“This whole thing of ‘The sky is the limit’ — it’s not,” says professional aerobatic pilot Rob Holland. “The sky is just a playground.” Nothing could be closer to the truth when it comes to people who engage in extreme flying adventures. Whether they fly powered or nonpowered aircraft, these individuals are pushing the boundaries […]
The technology you have in your glass panel, smartphone and the tablet you use in the cockpit? It turns out the same hardware and software putting a blue dot on a moving map-and displaying an accurate artificial horizon-also can be used to operate a small, airborne robot: a drone. Formally known as an unmanned aircraft system, UAS, theyve grown in sophistication and utility to the point Congress in 2012 told the FAA to come up with a framework integrating them into the national airspace system.
Traffic patterns arent that hard: Fly a rectangle. One side is the downwind; one side has the final approach and departure paths. Simple, right? Not really. One of the problems is all those turns we have to make align the airplane with the runway or the downwind. And some of those turns are close to the ground, at relatively low speeds and are poorly executed. Sadly, the results of steep turns to final-especially when overshooting the runways extended centerline-can be fatal.
The trip to the in-laws had gone about as well as those things can. We were airborne in a rented Piper Arrow II-the kind with the Hershey bar wings-headed back home. But first, we had to negotiate a line of thunderstorms. I knew they were there when I took off. But Ive always had pretty good luck in picking my way through them along this route without getting wet. So off we went.
While it would be foolhardy to attempt a challenging back-country landing if your only recent experience involves shooting ILSes, the same cannot be said for low-level maneuvering: Its always a bad idea. In fact, low-level maneuvering, according to AOPA Air Safety Institutes 23rd Joseph T. Nall Report, a regular look-see at general aviation accidents, is one of the two leading causes of pilot-related fatalities.
They go by different nicknames-George and Otto probably are the most popular-and have become an integral part of even a basic IFR platforms standard equipment, especially when flown single-pilot. And because the latest high-tech versions on the market can do just about anything for you except eliminate a potty stop, theyve proliferated throughout all segments of the general aviation fleet. They, of course, are autopilots-electromechanical systems used to control an aircraft, and available in a wide variety of configurations and capabilities from simple wing-levelers to full-blown flight directors rivaling the modern transport jet you rode in last week.
In many conversations with instrument instructors, Ive noted a common concern about the way many pilots conclude practice precision approaches (ILS or GPS LPV) under the hood: They do a great job of keeping the needles near the center as decision altitude nears; airspeed, descent rate and heading all would be appropriate. But when the hood came off at DA and the pilot spotted the runway, it was Katie bar the door. What happened next can be summarized as a whirlwind of activity in the left seat as the power was yanked back, flap deflection increased and a dive for the runway threshold commenced. It was as if there were some sort of prize for landing short.
FreeFlight Systems has introduced an ADS-B Out unit for light general aviation airplanes that’s fully compliant with the FAA’s 2020 NextGen mandate at a rock-bottom price of under $2,000. There’s “no fine print,” the company promises, and the unit includes everything you’ll need for ADS-B compliance, including a TSO’d ADS-B Out transceiver, built-in WAAS GPS […]
The General Aviation Awards program and the FAA revealed the winners of the 2014 National GA awards, which each year recognize top aviation professionals for their contributions to general aviation. The recipients are Mary Schu of Tualatin, Oregon, who was named Certificated Flight Instructor (CFI) of the Year; Donald Streitenberger Jr. of Cincinnati, Aviation Maintenance […]
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