Pilot Proficiency

It is a Saturday night in Ithaca, New York. The temperature is 7 degrees, and the gusts of 26 knots blow snow across the ramp. The only available evidence of this blowing snow is provided by powerful floodlights attached to the hangar that make for a scene that is both bright white and, just beyond […]

In our FBO Spotlight series, we’re highlighting FBOs around the country that have received rave reviews from our readers. This latest Spotlight is brought to you by Newlan Parker, who has recently flown into Magic Valley Regional Airport in Twin Falls, Idaho, in a Cessna 206. Here’s what he had to say about the airport’s […]

I purchased 3723V, a 1976 Cessna 150M, to help defray the cost of acquiring my instrument rating and to build time. After earning the rating, business took me to Phoenix, and due to the desert heat and the thermals, it soon became apparent that I needed a turbocharged airplane. So I sold 23V to a […]

There is nothing like an accident to make you think about changing your flying ways. After Martha and I had our accident, we urgently wanted to avoid another one, but we didn’t intuitively know what to do differently. We did know that somehow our attitudes about risk-taking had to change. It was pretty clear that […]

“Think globally, act locally.” That’s the business mantra of the newly formed Continental Motors Group, the world’s first and only truly global producer of piston aircraft engines. What does it mean to you? Well, a few things actually. And they’re all pretty important. First, Continental Motors, founded in 1929, is suddenly a part of a […]

The inverted gull wing, bent downward to keep the gear legs short and the huge prop clear of the ground, made the F4U Corsair instantly recognizable. Other airplanes, however, had used this feature before the Corsair, particularly during the era of fixed gears enveloped in voluminous fairings or “pants.” An early example was the Ha […]

Flying with a friend from Oshkosh back to New Jersey, I called up clearance delivery at our first fuel stop, a leg from Muskegon County Airport on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan to Burke Lakefront Airport on the southern shore of Lake Erie — and was pleased to hear those magic words: “Cleared as […]

Ever wished you could rent your airplane to strangers? OpenAirplane, the creator of a Zipcar-style aircraft rental network, announced a new service called Collaborative Aircraft Rental that aims to let aircraft owners rent their personal airplanes to qualified OpenAirplane members. The idea is to broaden the OpenAirplane network of available aircraft while allowing owners to […]

There are many visual illusions that can present themselves during flight. One scenario that can mess with the normal cues during the approach and landing phases is a runway that is located on a hilltop. I recently flew into Catalina airport on Catalina Island to enjoy one of their fantastic buffalo burgers. While the airport […]

My friend Justin is a superb flight instructor with considerable experience in real-world flying and is charmingly full of himself. He amuses me by constantly working deals that involve flying really nice airplanes to major league games, rock concerts, ski resorts, airshows, Mardi Gras festivals, NASCAR races and weekends at somebody’s oceanfront condo. Last week, […]