Upon his retirement as a non-routine flight operations captain from a fractional operator in 2015, Dr. Veillette had accumulated more than 20,000 hours of flight experience in 240 types of aircraft—including balloons, rotorcraft, sea plans, glides, war birds, supersonic jets and large commercial transports. He is an adjunct professor at Utah Valley University. In June 2023, he won the prestigious Bill Gunston Technology Writer of the Year Award.
Since 1968, Air Zermatt has been rescuing stranded mountaineers from alpine peaks and out of crevasses near the Matterhorn. The extreme conditions of these rescues required innovative solutions that Air Zermatt rescue service has developed and refined.
On May 31, 2012, during cruise flight at FL 220 in a Cessna 560, the captain’s windscreen cracked and the flightcrew made an immediate descent and landing. Engineering inspection revealed the source of the problem was a damaged seal. It had let water enter, which then froze during flight.
A good cleaning should be just that. But often is quite not. “A great many expensive repairs are made to windows which have been subject to improper cleaning techniques,” says Tim Snipes of Aviation Window Services in Boulder, Colorado. Among tools of destruction he cites are stiff brushes, soiled or abrasive cloths, and improper cleaning agents.
