Search Results for: Cessna 172

“Stalls and spins represent the largest single factor in fatal general aviation accidents.” Surprisingly, this quote wasn’t pulled from the latest FAA news release, but rather from a NASA Langley Research Center newsletter dated April 1977. Forty years later, stall-spins and loss of control remain pinned to the top of the National Transportation Safety Board’s […]

With two Cessna 172s, Flyinn had picked us up at the Queenstown Airport after shuttling our bags over from the main terminal to the general aviation side of the field. Jay and Sandy Rud, our good friends from the Chicago area, were still somewhere behind us, navigating the same bumpy sky in the other 172, […]

To those unfamiliar with formation flying, flight within a wingspan’s distance of another airplane looks eerily similar to an imminent collision. And collisions in airplanes generally don’t end well. But, in some cases, formation flying actually presents a lower risk than flying alone. And besides that, it is some of the most fun and rewarding […]

Linnea Couture is a new instructor with ATP Flight School whose aviation career is just lifting off. Like many aspiring airline pilots, her interest in flying developed during childhood. Her father, an aviation enthusiast and radio controlled (RC) model airplane builder, enjoyed taking Linnea to Chicago O’Hare Airport to watch airplanes. “I was maybe 3 […]

which has since been discontinued. The screenshots above were created using that now-discontinued and unavailable app.üIt’s axiomatic that good risk management begins during the flight-planning phase

Your favorite phrase as a pilot probably isnt, Go around. You might have been set up on final, aircraft perfectly configured, ready to call it a day, and suddenly youve got to throw all that out and try again. For a controller, the go-around is a last-minute tactic to resolve insufficient clearance or some other unexpected danger. Sure, it fixes an immediate problem, but it instantly creates other risks. Whether ATC initiates it, or you do, its adding complexity for everyone involved.

As the pilot shortage becomes an increasing reality with a large percentage of the professional pilot population reaching retirement age, the country is begging for fast-track programs for budding professional pilots. A new program at the International Aero Academy in Lakeland, Florida, promises a lower total cost to achieve the degree program and flight hours […]

Last Thanksgiving, instead of wrestling with turkeys and relatives (not necessarily in that order or degree of difficulty), I fibbed and told my family I’d be out of town. Actually, I’d accepted an invitation from friends who always throw a splendid “do” with a large and eclectic collection of family, friends and assorted “homeless” souls […]

The Vashon Ranger R7 made a surprise entrance after an unusual rollout strategy.

The sun is shining and the fish are calling, but it’s online catch-up day on Windbird. We spent the past week at beautiful, isolated Conception Island, Bahamas: No people, no internet — it was heaven on earth. The news headlines that greeted Dawn and me upon our return made us wish we’d stayed a little […]