Pilot Proficiency

Anybody can submit an online petition to the White House on any topic they choose — and that’s just what somebody has done in the wake of FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt’s abrupt departure from the agency this week, in an attempt to build public support for an intriguing potential replacement: Capt. Chesley Sullenberger, known better […]

The grass strip where I learned to fly in a Piper J-3 Cub in the late 1980s served as an ideal training environment for a new pilot — for about nine months out of the year, that is. In winter, the 1,900-foot turf runway would usually be covered in snow, ice, mud or sometimes a […]

Randy Babbitt resigned late Tuesday as FAA Administrator two days after he was arrested in Fairfax, Virginia, for alleged drunk driving. Fairfax police said that the administrator was driving on the wrong side of the road. It is the policy of Fairfax police to release the names of public officials they arrest and to not […]

Fairfax, Virginia, police arrested FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt this weekend for drunk driving. Babbitt was allegedly under the influence of alcohol and driving on the wrong side of Old Lee Highway in Fairfax when he was pulled over. Babbitt was alone in the automobile, according to reports. The city does not release blood alcohol levels […]

Many pilots have a list of favorite airports where they know they can get a decent hamburger or engage in some friendly banter with the locals. If you fly a minimum number of hours a year and tend to stay in your local area, however, it’s easy to lose the skills you attain by varying […]

(December 2011) Three and a half years ago I wrote about the Mitsubishi MU-2 controversy (“Dangerous Airplanes or Dangerous Pilots?” — May 2008). For much of its life, the MU-2 had the unenviable status of having one of the worst turboprop accident rates and fatal accident rates. People wrote articles questioning the sanity of anyone […]

When I read about the lack of progress at the Northern Island redevelopment near downtown Chicago in political columnist Greg Hinz’s blog last week, I felt a familiar sense of nausea. It was the feeling I got when I first saw a picture of the large Xs carved into one of the most incredible aviation […]

Limit Slips and Slides Most of the incidents and a few of the accidents every winter result from trying to taxi, land or take off in conditions not suitable for such operations. Winter weather can make ground ops treacherous in a number of ways. Icy runways can cause loss-of-control accidents on landing, which can be […]

When it comes to winter flying, don’t let the weather catch you off guard. Check the following preflight items off your list to ensure a safe and trouble-free flight. • Before your launch date, watch the weather, focusing on fronts, forecasts, icing and winds aloft. • Preheat that engine, a must in my book if […]

(December 2011) If you live in a snowy climate, chances are good your logbook looks a little thin during the winter months. It’s happened to me. I started flying for transportation shortly after I moved to Connecticut in the mid-1990s direct from sunny southern California. Even after I had my instrument rating, the winter played […]