Aviation Safety

(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 […]

Altitude means different things to different pilots. In crop dusting or banner towing, it’s not something we need. When striving for efficiency and economy over a distance, it can be, since the air is thinner and cooler the higher we climb. True airspeed increases and so do tailwinds, if you’re headed in the right direction. […]

Airports and their runways come in all shapes and sizes, from turf strips lacking any real markings, but with trees at both ends, to massive, busy, complicated affairs like ATL, DFW, JFK or ORD. And pilots are expected to understand and comply with all procedures for operating at them, including taxiways and hotspots, runway intersections, […]

This email is in response to Matt Johnson’s article, “Playing Defense At Non-Towered Airports,” in the September 2023 issue. I am the airport manager for the Winchester Regional Airport (KOKV) referenced in the article. We share Mr. Johnson’s concerns and fears regarding wildlife strikes. Managing ground-based threats is a role that airports fulfill in the […]

August brought good news to the general aviation industry as two major trade groups reported their respective segment’s sales number for the first half of 2023. First out with avionics-industry stats was the Aircraft Electronics Association (AEA), which celebrated the highest quarterly sales volume in the history of its Avionics Market Report. According to AEA, […]

Cessna TU206G Stationair Sheared Alternator Belt Pilot heard a squealing sound at engine start. Voltmeter showed discharge. The alternator belt was found sheared and was replaced. Part total time: 370.0 hours Cessna 207 Skywagon Stretched Alternator Belt Alternator belt (p/n 5395473119) will not hold tension. It will stretch from a proper tension in a short […]

As my initial CFI checkride approached, I had been spending a lot of time in an airplane’s right seat, unlearning several years of flying from the left one.  One bright Saturday morning, my flying club was giving demo rides to prospective members, sort of a “you can learn to fly, too” event for professionals. I […]

June 1, 2023, Pellston, Mich. Piper PA-28-181 Archer II/III At about 1155 Eastern time, the airplane sustained substantial damage when its left main landing gear strut failed, leaving the wheel assembly attached only by the brake line. The flight instructor and student pilot were not injured in the subsequent landing. On takeoff following a touch-and-go […]

When considering which airplane one should fly—whether renting, clubbing, owning or via some other arrangement—a time-honored maxim is to consider your mission and use one that’s most suitable. Since it’s never that simple, such an answer usually elicits a big “duh” from the questioner. It would be nice to have one airplane to meet all […]

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 […]