Pilot Proficiency

In our FBO Spotlight series, we’re highlighting FBOs around the country that have received rave reviews from our readers. The latest Spotlight is brought to you by Don C. Van Cura, Sr., who has nothing but good things to say about the folks at Wisconsin Aviation in the Southeastern region of the state. Wisconsin Aviation […]

In an effort to combat the growing problem of lasers being pointed at aircraft, where they can affect the pilots’ vision, the FAA has created a new website to make it easier for aviators and the public to report laser incidents. The website includes links for reporting laser incidents as well as a database of […]

(October 2011) Signature Engines president Bill Schmidt and the company’s chief security officer, Boo Radley, strolled across the ramp to my hangar last week as I was debugging the 180. Boo is actually a spoiled but lovable mutt rescued by Bill and named for the lonely character in To Kill a Mockingbird. Summer flying in […]

(October 2011) The concept of staying current always seemed an intellectual one to me. While I still had my Cessna Cardinal, I tried to fly it every week or so to keep its fluids — and mine — flowing. As a result, I was able to routinely check off most of the currency boxes without […]

One of the few advantages of aging (or becoming “seasoned,” as my wife calls it) is gaining better perspective of our lives and careers. For me, a constant over the past 40 years has been watching the tragic consistency of the rate and reasons for General Aviation aircraft accidents. On a personal level, I‘ve lost […]

Rescue crews of two airplanes, one a military Hercules, the other a Cessna 172 Skyhawk, went on a search for a downed airplane near Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada last week that is sure to stay in their memories for a while and will also serve as a good lesson in ELT operations. The airplanes were dispatched […]

In our FBO Spotlight series, we’re highlighting FBOs around the country that have received rave reviews from our readers. The latest Spotlight is brought to you by Leonard Ellis, who recently flew into KMEM in a Cessna Centurion and paid a visit to Wilson Air Center. Here’s why he thinks the service at this Tennessee […]

What do airplanes and sharks have in common? Maybe not a whole lot at the moment, but that could change – radically so – if aerodynamics research just getting under way at the University of Alabama pays off. Dr. Amy Lang, endowed with a Lindbergh Foundation grant, has launched a study aimed at determining how […]

Flying New York’s Hudson Valley corridor in the fall is a scenic, almost breathtaking experience. The foliage displays a panoply of autumn of colors, temperatures are cool and crisp, skies are clear and the air is often smooth. Nothing epitomizes autumn in southern New England more than Dutchess County in southeastern New York State. Located […]

Before the introduction of Loran, GPS and integrated glass panel avionics, airplanes were commonly equipped with one or two VOR systems, perhaps an ADF and sometimes a very handy piece of equipment called DME. Transitioning to a new panel mostly required finding the avionics master switch and figuring out how to enter the digits associated […]