Unicom

Regarding the May 2022 issue’s staff article, “Fly in the Yellow Arc?” I disagree with the recommendation to extend the gear above VLO to slow down “in a hurry.” The pilot has no idea how the airplane will react to lowering the gear at a high airspeed—will it pitch or yaw? Asymmetric drag if a […]

Because the final alphanumeric symbol in my aircraft’s registration is the number “zero,” (such as N67890), there is the occasional mixup by ATC, with a readback of “Sierra,” for the letter “S” instead of the number zero. This happens at times even though I am always careful to enunciate “zero” as clearly as I can […]

Rick Durden’s very nice 2008 essay (“Declaring The Emergency,” published in our January 2009 issue and available on our web site) encourages pilots not to be shy about declaring an emergency. Very recently, a pilot in my area was flying his piston twin at 12,000 msl in IMC, under IFR, on a Saturday, when the […]

Thank you for Jeb Burnside’s “Follow the Money” commentary in the April 2022 issue. I’d like to highlight another aspect of the leaded-avgas issue that aviation’s “alphabet soup” hasn’t called much attention to. According to the EAA’s own hardcopy STC materials (but not emphasized on the EAA or AOPA web sites), “more than 65 percent […]

Thanks for your excellent, thorough article on engine-loss training (“Engine-Out Training”) in the August 2021 issue. It reminds me that, in my experience, most of the training involves the procedure for restarting the engine. This is one-third of the response needed.   The other two-thirds are:  1: Pick a field  2: Set up to land […]

Mike Berry’s article comparing commercial aviation to general aviation (“As the Pro Flies?” January 2022) hits on many important points. I have studied general aviation’s safety record for many years, writing a master’s thesis on comparing these two aviation fields and trying to change this perplexing problem. I have not seen an appreciable change in […]

I read your article, “Polishing Your Scan: Our Top Five Tips” (December 2021), twice. As always, it was well-written and thoughtful. I have to say my experience with view-limiting devices seems to be the opposite of that suggested in the article. Compared to flying with a view-limiting device, I find it easier to maintain precise parameters […]

I enjoyed your article “VFR on an IFR Clearance” in the November 2021 issue. I owned and operated a King Air E90 for about 15 years and frequently flew into Watsonville Municipal (KWVI) near Monterey, California. Unless it was a short hop, I almost always flew on a full IFR flight plan and was almost always […]

As a VFR pilot who likes to fly at night, I enjoyed Jim Wolper’s “Prepping for Darkness,” September 2021), and a couple of additional points come to mind. First, up your personal weather minimums a lot—four-mile visibility might be fine during the day, but I won’t go unless it’s 10 at night. Second, beware the […]

My old, long-gone flight instructor was maniacal about prop inspection (“Preflighting Propellers,” August 2020). Here in Boston, when we conducted preflight in the dead of winter, he would rotate the prop with a peculiar hand and foot arrangement that was “proper” in case of starting. Keys were always on top of the dash so we […]