January 7, 2023
The U.S. economy added +223,000 jobs in December, beating expectations of +200,000. Over the past three months, the economy has added an average of +247,000 jobs per month. For 2022 as a whole, the economy added +4.5 million jobs (an average of +375,000 per month), compared to +6.7 million jobs added in 2021 and a […]
January 6, 2023
Today in Microsoft Flight Simulator, I’ll be flying the Beechcraft Model 17 “Staggerwing”, widely regarded as one of the world’s most enviable private airplanes. Walter Beech was born in 1891 in Pulaski, Tennessee, and flew in the U.S. Army during World War I. After the war, he joined Swallow Airplane Company as a test pilot. […]
January 5, 2023
The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services declined to $61.5 billion in November, after reaching an all-time high in March 2020. In 2021, the annual U.S. trade deficit hit a new record at $845.0 billion. Higher tariff policies under the Trump and Biden Administrations have not made any significant dent in the trade deficit. […]
January 5, 2023
At its December 2022 meeting, the Federal Reserve’s FOMC announced it was raising the Fed Funds Rate by 25 bps to 4.5%. This was the latest in a series of rate hikes that began in March 2022. The Fed’s statement can be found here. This chart offers a longer-term perspective on the Fed Funds rate, […]
January 5, 2023
The following are diffusion indices, based on business surveys, which means that >50 indicates expansion and <50 indicates contraction, and 50 indicates no change. A larger or small number indicates breadth, not intensity, among survey respondents. ISM Manufacturing Index fell another -0.6 points in December, falling deeper into contraction at 48.4. Manufacturing employment turned slightly […]
January 4, 2023
The S&P 500 Index ended 2022 at 3,839.50, down -19.4% from a year before, after peaking almost exactly at end of 2021. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) ended 2022 at 33,147.25, down -8.8% from a year before, after peaking on January 4. The Nasdaq Composite Index ended 2022 at 10,466.48, down -33.1% from a […]
January 3, 2023
Today in Microsoft Flight Simulator, I’ll be flying the Grumman F6F Hellcat, the most successful carrier-based Allied fighter of World War II. And to tell that story, I’m aboard the USS Essex (CV-9) just off the eastern coast of the island of Luzon in the Philippines, on the morning of October 24, 1944. Just a […]
December 22, 2022
In my book, I mentioned one particular YouTube video posted by Charlie Gasmire of Airplane Academy, which helped me gain more control over the last few seconds of landing. His tip is to treat landing as a flight maneuver, in which you “feel for the ground” with the main wheels. I found it useful and […]
December 22, 2022
In my book, I mention watching an AOPA Air Safety Institute case study that drilled into me the importance of not raising your flaps all at once during a go-around. Here is that video:
December 22, 2022
In Chapter 27 of my book, I mention that the day after my check ride, another small airplane violated the Presidential TRF (Temporary Flight Restriction) that had so up-ended my own flight planning, and was intercepted by F-16 fighters. Here, for your edification, is the ATC audio of that incident: