Pilot Proficiency

Without regular practice, skills can grow rusty.

If an automated surface observation system does not have a lightning sensor in the array, it may still report lightning.

Watching fireworks shows from the air can be done safely and legally, provided you take some precautions.

Every five years, such decisions are based on how much the Earth’s magnetic field changes.

The requirement for light sport aircraft is a maximum gross weight of no more than 1,320 pounds for land-based aircraft.

Flight experiences need to be documented but not necessarily in the pilot logbook.

Summer is the ideal time to take the plane out and visit fly-ins, see some old friends, and seek out the hundred-dollar hamburger. It’s easy to fall into the mindset that wintertime hazards are gone, the turbulent weather of spring is over, and winds are light and variable. Mostly true, but there are still problems […]

A new report analyzing night flight accidents identifies the top four causal factors.

Rain showers and thunderstorms are one and the same from a pilot’s perspective.

Airplanes use two types of control-surface balance: aerodynamic and mass.