Airmanship

If you spend much time around old-time pilots, you’ll eventually get around to one of them going off on a rant about how the kids today don’t know what the rudder pedals are for. From their perspective, they’re right. A lot of the airplanes the old-timers grew up with had squirrelly aerodynamics, exemplified by the […]

The pilot’s operating handbook (POH) or airplane flight manual (AFM) checklists help make certain the airplane is configured properly before beginning the takeoff roll. Professional flight crews supplement this “hardware” checklist with a pre-takeoff briefing covering the “software” considerations, the pilot decision-making process that accompanies takeoff. Examples include: What are the unique hazards affecting takeoff? […]

A good pilot is always learning and practicing. Whether your aviating is geared toward a ratings-oriented career or just going for the occasional $100 hamburger, we all should put some effort into maintaining proficiency and enhancing related knowledge. If you’re stuck at home with nothing to do and can’t fly, how can you spend the […]

After several weeks of not flying, I had finally found the time and energy to unlimber the Debonair and get some air under its wings. I was out doing some basic maneuvers and just letting the airplane exercise itself before heading off to a nearby non-towered field for some landings and cheap fuel. I had […]

The FAA in February published a new rule designed to enhance professional development among air carrier pilots, with an emphasis on supplemental training for existing captains and more comprehensive indoctrination for new hires. The new rule becomes goes into effect April 27, 2020, although some of its various components don’t become effective for 24 or […]

If you’re like us, you have multiple sources for aeronautical data—charts—that can be in digital or paper format. Also like us, maybe the digital data you use in the cockpit comes from different vendors, even if it’s the same basic information. Everyone makes mistakes from time to time, even the FAA, with the eventual result […]

Just as with any other complex endeavor that’s developed over time, aviation has many myths. That’s especially true when it comes to FAA regulations—the FARs. To be fair, there are a lot of regulations, and many of them are written for attorneys, not pilots. Especially for newer pilots or those who fly different aircraft in […]

In unguarded moments, many pilots will confess to what has come to be called “mic fright”—fear of talking on their aircraft’s radio. There may be many reasons for this aversion, but there is no way to avoid voice communication by radio if one plans to be an accomplished pilot. While those working to improve their […]

A popular misconception is that the Wright brothers, in addition to all of their other achievements, invented the airfoil. They didn’t. Sir John Cayley, an English engineer who also first identified the four forces of flight—lift, drag, thrust and weight—developed the cambered airfoil through detailed experimentation. His three-part work, On Aerial Navigation, published in 1809 and […]

Special VFR helicopter operations are different. For one thing, the “NO SVFR” admonition at many Class B airports in the U.S. doesn’t apply to helicopters. For another, there is no visibility limitation for helicopter SVFR. The NTSB’s investigation into the January 26, 2020, crash that killed basketball icon Kobe Bryant and eight others will show […]