Features

Though it seldom happens, a passed-out pilot may be passengers greatest fear. For frequent passengers, just a little training can make for a happy ending

The airport light show might play fine when youre in control, but understanding how they work can save you from sudden darkness

A second pilot on board can be a help or a hindrance. Take a page from the airlines book when flying with a crowded cockpit

A control lock left in place prompted a departure stall, but loading and maintenance could have negated the pilots forgetfulness

It doesnt take new pilots very long to realize the airplanes theyve trained in lack the payload, speed, and range to make serious trips, and they decide they need something bigger and faster.

The unfortunate result is that pilots new to complex, high performance aircraft have a lot of accidents. They may be able to handle things as long as nothing goes wrong, but throw in bad weather, gusty crosswinds at a short strip or a systems malfunction, and they are in over their heads. Some dont fully appreciate the tradeoffs in an airplane with six seats, oodles of baggage space, and six hours fuel capacity. Others find themselves in somebodys airspace before they know its there.

Checki…

Many pilots base the go-no-go decision on ceiling and visibility. Yet the accident record shows there are other considerations of equal or greater importance. For example, how many times have you delayed or canceled a flight because of forecast or reported severe turbulence enroute or at your destination?

The hazard of thunderstorms is obvious and can be visualized. However, high and low level clear air turbulence is often treated casually. When clear air turbulence is encountered above 15,000 feet, it is referred to as turbulence encountered outside of convective clouds. At lower altitudes it is simply mechanical or low level turbulence.

Low level turbulence often takes the form of…

The pilot of a single-engine experimental airplane climbed into the left seat, started the engine, taxied out to the runway at his California home base, and advanced the throttle for takeoff. As the plane left the ground, he discovered the awful truth.

After his last flight, he had wrapped the seat belt on the right seat around the right yoke, using the belt as a gust lock. Somehow, hed forgotten to release the belt before takeoff. The airplane stalled and veered left of the runway. In the crash, the pilot was seriously injured.

Youre laughing now, wondering how someone could be so, well, careless as to take off with the seat belt wrapped around the yoke. This is an extreme case of f…

It should come as no surprise that more than half of all general aviation aircraft are more than 25 years old, and more than 25% are past their 35th birthdays. Like everything else thats getting older, an aging aircraft can experience a host of problems, including decreases in both performance and structural integrity.

As aircraft age, undetected or uncorrected wear, fatigue, corrosion and creep can decrease an aircrafts ability to sustain the fail-safe loads designed into it. The most graphic example of fatigue and corrosion causing a serious problem in flight comes is the Aloha Air Lines B-737 accident in 1988, and that should be enough to scare any pilot. Clearly prevention, timely d…

Just as how we dress and what we drive help define who we are, so, too, does what we fly.

The practical ones drive sedans and fly Skyhawks; the rowdy ones lean toward sports cars and stunt planes. Somewhere in the mix is the large group of people whose wheels of choice are sport utility vehicles and pick-up trucks.

These load-haulers may be working, they may be playing, but theyre doing it hard. For them, a utility airplane is a natural.

The Cessna U206 has, over the years, gained a well-deserved reputation for its load-hauling ability. With its big rear doors and spacious cabin, it has found work as a cargo hauler, bush plane and jump plane. As an airplane for campers, hunters an…

The return trip from mid-state New York to Nashua, N.H., was being made with some urgency. The pilot had an important meeting to attend. The meeting became the last thing on his mind, however, when the engine coughed to a stop only part way home.

His very first thoughts: Oh damn! Im going to splatter myself among the trees below and kill myself! I can just hear my friends at the funeral. He seemed to be a pretty smart fellow, how could he do something so stupid?

After his initial shock at the silence, he became focused on the problem at hand. Rock the wings, theres always some fuel left in the tanks. The engine sputtered a few minutes and then quit again. He spied a small field…