Flying Staff

Occasionally, people insisting “Not in my back yard” have good reason. For example, the other day Miss Biscuit, one of my horses, got out of the pasture and dug divots in a neighbor’s soft, water-soaked backyard. I repaired the lawn. He had a point. Although many of the NIMBYites’ claims are knee-jerk reactions, their potential […]

A little over three years ago, this column discussed a contentious issue. The issue concerned guns in an airline cockpit. I took an opposing view. My arguments had valid reasons, but they were based on the unknown. And for the most part, the procedures for arming pilots were an unknown even to the architects of […]

“Hey, Lane, what RPM are you running now?” Jeff’s question cuts through my headset, muting my in-flight music entertainment for a moment. I glance at the Cheetah’s tachometer. “Twenty-six-hundred,” I answer. “What are you running?” “Little over eighteen.” There’s a pause. I glance over in the sky to where Jeff, in his shiny new RV-6A, […]

Insurance companies and safety experts-self appointed and otherwise-are constantly worrying that owner-flown jets…particularly the coming crop of new light jets, can be flown at 41,000 feet by a single pilot who may not be very experienced. What’s up with that? What’s so special about 41,000 feet? The answer is that FL 410 is the traditional […]

Each month, Flying answers questions about the new Sport Pilot/Light Sport Aircraft rule with assistance from the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), the authorities on the opportunities available within the category commonly known as “Sport Pilot”: My understanding of the FAA terms “category” and “class” in the new “class-specific” would suggest that the exams are “category-specific,” […]

Like just about everybody else, I first saw the Mooney Acclaim on the opening day at this year’s Sun ‘n Fun Fly-In, when Mooney unveiled it before a standing-room only crowd of aviation journalists and interested show-goers. The particular airplane that Mooney unveiled, N312TN, cut a striking figure on thegreen grass that sunny Florida morning, […]

It has been 50 years since Safe Flight Instrument Company developed the first practical autothrottle system but only a small minority of pilots have been able to fly this most useful and safety enhancing equipment. But that is starting to change. Safe Flight is now offering its AutoPower system in midsize business jets, when before […]