Aviation Safety

I live in Fargo, North Dakota, where winter lasts anywhere from six to 13 months of the year. When I first moved back to Fargo after living elsewhere for quite a while—Fargoans call it “living abroad”—I asked the Fargo airport manager how much it would cost per month to tie down my airplane on his ramp. […]

 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 […]

My passenger arrived late, as usual, and talking on his cellphone, as usual. “What about sushi tonight?” I heard him say. Then: “I should be home in 45 minutes.” I tried to attract his attention but he waved me off, as usual. I was surprised that he could be heard over the noise of the […]

I take issue with Mr. Sigmon’s argument that a history of failed checkrides doesn’t necessarily indicate a substandard airman (Unicom, June 2023). As a pilot of nearly 63 years (and still flying), 37 of which were with airlines, 34 with a major U.S. carrier, plus eight transport category type ratings and nine years as a check […]

Many regular readers may recall my occasional musings about trading out the round, “steam” flight instruments in my Beech Debonair for a fancy “glass panel.” Many pixels and buckets of ink, plus hours of research, went into my consideration of the various options and how well or poorly they may coexist with my existing avionics. […]

Beech 95-B55 Baron Failed Dynamic Relay With the landing gear switch in the up position, the gear lowered via the motor on its own. Troubleshooting revealed the dynamic relay was powering the main landing gear motor for retraction or extension at the same time regardless whether the gear switch was selected up or down. There […]

I was a student pilot with approximately 20 hours. During one of my flights back to my home airport, I was talking to the tower and was given approach instructions. Then the frequency lit up with an emergency call, the pilot reporting engine failure. The airplane had lost its engine on takeoff and the pilot […]

March 2, 2023, Slaughters, Ky. Piper PA-28R-200 Cherokee Arrow II At 1305 Central time, the airplane was substantially damaged during an off-field landing following loss of engine power. The solo pilot was not injured. Visual conditions prevailed. The pilot purchased the airplane in April 2021; it had not flown for 24 years. After an extensive […]

Remember departure stalls? According to the FAA’s Airplane Flying Handbook, they’re a power-on stall demonstration, typically begun at liftoff speed. The pilot then adds climb power, raises the nose and coordinates the flight controls “until the full stall occurs.” The FAA’s private pilot airmen certification standards publication wants the pilot to acknowledge “cues of the […]

I learned to fly “the old-fashioned way,” in a Cessna 152 with its roots firmly in the Eisenhower administration. It had seemingly endured approximately one million hours. I had various flight instructors—none of them were any good, of course, in my eyes, because I had 14 hours of flight time and I was in my […]