Pilot Proficiency

(November 2011) In November 1954, having accumulated a bit more than 26 solo hours flying 65 hp Cubs and Aeroncas, and having become an aircraft owner several months before, I was supremely confident in my flying abilities. Nevertheless I deferred to my medical school classmate, Ed, a veteran, older by 10 years than most others […]

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 Thomas O’Donnell, who recently flew into Sonoma County Airport in a Cessna 182. Here’s what he has to say about one of the airport’s FBOs, KaiserAir. KaiserAir (KSTS) […]

As more and more pilots get their training at large, controlled airports with long, flat, paved runways, fewer new pilots have much, if any, real-world experience dealing with sloping runways. Even some seasoned pilots experience problems at a new airport with a runway of a different size or slope than what they’re used to. One […]

A single-engine accident in Florida recently in which two people died shortly after takeoff reminded me of another high-performance single-engine airplane accident that happened at Santa Monica airport in 2009. A SIAI-Marchetti SF-260C crashed onto the runway shortly after taking off, killing two people onboard. I’m not suggesting that the cause of the accidents were […]

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 Carol Bailey, who flew into Hutchinson County Airport earlier this year in a Cessna 182 while on her way to the 2011 Air Race Classic. Here’s what she […]

Sitting in the jump seat of a corporate Gulfstream G450 on approach to Morristown Municipal Airport’s Runway 5, I saw the tiny starlings a fraction of a second before the copilot called out, matter-of-factly, “Birds.” We flew through an entire flock of the little creatures and, although I was pretty sure we’d hit more than […]

(November 2011) Just another couple hundred feet should do it; the cloud is much lighter now. There are rips and tears in the fabric of the moisture. If I crane my neck I can see some blue up there; at least I think it is blue. I can feel the sun trying to get through. […]

Like so many things in life, from cooking a turkey to getting an education, a typical flight progresses in phases. The way the human mind seems to work, we like to put things into “beginning,” “middle” and “end” categories. While helpful with most things, this structure doesn’t do justice to the way a flight really […]

Days after setting up a website to allow the public to report instances of lasers being pointed at aircraft in flight, the FAA is urging witnesses to contact police after someone pointed a green laser at six airliners on approach to New York LaGuardia Airport over the weekend. The laser was shined from a point […]

Flying into the Los Angeles area at night presents the pilot and passengers with an aerial view of millions of homes, cars and billboards lighting up the ground. If you haven’t had an opportunity to experience the flight in person, this video takes you on the Sadde Six Arrival over Thousand Oaks, Malibu, Santa Monica, […]