Proficiency

If vectors to a runway 90 degrees off the prevailing wind make your palms sweat, if you sometimes pick airports based more on avoiding crosswind landings than their proximity to your destination, youre not alone.

Crosswind landings have been causing anxiety attacks in pilots for a long time now – along with crunched wingtips and bent landing gear – and will apparently continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

Although all student pilots learn crosswind techniques, once on their own they tend to avoid crosswind landings whenever possible. The biannual tune-up often doesnt help much, as many instructors are just as willing to seek out runways where the wind will be more inconveni…

Bewildered, I began filling out a Notice Of Disapproval – the proverbial pink slip – for a commercial pilot applicant. Up to the point of the final landing for the flight test it had been a picture perfect checkride. The applicant had performed all the maneuvers, including the go-around, quite well. His smoothness, accuracy and judgment were to be applauded. Surprisingly, it was the second performance of the go-around maneuver of the day that caused the unsatisfactory performance.

We were operating out of a non-towered airport the day of the test. While on short final for a landing, another airplane – with a flight instructor on board – pulled out onto the runway in front of us. We were…

In the tumultuous atmosphere of an aircraft carrier, some of the worlds best pilots routinely embark on some of the most dangerous flying there is. Military aviation, especially carrier operations, demands disciplined pilots, well-maintained machines and a hard-headed look at the risk involved in every flight.

Even though most civilian pilots will never experience the critical flying demands that a fighter pilot takes in stride, the stakes are just as high. A wrecked airplane is still a wrecked airplane, and a dead pilot is still a dead pilot.

Over the years the military has learned a lot of things about flying, airplanes and risk assessment by losing a lot of blood, people and airp…

A private pilot with about 250 hours flew his personal airplane from an airport in the Southeast to a coastal resort in southern Alabama with his boss in the right seat. The two were going to a business conference, as evidenced by the two sets of golf bags in the back of the high performance single.

The meetings were productive and the networking effective. As for the golf, well, it was probably as frustrating as golf usually is. Once the round was concluded, the pair hopped into a taxi for a quick jaunt to the airport and the three-hour leg home.

When the pilot had originally planned the trip, the schedule called for a 1 p.m. round of golf, and he figured on a departure around 5:30. I…

Year after year, airline flights operated under FAR Part 121 get top billing for safest category of flight. This should come as no surprise, considering the many well-known safety advantages enjoyed by airline pilots.

They receive the best training around, including high-fidelity, full-motion simulator training not available to most GA pilots. Their job performance is closely scrutinized by their peers, by management, and by the FAA. An average line holder flies 700 to 900 hours every year, so they generally enjoy a high level of currency and comfort with the airplane they fly.

The hardware is often the best that Boeing or Airbus offers, with better performance margins and greater…

Light twin flying and rattlesnake encounters start without much drama, certainly, but with carelessness and a casual attitude about the possible end results. Theyre rigged against untrained and unwary people, however, and the results are often the same.

Twin-engine airplanes demand a healthy respect from those who fly them. Some of that must come from the improved performance when everything is working right, and some must come from the slim margins for error that exist when something goes wrong.

Once upon a time, back in 1979, things were booming in general aviation circles. Sales of light piston twins had been increasing by leaps and bounds for a decade. The popular reasoning of the…

After being immersed in complex airspace with rapid fire clearances and sometimes holding number fifteen for takeoff, I really look forward to flying into the mom and pop grass airstrips scattered across the countryside. Theres just something about being able to slip on final and glide into a nice landing without a controller in my ears telling me to take the next high speed exit because theres another airliner on my tail.

Ah, such fun! Back to simple stick-and-rudder once again.

Fun? Absolutely. Low risk? Not necessarily. If you rank the biggest dangers in aviation, icing and thunderstorms might appear near the top of the list. Flying into grass airstrips isnt something that caus…

Although some recreational fliers ground themselves during the dingy winter months, most pilots continue to rely on their airplanes even when the mercury dips and the gray skies move in. And theres no reason not to, as long as you take into account the icy grip winter weather can have on everything it touches.

Planning for defensive flying in winter conditions begins on the ground. For VFR flight, youll need to plan to stay clear of clouds by a reasonable distance and be alert for signs of carb ice. For the pilots who are going to go IFR, things get more complicated. Watching The Weather Channel just isnt enough.

Preflight planning has to be thorough and thoughtful. Consider the rou…

The moment of truth often comes at the end of a flight, when the rubber reaches for the runway for the first time. All too often, thats when the ride begins. Watch the traffic at any airport for any length of time and youre sure to see ballooning and bouncing – control errors when the airplane is in its most vulnerable state.

Ballooning and bouncing are related in that they are both caused by over-controlling or misjudging the descent rate. They can happen in a hurry. Lower the flaps too late or flare before lift has decreased enough and you balloon upward. Similarly, you can expect a bounce if you flare too late or otherwise hit the runway with too much energy. Each problem has a solut…

Pilots who fly IFR – especially single-pilot IFR – love to debate the merits of George. Not as in Bush, but as in that electronic servant who will fly your airplane any time you want.

Some advocate handing over the manipulation duties as soon as the gear is up on all flights, and letting George have it all the way to short final. Others consider the autopilot a necessary evil, to be used only when absolutely necessary – and turned off as soon as possible. To some its a savior, to others a crutch for the weak. Whats the truth?

To my eye, a crutch that can fail for those who lack skill, a snake waiting to bite those who misuse it, and a tool that can help the pilot who uses it effect…