Pilot Proficiency

When I was a new pilot I got in hot water with a controller one time, and rightfully so, for forgetting to tell him I was on a three-mile final, as he’d requested I report to him. I could have made a couple of reasonable excuses, including that it was a busy flight (which it […]

This Memorial Day weekend was my most special one to date. While I didn’t celebrate it the way it was intended – in remembrance of the members of our Armed Forces who gave their lives to protect our freedom – I had a chance to visit the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills, […]

As we tracked west over the Straits of Florida’s calm teal- and azure-swirled waters, flying at an altitude of 1,500 feet and just south of the Overseas Highway that links the chain of islands leading to the southernmost tip of the United States, I couldn’t help but marvel at the 127.5 miles of roadway and […]

It was June 1974, and I had taken a respite from the summer session at the University of Mississippi Law School to come home for the weekend. I couldn’t think of a better way to shake off some academic cobwebs than to take my father’s 1967 Cherokee Six 300 up for some lazy Saturday afternoon […]

I am not having a good time: It’s a springlike, bluebird day, more like April than February, and 72B is sitting in Piqua, Ohio, for its annual spa treatment; my tooth ached all weekend (why do toothaches always start on Friday nights?) and was cured expertly but painfully with a root canal on Monday; and […]

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 G. Mason, who frequently flies into Cherokee County Airport in a PA-24. Here’s what he has to say about the airport’s FBO. S&S Aviation Canton, Georgia “I fly […]

The other day I read about an accident that happend in a neighborhood in the Los Angeles, California area. As I was flying over the congested spread of the city later that day I was contemplating what my options would be should I have an engine failure. With the crowded streets, tightly packed homes and […]

It has been eight months now since the ink dried on my ATP and Learjet type rating, and I am just now getting my feet damp. Though I had some wonderful introductory flights in Elite Air’s Lear 31A this past summer, it hasn’t been until a recent spate of trips that I have really gotten […]

The bulk of my flying with our airline for almost two decades has been over water. A good portion of those hours has involved interaction with the oceanic division of the New York Air Route Traffic Control Center. In that regard, when I received an invitation from Mike Golden, Oceanic Airspace and Procedures Support manager, […]

When we think about keeping our landing skills sharp, generally that means going out on days when the wind is blowing straight across the runway to hone our crosswind technique. That makes sense since we never know what the wind might be doing at the destination and we need to be ready for anything. But […]