Pilot Proficiency

Think Like a Bird Brain

I read a startling statistic recently. In 2013, there were more than 11,000 reported bird strike incidents among commercial, military and general aviation airplanes in the United States. That’s a lot of birds hitting a lot of aircraft. And now researchers think they know why bird strikes are so common in aviation. It turns out […]

Read More »

Gear Up: The Therapeutic Effect of Flight

Looking for a spiritual lift, I entered Signature Flight Support in Boston with its soaring cathedral ceilings and even higher fuel prices. I had hoped to beat Capt. Courtney Crain to the FBO as she was airlining in from Palm Beach, Florida. We had not flown together in months. Alas, she was already hunched over […]

Read More »

Jumpseat: Close Encounters

I am fortunate that the majority of my trips can be categorized as mundane, a characteristic that all airline pilots aspire to for the sake of our passengers. The law of averages indicated I was due a trip that fell out of that category. And on this particular flight, it almost seemed as if the […]

Read More »

Tabulating Takeoff

Galen Hanselman, who has published several guidebooks and charts for pilots interested in landing on something other than 5,000-foot paved runways, sent me his two-volume flier’s guide to Utah and the associated “Supplemental World Aeronautical Chart,” which resembles a WAC chart but includes a slew of backcountry airstrips not on the WAC. The quality of […]

Read More »

Learn from Other Pilots’ Mistakes

You are likely aware of NASA’s Aviation Safety Reporting System (ASRS), which can give you a “get out of jail free”-card if you self report a mistake you’ve made during a flight. What you may not be aware of is that the ASRS publishes the submitted stories, anonymously of course, in a newsletter and in […]

Read More »

What Flying Is To Me…

I’ve been to a handful of parties in my life, and for the most part, they’ve all been rather staid affairs. Which is quiet ironic. You see, at most of these dos, I often run into people who tend to have the ideal solution for fixing the weakening Euro, rising inflation, ISIS, India’s meek bowling […]

Read More »

Handling Really Strong Crosswinds

Chances are you’re fairly comfortable with landing in a crosswind — up to a point. When the wind is howling, you might feel you lack the skill (or rudder authority) to track a straight line along the centerline with one wing held low into the breeze. What should you do? Head for another airport with […]

Read More »

Aftermath: Drunk and Disastrous

A 17-year, 26,000-hour A320 captain, who was a check airman for his airline as well as a certified airframe and power plant mechanic, called a friend to say he would fly over his house later that day to show him the Aerostar 601P he had bought. At a quarter to five the friend, a retired […]

Read More »

Fly a Simulator

Some instructors say that flying can’t be taught in the cockpit. And while we have to fly a certain number of hours in an actual aircraft in order to earn the various levels of pilot certificates, there is some validity to this argument. In the cockpit, there are many distractions from the teaching process: traffic, […]

Read More »
Pilot in aircraft
Sign-up for newsletters & special offers!

Get the latest stories & special offers delivered directly to your inbox.

SUBSCRIBE