Pilot Proficiency

Good habit patterns are the best indications of a good pilot. It’s easy to get lazy when flying non-complex airplanes that don’t require a lot of action on the behalf of the pilot. But if you don’t continue practicing your ingrained habits while flying airplanes that are “easy” to fly, you’ll be sorry once you […]

I’ve been lucky to have flown a lot of airplanes over the past 20 years, almost all of them belonging to other people. Some were high wings; some were low. Some were taildraggers; some were nose pushers. Some were brand new; some were downright decrepit. Some were fast; some were painfully slow. Some were pleasantly […]

“Kick the tires and light the fires.” It’s a comment often heard at general aviation airports. And while many say it with a grin and actually perform a preflight before they take to the skies, most pilots probably don’t take the time to preflight sufficiently. And if they do, it is possible that some items […]

Think you know airplane noise? Put your knowledge of vintage aircraft to the test with our engine sounds quiz. We’ll give you several different engine noises to listen to and then ask you to match them up with the airplanes that make them. Launch the quiz here.

I recently spent a week on a sailboat as a guest of an experienced captain and his first mate – in this case, literally so because she is also his wife. This was my first real exposure to sailing on the open sea, of which past experiences have been confined to the occaisional summer afternoon, […]

It was a picture-perfect early February day in Michigan — clear blue sky, calm wind, 30 degrees Fahrenheit. It was even better because there was no snow on the grass strip. But a storm was forecast to bring 12 inches of snow the next day. That much snow would shut down my flying for days […]

We had departed London and just passed 30 degrees west longitude, slightly less than halfway across the ocean. The flight attendant chime sounded in the cockpit accompanied by the engine instrument and crew alerting system message “cabin call.” I put the interphone handset to my ear. “Les, it’s Liz. We have a woman in coach […]

Forget about flight reviews and instrument competency checks. Part 135 operations are conducted in a thicket of regulations. Among them are the requirements of Section 299: ** a)** “No certificate holder may use a pilot, nor may any person serve as a pilot in command of a flight, unless, since the beginning of the 12th […]

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 Greg Felton, who recently visited Leading Edge Aviation at South Valley Regional Airport in a Cessna 172. Here’s what he has to say about the experience. Leading Edge […]

As the story of air traffic controllers ignoring a recent distress call spread, Flying readers took to Facebook this week to voice their opinions on the incident. Here are some snippets from the informal debate sparked by the story: _“Obviously, the controller had a cognitive bias in place, but I think the whole incident could […]