engines, went from the majority of jet airliners in the 1980s to basically nonexistent today. What caused their initial popularity and their drastic decline? Join us on this week's episode of The Wing Wag as we answer these questions!

The Space Shuttle Orbiter frequently landed far from its launch site. The orbiter could not fly on its own, so NASA developed the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft to bring it back to the launch site at Kennedy Space Center.

The Shuttle Carrier Aircraft is a heavily modified Boeing 747 that had mounts on its back to support the orbiter. Little did NASA know, they had just developed the world’s most expensive piggyback ride!

Imagine that you're an airline pilot flying a standard red-eye route. You've done this route dozens of times before with very little variation, and this time looks to be no different. All of a sudden the primary flight display shows a flashing red alert and an automated voice saying "PULL UP, PULL UP, PULL UP" fills the cockpit.

From experience you know that there are no obstacles on this route, but your training kicks in and you execute a high-performance climb. After a few seconds, you realize that something doesn't feel quite right; the alarm is still blaring, but at 35,000 feet and climbing, there couldn't be any terrain anywhere near the airplane.

Then you notice that the GPS shows you in a place hundreds of miles from the planned route. ATC then calls you asking why you busted your assigned altitude.

GPS spoofing is when a malicious actor sends a false GPS signal to a receiver leading to incorrect GPS locations and a failure of many systems in a modern aircraft. Ever since early 2024 we've seen an alarming increase in GPS spoofing. Can we do anything about GPS spoofing, or does this signal the end of GPS?

Most of the information in the episode came from the "GPS Spoofing Final Report" from the GPS Spoofing Workgroup. Take a look at the full report for a very interesting, in-depth investigation on GPS spoofing:
https://ops.group/dashboard/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/GPS-Spoofing-Final-Report-OPSGROUP-WG-OG24.pdf

Once you get your pilots' license, it's easy to view flying as a chore, something that you must do every month to stay current. The real joy of flying comes from the adventures that having a pilots' license opens up to you.

This week, I am joined by my Kiara to discuss some of the adventures that we have done together in the airplane, and the ones we want to do in the future!