Pilot Proficiency

After a weekend with friends at Kentucky’s Lake Cumberland, my niece and her husband were packing up for the drive home. Somebody tossing garbage bags into a dumpster spied a bundle of discarded Playboy magazines in pristine condition all from the 1980s. “Any of you guys interested in old Playboy magazines?” My psychologist nephew-in-law, Jim, […]

Minneapolis-St. Paul Inter-national Airport (KMSP) ranks 16th in the nation for air traffic, a constant mix of airline, business aviation and military airplanes. It’s harried enough to also challenge some general aviation pilots. A great alternative to KMSP sits just five miles northeast, St. Paul’s Downtown Holman Airport. KSTP’s Runway 32 stretches 6,500 feet and […]

Even the simplest instrument approach can present challenges to pilots who don’t plan ahead, but in this month’s chart, the ILS Runway 21 at Flagstaff Pulliam Airport, Arizona (FLG), pilots will encounter some issues unique to flying an approach into an airport with an elevation in excess of 7,000 feet—7,003 feet to be exact. This […]

With Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport (ATL) notorious as the busiest airport in the US—with passengers carried at just over 103 million—the air traffic in the Atlanta area can, at times, be intense. DeKalb-Peachtree (PDK), just 17 nautical miles northeast, is a perfect GA airport for anyone visiting the metro area interested in avoiding ATL traffic. […]

Gaithersburg is the choice for many pilots who don’t want to fly into Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) or aren’t able to fly into Washington’s Reagan National Airport (DCA). The Montgomery County Airpark (GAI) sits roughly 25 miles north of the nation’s capital, making for a short drive to downtown Washington. The airpark’s single 4,202-foot […]

A. Map on the Ground Think of a taxi chart like a road map, assuming you’re old enough to remember one of those. Without charts on their kneeboards or iPads, pilots might have no idea of where they’re expected to taxi before ground control begins issuing clearances. The airport diagram helps pilots understand taxiway and […]

Maybe it’s because the long Midwestern winter is not yet over, but the idea that approach procedures are like snowflakes comes to mind. From a broad view, they’re all the same with minimum weather requirements, descents, altitude restrictions, and missed approaches. But, up close, no two are alike. Such is the case during a short […]

(This is the first of a four-part series of articles in which contributing editor Fred Simonds will fully explore common, oft-fatal mistakes that we pilots make. This first article merely relates a number of ultimately harmless incidents that will serve as illustrations on which we’ll build in subsequent articles. As I read Fred’s manuscript, I […]

The flight is almost over now. You’re on that early portion of the downwind, that time when the power is pulled back, and the airplane is slowing in preparation for landing. The air is like a glass-topped coffee table: smooth and clear. This gliding feeling reminds you of ice sliding on a smooth surface. Through […]

For so many reading this profile, “giving back” through some form of philanthropic flying is a big part of why we fly. To see the smile on a child’s face when a rescued puppy is delivered to its forever family, or taking a person up for their first taste of what our world of flight […]