Pilot Proficiency

It seems like in many areas people are divided into two camps, with each side strongly supporting its way of thinking while disparaging any other approach. Sometimes the pendulum of opinion swings from one side to the other, never pausing to stop in the middle. A balanced approach is usually more reasonable, applying the appropriate […]

Last weekend, I placed my three-year-old son Benjamin in the co-pilot’s seat of a Piper Archer for the first time. We were going to visit my friends George and John Kounis at an airport nearby and meet their new puppy, Radar. I was really excited to take Benjamin up for a flight and, while I […]

Here’s a tip if you’ve ever wondered when you should start your descent to your arrival airport (assuming you don’t have an FMS with top-of-descent calculation capability). A quick and easy way to figure it out is to start with your altitude above field elevation and multiply that number by three. This will give you […]

I spent a day out in Alabama recently at a storefront flight-training center being operated by Continental Motors as part of an experiment to change up the flight-training game, to find ways to provide training that people can work into their everyday routines more easily. The center makes extensive use of simulators and flight-training devices […]

I wrote last month about our Web feature “Flying ­Magazine’s Top 100 Airplanes,” which we launched on flyingmag.com just before the big airshow in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, in July. As you might have heard, the list was an immediate hit, generating nearly 2 million views within just days of its release. Within that short span it […]

What kinds of things should pilots practice regularly once they obtain their pilot certificate? Max Trescott is the 2008 National Certificated Flight Instructor of the Year. Based in Palo Alto, California, he teaches in glass cockpit aircraft and in Lake amphibians. He also publishes aviation books and software available through g1000book.com. He says: Celebrate your […]

While the copilot and I began the process of preparing our 757 for a trip from JFK to Montego Bay, Jamaica, my stomach prepared itself for an attack. I was beginning to feel a mild churning sensation. The frou-frou coffee I had ordered at the airport from a franchise chain that will remain anonymous was […]

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 our Editor-in-Chief, Robert Goyer, who recently flew into Austin Straubel International Airport in a Cessna Citation. Here’s what he has to say about one of the airport’s FBOs, Jet Air Group. […]

A few weeks ago, Neil Glazer from Pilot Mall invited me to tag along on a fly-in trip to the Bahamas in his Mooney Ovation. The annual trip is put on by the Bahamas Tourist Office as a way to educate American pilots about the processes involved in the quick international journey and about everything […]

We’ve all noticed it: In the last year or so there has been an exponential increase in the number of pilot-shot videos on YouTube thanks to the popularity of portable HD cameras from companies like GoPro, JVC and Pure Digital Technologies, maker of the Flip. Some pilots are even using suction-cup mounts to affix their […]