Search Results for: Cessna 172

While visiting France a few years ago, I found an Aero Club that would let me fly with one of their pilots. At the club I was introduced to M. Bus, a retired businessman. My French was barely better than his English, but we spoke the common language of aviation. The airplane was a Piper […]

Epic Flight Academy has trained thousands of pilots who have gone on to careers at more than 300 airlines worldwide, according to the company. And they pride themselves on being able to move students from around the world through a training course in the most efficient way. So it makes sense that Epic would look […]

On a Sunday morning in April 2004, an air-ambulance helicopter approaching to land in VFR conditions found a blanket of fog forming over the Ukiah Municipal Airport (KUKI) in California. The automatic surface-observation system reported a 100-foot overcast and visibility between 1 and 1¾ miles. The ATP-rated pilot obtained a clearance for the localizer approach […]

As pilots, we try not to draw too many parallels between driving a car and flying an airplane, because they don’t have much in common aside from moving your body quickly through space. One place this really rings true sits in front of you when you get into the cockpit: the instrument panel. It’s the […]

There are a few moments in life that are truly memorable. It might be the day you held your first driver’s license, a crazy party to celebrate your 21st birthday, your very first kiss or the birth of a child. For most pilots, the first flight lesson is an experience that will trigger the limbic […]

Flying may be a dream you’ve had since childhood, or maybe it represents a new challenge later in life waiting to be conquered. You know it will be exhilarating to enjoy the freedom general aviation will give you, but you may think the cost of such freedom is out of reach. While the privileges that […]

The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association’s Air Safety Institute (ASI) has released a new episode of its Reality Check video series focused on a topic that never seems to lose any energy, at least in the debate: the 180-degree turn back to the runway after an engine failure just after takeoff. Traditionally, most of the […]

Most pilots have at one time or another read an NTSB accident report created by the independent US agency responsible for investigating mishaps in all forms of transportation. And most of us have thought: “Wow. I’d never do anything as crazy as that pilot.” Yet pilots of all categories continue to make mind-numbing mistakes in […]

When Kirby and Teresa Ortega retired from Textron Aviation—after a combined 66 years with the company and its predecessor, the Cessna Aircraft Company—they knew that they were far from through with general aviation and flight training. The pilots wanted to develop their own path in teaching folks to fly based on those decades of experience, […]

In the early 1960s, general aviation was experiencing tremendous growth, and Beechcraft wanted a bigger slice of the pie. The competition’s ever-expanding product offerings were not going unnoticed, and Beechcraft decided to expand into new market segments. It developed a new, lower-cost training-and-touring airplane that provided stable comfort for long trips, the sturdiness necessary for […]