General

Earlier this year I was presented with an opportunity. There was a winter Field Training Exercise and no one was available to take the cadets from the Payson Squadron. It would involve driving the cadets up to the top of the Mogollon Rim where we would join other cadets and senior members at a campsite […]

Do you need the logbook endorsements for Class B, C and D airspace if you have a Commercial Pilot Certificate with instrument rating but are operating as a sport pilot with your driver’s license as your medical? No, holders of higher-level pilot certificates are exempt from the requirement for an airspace endorsement when operating at […]

A reader inquired about the purpose of small vanes, resembling the wings of a Concorde, that he noticed in a picture of a Cessna 303 in the December 1996 issue of Flying. The fins, six of them in all, are located near the leading edges of the intersections of the wing with the fuselage and […]

Whenever there is an accident, pilots should get into that old “learning from events” mode. The recent 737 runway overrun at Chicago Midway created a lot of food for thought. In a preliminary NTSB report, it was noted that the dispatchers and the crew had calculated that Runway 31C at Midway was okay for landing […]

For many years the instrument approach plates for Lebanon, New Hampshire, posted an ominous footnote: “Caution-hazardous terrain all quadrants.” For some reason this warning no longer appears, though I’m reasonably certain the mountains haven’t moved much. There still isn’t any radar coverage in the area and many of the approaches feature old-fashioned procedure turns. This […]

There was an op-ed piece in the New York Times not too long ago that bemoaned the advent of GPS technology for cars, because it was going to spoil all the fun of wandering around and getting lost on road trips. The man should have talked to me. I could have assured him with great […]

Each month, Flying answers questions about the new Sport Pilot/Light Sport Aircraft rule with assistance from the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), the authority on the opportunities available within the category commonly known as “Sport Pilot”. I have great interest in flying as a sport pilot someday, since there will come a time when the flying […]

The current administration appears to be determined to collect more money from those of us who use the national airspace system. People at the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) expect a bill that will raise fees on aviation users to be introduced into Congress no later than this spring. And they’re not alone in that […]

I don’t often find myself in three-abreast seating on an airliner, but on a recent trip to Las Vegas, Nevada, it was unavoidable. So there I was in a window seat with a white-knuckled woman seated next to me and her macho husband on the aisle. As the airplane accelerated for takeoff, the wife clutched […]

The 90°F June sun is beating down on me, and beads of sweat are running down the sides of my face as I strain to pull my Cheetah back up the taxiway. What was I thinking, buying an airplane that was so flippin’ heavy? I stop for a break, wiping the sweat out of my […]