I.L.A.F.F.T | FLYING Magazine

I Learned About Flying From That: 30 Seconds to Impact

My best friend, Mike, and I woke to the subtle muttering of raindrops and realized that beyond the curtains of our Ketchikan, Alaska, motel room there was only gray, dismal sky. Damn. At that moment a scenario began that could have ended up as an NTSB accident report, starting with unquantifiable indicators and an irrational […]

I Learned About Flying From That: X Marks the Spot

As a longtime reader of aviation accident stories in I Learned About Flying from That, I never thought that so soon into my aviation adventure I’d find myself telling a story of my own. All of the events that follow took place during an aviation-packed day that would begin with the eager anticipation of visiting […]

I Learned About Flying From That: Rock ‘N’ Ride

Relationships are often defined by shared experiences. So was the case with Loretta and me. When the tower asked if we wanted to declare an emergency, my date’s panicked expression suggested that our future together might require more than a safe landing. The Cessna 182 ferry mission was to be routine. N15AP had just been […]

I Learned About Flying From That: Command Authority

It was a Cessna 340A model and I was the PIC. A sleek, powerful and very cool looking twin-engine airplane, the 340A is powered by two Continental 310-horsepower engines. Regarded as a “pilot’s airplane,” it has good performance characteristics (airspeed and rate of climb) as reflected by a power loading of 10.48 pounds per horsepower, […]

I Learned About Flying From That: Learning on the Job

It was cold. That isn’t always a bad thing. Engines have more power; wings produce greater lift (more or less). But there was also moisture. Quite a bit of it in fact. And that is just no fun when it’s below freezing. Throw in the fact that I was at the end of a long […]

I Learned About Flying From That: Putting Training to Work

It was a beautiful day for flying. The takeoff from Waco Regional Airport in Waco, Texas, was routine and uneventful as I turned onto a northwest heading as indicated by the GPS. I had reduced from takeoff power to about 2,450 rpm and about 24 inches of manifold pressure. As I was leaving 1,500 feet […]

I Learned About Flying From That: Searching for Lights

The January day was crisp and cold with just wisps of high clouds painting the Texas sky as we, my two Air Force cadet student pilots and I, began our IFR cross-country. Before starting back to our base in west Texas, I checked the weather and was gratified to see the forecast we had received […]

I Learned About Flying From That: Breaking In a New Airplane

I was in the grocery store picking up some food for Super Bowl Sunday when I got the call. The offer I made on the 1970 B58 Baron had been accepted. A quick look online showed that there was one flight leaving that afternoon for Arkansas, and in three hours I was on my way. […]

I Learned About Flying From That: Locked Controls

It was a clear but chilly January morning when I arrived at Madison County Executive (MDQ) in Huntsville, Alabama, to return home after my first “real” cross-country flight. Three days earlier I had made the 462 nm journey from my home airport in Liberty, Missouri, to Huntsville. At this point I had roughly 95 hours […]

I Learned About Flying From That: A Wave From Above

I had to land within 200 feet of the white mark to pass the last phase of the checkride. Easy, I thought, as I turned the Schweizer 2-33 sailplane onto final. I’ll show this guy how good I am. I’ve got to hold 45 knots, 300 feet — that’s a little fast; let’s apply more […]