Pilot Proficiency

Even if you only fly VFR in good weather, it pays to check for the location of instrument approaches along your route of flight. Just as you always ensure that your course doesn’t take you dangerously close to terrain or obstacles, you also want to avoid flying through the inbound course of an approach that […]

I gazed at the pile of Jepp binders that were scattered across my desk: United States, Europe, Latin America, Pacific, Far East, 777 ops manual, company manual. I sighed with a wary smile. Was it possible that I would never again have to clack open metal rings and replace pages upon pages of approach plates […]

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 Mike “Gunner” Thompson, who recently flew into Page Field Airport in Fort Myers, Florida, in a Piper Archer II. Here’s what he had to say about one of […]

Night flying presents enough of an additional challenge to us pilots that the FAA maintains certain requirements for night-specific training for the Private and Commercial Pilot Certificates and for night flying currency in order to carry passengers. In order to be safe at night, panel and cockpit lighting is important as it ensures that you […]

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 Jim Urban, who recently flew into Traverse City, Michigan’s Cherry Capital Airport in a Cessna 210. Here’s what he had to say about one of the airport’s FBOs, […]

In the FAA’s rush to shut down scores of the nation’s contract control towers, nobody within the agency saw it necessary to perform a thorough analysis of the potential safety ramifications. Nor did the agency conduct a comprehensive cost-benefit analysis to consider, among other things, the millions of dollars it took to build the towers […]

Emergencies are rare, but they happen quickly, and being prepared maximizes the likelihood of a good ending to the day. Of the many numbers associated with flying, the best glide speed is one of the most important. The best glide speed allows you to glide the farthest, giving you time to investigate and fix an […]

The winds of fate can blow with a gentle moderate assistance, or they can be right on the nose at 80 knots. Fate is the hunter, as Ernie Gann so eloquently put it, and the winds are frequently the weapon of choice. No matter what you fly today, winds will have a heavy effect on […]

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 Richard Johnston, who recently flew into Carlsbad’s McClellan-Palomar Airport in a Piper Saratoga. Here’s what he had to say about one of the airport’s FBOs, Western Flight Services: […]

With a publishing history that stretches back to 1927, some history told within the pages of Flying Magazine is bound to repeat itself. Reflecting on the October 1944 issue of Flying, which featured naval aviation at war, Edward Sarkisian retells his account of his father, Ed Sarkisian, who was onboard the USS Yorktown as it […]