Pilot Proficiency

FBO Spotlight: Havasu Air Center (KHII)

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 Tom Bressan, who recently stopped by Havasu Air Center in a Bonanza A36. Here’s what he has to say about the experience. Havasu Air Center (KHII) Lake Havasu […]

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What Will the Jury Think?

Manslaughter charges brought against a New Hampshire private pilot who held only a single-engine land pilot certificate when he crashed his Cessna 310 twin on New Years Day 2011 should serve as a warning to all pilots. The message is this: If you do something dumb in an airplane, not only can people be hurt […]

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Protect the Pitot

Whether it’s a rubber chicken, a pig or a red-ribbon streamer, the pitot tube cover is a critical piece of equipment that is sometimes ignored or forgotten by pilots. Designed to prevent debris or bugs from entering the pitot tube while the airplane is parked, this cover takes seconds to put on and remove. Omitting […]

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Sun ‘n Fun Now ‘StormReady’

The property damage, destruction and flooding caused by the E-1 tornado and torrential downpour that hit the Sun ‘n Fun grounds on March 31, 2011, will likely be on the minds of many as the 38th Annual Sun ‘n Fun International Fly-in & Expo approaches. Though the odds of a repeat performance happening again at […]

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Aviation Biofuel: How Plants Become Jet Fuel

Aviation biofuels hold many promises, perhaps the most important being their ability to yield reductions in greenhouse gases emitted by aircraft in flight. Still, airlines will be willing to transition to sustainable fuels only if there is a financial case to do so. Fuel costs are a significant portion of an airline’s overall operating costs […]

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Bonus Depreciation 101

We’ve all heard the term, but what is bonus depreciation and how does it work? Normally, when a business purchases a piece of durable capital equipment such as a printing press, a backhoe or a corporate jet, that business is allowed to deduct the cost of the equipment from its taxable income, thereby reducing its […]

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FBO Spotlight: Cardinal Air (K5W8)

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 Lin Caywood, who recently stopped by Cardinal Air in Siler City, North Carolina, in a Cessna 182T. Here’s what she has to say about the experience. Cardinal Air […]

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Solar Storm Forces Rerouting of Some Polar Flights

Airlines this week diverted a handful of flights on polar routes to avoid communications disruptions from a solar radiation storm that scientists said was the strongest to hit the Earth since 2005. The geomagnetic storm caused minor disruptions for U.S. airlines, with Delta saying it altered the routes of some Asia-bound flights to more southerly […]

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The Human Factor: The Slippery Slope

(February 2012) At first glance the NTSB report seemed like a typical “non-instrument-rated pilot takes off into IMC conditions” accident. The pilot had accumulated close to 400 hours during the five years since he had earned his private pilot certificate, mostly in the accident airplane. He was eager to depart on a trip that he […]

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Pilot in aircraft
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