Pilot Proficiency

Icing affects flight operations in many ways. Accordingly, we offer some thought-provoking reports from pilots who’ve been there. Little has been said about instrument malfunctions due to icing, and we discuss those in particular. Chilly Carburetors An instrument-rated Commercial pilot operating VFR experienced a sudden power interruption in his Cessna 150, followed by a surge […]

Alteration gives more information and a modern meaning for a common aviation abbreviation.

It must have been about two years after I received my private pilot license in Switzerland. At 28 years of age, I was happily married with two healthy boys, aged 2 and 4, and a promising banking career lying ahead. The world and future looked bright, and I was going to take the opportunity to fly when I […]

(July 2011) It was a silence I wasn’t used to. Actually, it wasn’t all that quiet what with the whirr of hummingbirds’ wings, the braying of burros and the cooing of doves. But what I wasn’t hearing was the sound of airplanes. For the two months I spent in Oaxaca, Mexico, last winter, the skies […]

An unusual pilot’s dramatic crash in the Sunshine State still has investigators wondering what happened many years later.

We taxied up in front of the line of four police cars as we were directed by ground control, instead of to the FBO where our friends were waiting. Martha said, “This is going to be interesting.” As we shut down the engine, we heard the bullhorn aimed at us and a voice: “Pilot, very […]

Teaching people to fly should incorporate risk management, yet currently the test standards for CFIs do not contain a mechanism for evaluating the applicant’s judgement toward risk. This will change with the release of the airman certification standards for CFIs, a document currently in development. The date for the release has not been set; however, […]

A “silver splash” this week in Wichita: Bombardier made the decision just 60 days ago to host its 25th Safety Standdown in person—but the mature event has once again drawn a significant cross-section of professional pilots and corporate flight departments attending. The two-day symposium runs Tuesday and Wednesday at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, with a […]

It wasn’t a hung start, exactly, but it wasn’t a normal start either. The N2 spun up smartly and fuel flow was normal. The engine began to accelerate, but then it hesitated. The interstage turbine temperature, which had been rising normally, had a sinking spell. Before I could think to do anything about shutting off […]

Peter Garrison explains how jets produce thrust and recips produce torque.