Pilot Proficiency

(May 2011) I remember early in my training for my Private certificate, Jack Secor, my instructor, suggested that, while I was out doing my solo flights, rather than just flying around enjoying myself, I could use the time more productively to do some slow flight and practice stall recoveries. That practice and subsequent frequent refresher […]

When I was getting ready for a check ride the other day, I mentioned to my primary instructor, Bill Ball, that I’d been nervous about it for the past day and a half. He nodded. After all, he’s a pilot too. It’s too easy to forget that that the person with the clipboard has to […]

At the risk of sounding like a certain evangelical radio preacher who made a prediction that didn’t pan out, I’m going out on a limb to proclaim that general aviation is on the cusp of returning to a period of sustained growth after two and half years of economic turmoil. There are plenty of reasons […]

(May 2011) DID WE ACTUALLY MAKE a better pilot out of anybody, save any lives or keep any bent airplanes from littering the landscape? Who knows, but we sure had a good time putting on Wings Weekend at Hogan Field or, more properly, Butler County Regional Airport in Hamilton, Ohio. It started with me (and […]

DO YOU REMEMBER THE Venn diagrams used in math and logic classes to illustrate relationships between sets? That is what comes to my mind when trying to understand who can and can’t fly light-sport aircraft … well, actually there is no “can’t.” Most of us in aviation know that six years into the Sport Pilot/LSA […]

You may be reluctant to drink a lot of water before a flight because of the lack of in-flight facilities. Instead, you may drink a big cup of coffee right before you take off to help you stay alert. But caffeine is a diuretic, so not only does it make you want to go to […]

1. Fly with Discipline Do things right and do them the same way. Use checklists. Develop habits. Brief the approach. Focus during high workload phases, and observe a sterile cockpit, even when solo, on departure and arrival. 2. Make Things Easy Complex procedures, dicey weather, unfamiliar airplanes and new places all add to workload and […]

Sadly, it was a rare sight (and sound) over Geneva this week: a lone, single-engine airplane scooting overhead as a group of journalists together with our gracious dinner hosts from Rockwell Collins enjoyed the view from La Perle du Lac restaurant overlooking Lac Leman. A few miles away inside the city’s Palexpo Center, the site […]

__My wife’s sister invited my wife and I to spend Memorial Day weekend with her and her husband in Cape May, New Jersey. An early summer visit to the Jersey shore sounded like fun, plus I could fly us there in our Cessna Skyhawk. Our plan was to fly out on Saturday, spend a couple […]

For all you new aviators out there, here’s a simple tip that can instantly make you a better pilot while simultaneously impressing your flight instructor: Learn to relax. When they’re starting out, most new pilots tend to concentrate so hard on a particular flight maneuver, whether it’s a stall, a steep turn or approach and […]