Jumpseat

Challenging questionable pilot behavior.

Connecting with the past via a Piper Arrow.

A retired commercial pilot takes a trip to Iceland in a non-flying seat.

The unanticipated consequences of hiring incentives.

Airline-style aeronautical decision making at the lower levels

This story originally published in the September 2004 issue of Flying Magazine. It is about six o’clock in the morning. I am witnessing a brilliant golden sunrise; a few layers of thin clouds accent the picturesque view. The New York City skyline begins to appear as a faint silhouette on the horizon. I am seated […]

As a longtime contributor to Flying, I have been blessed with the good fortune of attending many events, including airshows. Having spent a career mostly mastering the art of straight-and-level flight in the stratosphere, I have tremendous admiration for the aviators that perform physics-defying maneuvers at stepladder altitudes. I am awed by the skills involved. […]

When the text blipped across my iPhone screen, I couldn’t help but grin. My friend—and JetBlue captain—Mike Strauss and his wife, Christa, were inviting my wife and I to his newly purchased home in Colorado. One of the attractive aspects of the invitation was that the trip out west would be flown in his Cessna […]

Readers of this publication are more intimate than most with the circumstances surrounding the tragedy of the Boeing 737 Max, but just as a review, the crashes of Lion Air Flight 610 in October 2018 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 five months later are all attributed to the malfunction of the maneuvering characteristics augmentation system. […]

I coasted the rental car into the parking lot of what remained of Camillus Airport (NY25) in New York and attempted to transport myself back in time. The view before me was disorienting. Surrounding structures and driveways had been added. The FBO office and hangar locations appeared to have been relocated. I knew that the […]