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Pilots love to scoff at the aerophobes who express fear at the prospect of light plane flying.

The most dangerous thing about flying is the drive to the airport, might be the amiable retort.

Some sayings persist because the truth they carry is evident. Others endure because no one has seriously challenged their worth.

Dr. Gerald Fairbairn, professor of aviation at Daniel Webster College and a long-time flight instructor, challenges the notion that light plane flying is even remotely as safe as driving. In so doing, he suggests a look beneath the surface of aviation safety. Look at what constitutes risk, why it is there, and how it can be mitigated.

Fairbairn is not decisively…

I really like Aviation Safety, but after I read Climb and Maintain What? [Risk Management, December] I wondered how it got there. Then I thought it might have really been a plant to get readers to write on this topic.

I agree that the hemispherical rule has its problems, exactly as outlined. To address these, I was taught during my primary instruction to fudge a bit on the altitude. Therefore I might cruise at 4400, or 5650, within 250 ft of the xx,500 ft levels during VFR. In fact, my instructor never wanted us at an even height of x,500 or x,000, even when too low for the hemispherical rule, and I stay away from those altitudes still. In 500 hours, I have had 3 near-misses, sepa…

Something about flying a twin grabs your attention. Sitting up high, a fistful of throttles, clear one, turning one – it all adds up to a feeling of power and control.

Thats appropriate, of course, because power and control are the big issues in learning to fly a light twin. Its not a matter of having power and control, its that you can lose them very quickly when something goes wrong. Flying a light twin isnt for everyone, and its not a panacea that takes all the risk out of flying. But with proper instruction, flying a twin is, in some ways, as good as it gets.

Are Two Better Than One?
The biggest myth of light twins is that they are inherently safer than singles…

I was on a cross-country flight in instrument weather with my family in a rented Cessna 177RG. We were headed from Houston to Graham, Texas, which is west of Fort Worth.

This model 177 does not allow selection of the right fuel tank or left fuel tank only. Its similar to a 152 in that the choice is either fuel on or fuel off. I was surprised when I checked out in the airplane and flew an instrument refresher two days prior to the trip that a complex airplane was designed in this manner – and I have more than 5,800 hours in light aircraft and another 2,200 in jets and turboprops.

I was at 4,000 feet when, after about 1 hour of flying time, I became convinced I was experiencing a fuel i…

Although you hate to admit it, some pilots just seem to be asking for it. They fly like drunken outlaw motorcyclists, always dodging regs and cutting corners. You can usually spot their aircraft by the duct tape on the landing gear. When these guys crash their airplanes, you shake your head knowingly and say, What the hell was he thinking, anyway?

At the other end of the scale, there are those times when a highly trained, proficient, conscientious pilot augers one in. When it happens to airliners the feds spare no effort until they get to a conclusion the experts can live with. But among general aviation crashes, the scorched earth approach to accident investigation falls victim to too…

There comes a time in almost every pilots career when the need arises to transit high terrain or overfly weather at an altitude in the low to mid teens.

Sometimes the climb is planned, such as crossing a mountain pass in the west or the Appalachians in the east. Sometimes its not, like when trying to overfly building cumulus clouds on a summer morning. In either case, the flight to higher altitude is generally intended to be brief and the need for supplemental oxygen is often written off.

These flights seem to start out smoothly. Once you climb, you wonder why you dont fly high more often. Things are going well – very well, in fact. You realize you havent felt this well in years….

Consider the pilot – a creature of superior intelligence and drive who tires easily of the mundane in the search for new adventure. The pilot looks to the sky and sees romance where the rest of humanity sees only a place from which rain falls. The pilot is the quintessential lover and like anyone in love is completely blind to the reality of relationships. In our case its the relationship to our passengers.

We pilots havent a clue what passengers expect when they climb into our machines. We assume they share our passion for flying, but we forget that it was we who left the real world to gain our wings. Whenever we make that occasional foray back to share our gift, the recipients might…

Most of the time American aviators learn and study about American accidents, but accident reports and studies from other countries can also pack useful lessons. For example, one interesting difference between flying in the United States and many other countries is the freedom to fly VFR at night. Most countries require pilots to be instrument rated and to be on a IFR flight plan to fly at night. Many others do not allow single engine flying at night.

Within the U.S. and a handful of other countries, single engine night VFR flying is accepted without question. However, pilots and investigators from countries that do not allow single engine night VFR flying can cite relevant accident stati…

The FAA has set minimum requirements that pilots must meet in order to legally fly, but meeting those minimums probably arent enough to keep you safe.

A couple of years ago Daniel Webster College established an orientation program for incoming freshmen in which they would be indoctrinated into the ways of college life. One speaker, a professor of Humanities, discussed the virtues of the educated man in days gone by versus the learned man or woman of today. One of his points was that although there was a time when an individual could, in fact, read every book in existence and learn all that educated people should know, those days were long gone. His point was that it is no longer possib…

You are flying a well-appointed, 180-hp Cessna 172 and with a friend have just taken off from Aspen, Colo., on a trip back to Wichita. You make a right climbing turn over the hills north of the airport and, at 80 knots, continue climbing to the southeast. The air has a gentle texture, not even light turbulence.

As you gain altitude in the valley of the Roaring Fork River you are below the tops of the mountains. The September gold of the aspens is phenomenal. Theres a cloudless, blue sky. You are feeling good because you flew in and out of Aspen successfully and didnt foul up in the busy mix of aircraft types and opposite direction traffic on runway 15-33.

Your airplane rises steadil…