A few months ago, I was assigned an empty flight to take a plane to a maintenance center and return. What an opportunity! Two empty legs? An overnight in a neat city? Sounds like a free family vacation! I made sure it was all above board with the company and planned everything out. It was my […]
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When I began my ab initio training, it seemed to take forever to get off the ground. Working through the preflight, before-start, run-up checklists, step-by-step in the order provided seemed to take up a lot of time I wanted to spend airborne. Of course, with practice comes efficiency. Eventually I would complete the steps in […]
I have dealt with paper chart updates both as a student pilot and a professional pilot, and I can safely say I prefer EFBs. The worst luck I ever had with paper charts occurred before my private pilot checkride. I ended up weathered out on my first attempt, and the charts expired a few days before […]
During the initial phases of my private pilot training, something I struggled with was overusing the flight instruments. Rather than use external references like the horizon and a visual point for something like steep turns, I would fixate on the attitude indicator and altimeter. After all, how could I tell if my altitude was off […]
In an ideal world, upon reaching our decision altitude/height (DA or DH) or missed approach point (MAP), there would always be beautiful visibility and a clear runway. As we all know, life throws curveballs. A classic curveball in instrument flying can be a missed approach. Preparation is worth an ounce of cure, and these tips […]
I will never forget my first time in true IMC. It was about halfway through my instrument training, during the winter months of New England. There were always challenges getting actual IMC experience; most of the quality clouds contained icing that prohibited any safe training. Finally, it was a warm day with the freezing levels up […]
Short-field landings have been part of my flying right from the onset of private pilot training. My instructor had flown in the Alaska Bush, and was very comfortable operating out of short airports, grass or otherwise. The go-to runways near me were Cranland Airport (28M), in Hanson, Mass., and Myricks Airport (1M8) in Berkley, Mass. […]
Inspiration struck me for this topic while flying recently. I would not quite call it complacency, but flying on gusty days definitely feels routine. For example, it would not deter me if I saw a local airport reporting LLWS (low level windshear) +/-5 knots by a Skyhawk. In fact, a local airport is famous for […]
I grew up right down the street from Cape Cod Airfield (2B1), in Marstons Mills, Mass. To me, the airport feels like the embodiment of some of the best qualities of general aviation. The airport is extremely accessible, with picnic tables right in front to watch the activity. There is flight training, banner towing, skydiving and […]
