Airmanship

Isn’t taxiing supposed to be one of the “easy parts” of being a pilot? At first glance, it might appear that taxiing an aircraft is much, much easier than flying it. A non-pilot might think, “There are really easy-to-read signs, just like on streets, right? You turn left, turn right, stop. Just like a car, […]

Has this ever happened to you? You’re in the traffic pattern and trending high on final. The throttle is at idle and the airplane is fully configured to land. Initially there may be a temptation to push the nose down, but the extra airspeed will probably lead to significant float. Staying on the current approach […]

(Editor’s Note: This is the final contribution to a three-part series on going beyond the standard preflight weather briefing on your EFB.) The contemporary electronic flight bag (EFB) is truly a “how did we ever live without this?” kind of tool. It can put just about any text or imagery on its display at the […]

Both the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) and the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) are hailing the FAA’s late July 2023 notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) on the long-sought MOSAIC initiative. The acronym stands for “Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certificates,” and both organizations have been working with the FAA on it for years. The proposal […]

(Editor’s Note: This is the second contribution to a multi-part series on going beyond the standard preflight weather briefing to find the details underlying what our EFBs tell us. Look for subsequent installments in future issues.) The forecast for Monterey, California (KMRY), advertised clear weather for the whole day. This didn’t make any sense, because […]

 Beech 1900 departs Charlotte and stalls on takeoff, killing all 21 aboard. A Cessna 402 departs Marsh Harbor for Opa-Locka. Instead of landing safely, it crashes 200 feet beyond the departure end of the runway. A Piper Comanche departs Scottsdale, losing control in the climb and becoming a CFIT statistic. I could keep going, and […]

One of the high-profile, close-call incidents that occurred this year was a runway incursion at JFK, where an American Airlines 777 taxied across a runway without a clearance. This forced a Delta 737 crew to abort their takeoff. According to the NTSB, the aircraft came within 1400 feet of each other. An extremely visible event, […]

 (Editor’s Note: This is the first contribution to a multi-part series on going beyond the standard briefing to find the details underlying what our EFBs tell us. Look for subsequent installments in future issues.) Sculptors work with various materials, typically by hand. Chefs work with ingredients, also by hand. Pilots work with air, but instead […]

I did my primary flight training at a slow, towered airport, where our flight school consisted of about 70% of the traffic taking off and landing. There was a commuter operation with three or four flights a day, and occasional private jet and corporate traffic. The controllers were fantastic about slowing down calls for student pilots, […]

 I saw it again on social media: someone posted that he/she is scheduled for a flight review and asked, “What should I study to prepare?” Generally well-meaning responses run the gamut from recommendations for classes or online courses, to a list of the available FAA manuals and advisory circulars (ACs), to statements like, “You can’t […]