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Our coverage of the FAAs Compliance Philosophy (April 2016 and April 2017 and in this issue) begs the question of how generally well-intentioned and experienced pilots fall out of compliance in the first place. A little research shows that falling onto the dark side can be slow and insidious with undesired side effects, eventually capable of triggering an incident or accident. …

After Oshkosh last year, many people, including EAA chairman Jack Pelton, proclaimed it perhaps the best AirVenture ever. The show was well-run, hundreds of thousands of visitors poured through the gates and the weather was, for the most part, delightful. Most people we spoke with at AirVenture 2017 acknowledged that it’s another blockbuster show, with […]

Flight Design, the European manufacturer of light sport airplanes, has completed the sale of all major company assets to the German investment group Lift Holding, allowing for the resumption of work on the C4, a Part 23-certified four-seater with a projected selling price of $250,000. The newly realigned company, which entered receivership last year, will […]

Hundreds of people were in attendance as four general aviation leaders — EAA President Jack Pelton, AOPA President Mark Baker, NBAA President and CEO Ed Bolen, and GAMA President Pete Bunce — spoke out on ATC privatization at AirVenture Oshkosh on Monday afternoon. Recently, more than 170 general aviation associations joined together to oppose the […]

Last week after Garmin announced its first retrofit autopilots, the GFC 500 and GFC 600, the aviation community cheered — and then wondered if more products from other manufacturers would quickly follow. Boy did they ever. This week at AirVenture, the autopilot party continues as sub-$20,000 systems from Genesys Aerosystems (formerly S-TEC), BendixKing, TruTrak and […]

One year ago this week, the B-29 Superfortress endearingly known as Doc took flight for the first time in 60 years. Doc has since been cleared to fly around the country for a triumphant tour to show off the amazing restoration job completed by Doc’s Friends, and next week the glorious B-29 will attend its […]

Unless youre flying a hot-air balloon, a sailplane or something with an engine that must be hand-propped, your aircraft has an electrical system. It may power only the basic equipment, like lights and the engines starter motor, or it can power everything, including the landing gear, flaps and flight instruments. Modern systems-and even those aboard so-called legacy aircraft-usually are relatively simple and robust, with well-understood components and maintenance requirements.

We all know the hazardous attitudes the FAA wants us to understand. Concepts like anti-authority, impulsivity and invincibility have no real place in the cockpit. Now, Im going to add one more: the desire to be helpful, or the motivation to please others. One of my big motivations in life is to be helpful to others. I enjoy writing for this magazine, for example, because it is helpful to other pilots. I also get great pleasure in being a solution to other peoples problems.

The problem with an airplane like that is you cant really use it for travel, said a pilot looking out the FBO window at a Cherokee 140 sitting on the ramp. That pilot was saying that an entry-level airplane-think two or four seats, fixed gear and no more than 160 hp-cant go places. Show me where it says that. Its hard to imagine Charles Lindbergh shrugging off the Ryan NYP because it barely made 110…

Unusual attitude recovery is a standard part of the FAA checkride for nearly every rating, plus flight reviews and instrument proficiency checks. Pilots dutifully don a hood, put their heads down as an instructor or examiner puts the airplane through a few gyrations and then says, Youve got it. The pilot looks up to see that the airplane is either in a nose-low or nose-high bank and usually makes a power change to help control speed, levels the wings and returns the nose to the horizon before something breaks. A check is placed in the unusual attitudes box and the pilot and instructor move on to other tasks.