Pilot Proficiency

Last week my wife and I departed Deer Valley Airport, in Phoenix in our Cessna 177RG. Before departing we received a complicated taxi clearance to what looked like a parking lot at the end the active runway. Deer Valley calls itself the busiest general aviation airport in the country with lots of flight training. The parking lot was just a run-up area, able to handle lots of planes.

It wasn’t long after takeoff that I noticed that my ammeter showed a steady discharge of 3 or 4 amps. The ammeter reads charging current going to the battery, and so it ought to show 10 or 15 amps at first, gradually diminishing as the battery regains the energy it expended during start-up and taxi. […]

I have been thinking about some fascinating but challenging situations — events you hope never to encounter that involve decisions and require reactions to life-or-death consequences. “When to give up,” a decision not naturally part of most pilots’ DNA, has been rattling around in my brain for a long time, so here goes. Two events […]

Summer, glorious summer! It snuck right up on me. Sailing the relentlessly sunny Caribbean for seven months aboard Windbird, the pageantry of northern seasons played out distantly across the flickering screens of muted beach-bar TVs: Halloween horror flicks, cable-news Snowmageddons, Yankees-Red Sox at Fenway Park. So when Dawn and I hurricane-prepped and hauled Windbird at […]

There was a lot of blood in the water as we flew over the bowhead whale being harvested for the sustenance of the native Inupiat community of Barrow, Alaska. It was a thought-provoking and broadening experience of the type we found we were having regularly after we began flying our own airplane for transportation. Personal […]

As we taxied in, Roland, whom I’ve known for 35 years, marshaled us slowly, almost solemnly, with a look of anguish on his countenance. It was immediately clear that things were worse than I thought. He pointed his orange wand at the right wing and shook his head. I knew we had hit a bird. […]

Everything You Need to Know about RNAV GPS Approaches

Examining the aftermath of a mysterious, fatal crash of a 1950s Air Force trainer.

Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport (BKL) now holds the title of “that fantastic little airport by the lake,” a slogan once reserved for the now-defunct Chicago Meigs Field (CGX). BKL gets lots of use by corporate and private aircraft by offering easy access to downtown Cleveland, the football stadium, the aquarium and, of course, the Rock […]

Pilots transitioning to turboprop-powered airplanes or those who want to learn more can get a better understanding of the Pratt & Whitney PT6 engine they operate through FlightSafety International’s PT6 engine familiarization course. “The course includes basic theory, engine to airframe interface, and best practices while operating the engine,” said FlightSafety’s senior vice president of […]