Pilot Proficiency

As a former FBO line boy whose job was to wash airplanes, this video makes me cringe. As a pilot, it also makes my palms sweat a little. The airplane is an Antonov An-24. The place is Bodaybo, a gold-mining town in the Russian Far East. The runway is a muddy mess, making the takeoff […]

While you’re probably never likely to encounter** runway contamination as bad as this**, with the coming onset of winter weather, it’s a good idea to start thinking about how slush, ice, mud or standing water can affect your airplane’s performance. The main effect of runway surface contamination on takeoff is reduced acceleration. Beyond that, loose […]

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 Steve Bonine, who has nothing but good things to say about the service at Hangar 10 in Kansas City, Missouri. Hangar 10 (KMKC) Kansas City, Missouri “This FBO […]

I’d planned on telling you today all the reasons why I felt Hawker Beechcraft’s planned sale to Superior Aviation Beijing was very likely on the verge of unraveling. I’ll still do that, but the story took on a new dimension when a press release from Hawker Beechcraft arrived in my e-mail inbox at 8:05 this […]

In our FBO Spotlight series, we’re highlighting FBOs around the country that have received rave reviews. This latest Spotlight is brought to you by Allan Cobb, who has nothing but good things to say about the service at Piper Memorial Airport. “I fly into LHV on a regular basis to visit my daughter who’s attending […]

I attended a forum last weekend at the Museum of Flying adjacent to Santa Monica Airport in which the Friends of Santa Monica Airport (FOSMO) presented questions to potential Santa Monica City Council members. I was shocked at the lack of factual information with which some of the potential council members are basing their decisions […]

I wrote recently in Going Direct about interpreting Nexrad images and the NTSB’s alert about image latency, that is the difference between published image age and its actual age. I got a lot of responses from folks who were concerned about trusting Nexrad images at all. It’s an understandable concern, but if we place zero […]

I was checking out an online preview of a video series by a flight instructor who, for a small charge, promised to teach you to be a better pilot. So, of course, I couldn’t resist critiquing this instructor’s web lesson. He made a lot of little mistakes, mostly having to do with his use of […]

I was on a flight to Brazil as Barack Obama and Mitt Romney squared off in their first presidential debate in Denver last week, and so I missed the live airing of the event. But as soon as I arrived in Sao Jose dos Campos to meet with executives at Embraer (mostly to talk about […]

Some events in flying aren’t covered by our instruction, the reading of popular or safety-specific magazines, or the emergency checklists. During these events, the pilot is left to his or her own devices, perhaps assisted by controllers and even passengers. But in the end, the pilot in command has the ultimate authority. I was presented […]