Aviation Safety

Somewhere, as you read this, an advanced pilot candidate is decrying the need to master the so-called commercial maneuvers. “You’ll never hear ATC call and say, ‘Give me a Lazy 8 for spacing,’” they might say. And they’d probably be right. The thing is, many of the maneuvers we must master to pass a practical […]

There I was, a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force’s undergraduate pilot training (UPT). I look back now and think, “Was I really ever that young? Is anyone?” Everything was new and exciting about flying. The USAF really puts a lot of effort into training pilots, I found out. I thought when I joined […]

Inspiration struck me for this topic while flying recently. I would not quite call it complacency, but flying on gusty days definitely feels routine. For example, it would not deter me if I saw a local airport reporting LLWS (low level windshear) +/-5 knots by a Skyhawk. In fact, a local airport is famous for […]

In 2006, I was living and working in the Melbourne, Fla., area. On March 23, there was a crash at the Melbourne Orlando International Airport: A Cessna 340A was on final and was asked to slow, and it did. Too much. The result was a stall/crash as described in Tom Turner’s article, “Stalls In The […]

A beam the numbers for the towered urban airport, I dropped the landing gear, confirmed I had the appropriate down-and-locked indications and waited for my Debonair to slow into the white arc. Then, as usual, I positioned the flap switch to the down position, anticipating through long experience I was extending them to their full […]

One the things every primary student learns somewhere along the way to their certificate is the difference between primary and secondary flight controls. Distinguishing between them isn’t hard: The primary flight controls are ailerons/spoilers for roll, an elevator/stabilator/canard for pitch and some kind of rudder for yaw. Those are the controls we regularly manipulate to […]

I grew up right down the street from Cape Cod Airfield (2B1), in Marstons Mills, Mass. To me, the airport feels like the embodiment of some of the best qualities of general aviation. The airport is extremely accessible, with picnic tables right in front to watch the activity. There is flight training, banner towing, skydiving and […]

So I’m flying along, fat dumb and happy, into the Charlottesville-Albemarle (Va.) Airport (KCHO). The tower controller tells me to enter a right base for Runway 03, which I do, followed by a touch-and-go and entering left closed traffic like a good boy. I mentally pat myself on the back, and think, “Good job, flying […]

Cessna 172P Skyhawk Loose Throttle Cable Pilot noticed the throttle had no bounce at full travel. After the cowling was removed, it was discovered that the throttle control’s lower portion had come loose from the rest of the cable. When the throttle was moved, the cable would move full travel, but the inner cable was […]

Owning an airplane provides endless possibilities even as it presents new challenges. While anyone who’s owned and flown the same airplane for a few years likely will become comfortable with it, that’s not always the case with passengers, even if they’re experienced pilots. The first time I encountered a nervous passenger—”nervous” in this instance involved […]