Pilot Proficiency

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 […]

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 […]

If you’ve been flying for a while, you probably know of at least one person in your circle of friends who has made a very expensive mistake — starting up the engine with the towbar attached. It is a simple error but one that could cost you a new propeller and an engine overhaul. There […]

We tend to think of a sudden feeling of unease or apprehension as a bad thing, a foreboding sign that something is amiss. But as pilots, not only should we heed these uneasy feelings, we should consciously decide to welcome them as a way of eliminating risk and breaking potential links in the accident chain. […]

“I’m going to ask for 380 and another shortcut,” says Greg, sitting to my right and pointing to the CJ3’s MFD, which shows an arrival time of 16:19 Zulu. We are about three-quarters of the way down the East Coast en route from White Plains, New York, to Boca Raton, Florida, and we have a […]

Once in a while we hear of pilots making a mistake that has devastating consequences, such as forgetting to remove the control wheel lock prior to takeoff or landing with the landing gear retracted. It is easy to make a mistake and that’s why we use checklists. But in addition to using a printed or […]