Pilot Proficiency

If you think summer weather in the southeastern states means sunshine and VFR, you probably havent experienced one of the numerous warm-season ground stops on traffic going to Atlanta. Granted this part of the country gets plenty of blue sky, but its also when the region gets the bulk of its precipitation. Furthermore some readers might have noticed weather charts almost never show fronts in this area during the summer. So how can we truly get a handle on what to expect?Most of the time when youre dealing with preflight weather briefings and TAFs, you only see half the picture: the final forecast. Very few pilots actually get to see the thinking that goes into the predictions. Its my job to give you that.

The FAA helps us confuse runway visual range (RVR) with flight visibility, but theyre different concepts. RVR is an instrumentally-derived value at a runway. Flight visibility is a pilot-observed distance in flight. Regulation 91.175 is clear-flight visibility is required to descend below DA/MDA. Yet, approach charts confusingly equate the two by providing both RVR and visibility values.

Have you ever been frantically looking for the airplane keys after you have completed the preflight and are ready to start up? Or have you ever tried to get your keys out of the pocket after you have strapped on your seatbelt? There is an easy solution to the problem of where to put the […]

I scratched my chin as I tried to discern the unfamiliar code that our airline computer system had attached to three days of my reserve schedule. A call to crew schedule offered only a verbal shoulder shrug. It was suggested that I call our flight standards department. Hmm … Flight standards is responsible for maintaining […]

Last fall as I was departing Reno, NV (KRNO), the weather was 1500 overcast (6000 MSL), tops 10,000 MSL, surface temp +10 C and there was no precipitation. I was flying my pressurized, turbocharged, FIKI-certified Cessna 414. Id flight planned for FL 190. I hand flew the departure because that is recommended when potential icing conditions exist. In the climb I noticed light rime ice on the leading edges of the wings. I was watching carefully for decreasing performance (airspeed, rate of climb, etc.) and all seemed quite normal.

Let’s say you’ve just transitioned into a new airplane, one that’s faster, more complex and with newer avionics than the airplanes you’ve been used to flying. You’ll obviously want to fly with a flight instructor who’s familiar with the make, model and equipment aboard your new airplane. If it’s a really complex airplane like a […]

In the 1960s, Ohio Gov. Jim Rhodes committed to putting a 4,000-foot paved runway in every county — an idea promoted by his friend Norman Crabtree. Both men were from rural southeastern Ohio and proud Bobcats — graduates of Ohio University at Athens. Norm, director of the Ohio Aviation Division, flew the governor around in […]

During the takeoff the engine is pushed to the max right near the ground, making it one of the most critical phases of flight. Should the engine fail, there is not much time to investigate or think through the best course of action before the airplane hits terra firma. It is therefore a great idea […]

It’s one thing to tell a pilot “Avoid loss of control!” of his or her airplane in flight, but providing additional tutelage on exactly how to prevent such a dangerous situation from developing in the first place is a completely different matter. That’s because there are so many ways to lose control that you probably […]

The fault may have been in their stars — it would be easy to check with the help of a good astrologer — but amateur-built and otherwise non-type-certificated aircraft hit an especially rough patch in April 2014. The run of bad luck actually began a couple of weeks earlier, on Feb. 16, when the 77-year-old […]