Pilot Proficiency

For many pilots, the only time we’ll ever encounter a DME arc is during instrument training or on a check ride. Still, it’s a good idea to know how to fly one. The good news is that a DME arc is simple once you understand how to execute it. One common misconception many pilots have […]

One of the highlights of the 2016 Flying Aviation Expo was the spirited debate between renowned aviation educators John King and Rod Machado over the FAA’s newly implemented Airman Certification Standards, which replaced the decades-old Practical Test Standards. The debate was as informative as it was entertaining, with King and Machado breaking out the facts […]

In an era when technology has evolved as the solution to just about every problem the aviation industry confronts, it’s refreshing to hear a story in which a pilot’s hunch, a gut feeling, played a role in the safe operation of an airplane full of people. The story is worth reading because, although it all […]

An FAA review of helicopter incidents and accidents over the past five years has identified several accidents in which loss of control (LOC) was encountered immediately after liftoff while light on the skids/gear, or from other issues caused by missed checklist items. With those operational issues in mind, the agency recently issued a safety alert […]

If you ask a veteran airline pilot how many occasions he or she has given the command to evacuate an airplane during the course of their careers, most likely the answer will come silently with thumb and index finger forming a goose egg. The answer is a testament to the overall safety of our business. […]

Ferrying light single- and twin-engine airplanes around the world is not a job for the inexperienced or the bold. I am reminded of this fact several times a year on flights in remote parts of the globe. We all have read stories of pilots who push their luck and lose. Some don’t bother with getting […]

Despite our takeoff clearance, I advised Amarillo Tower that we would need to taxi off the runway. My wife couldn’t latch the door on our newest acquisition, a 1972 Piper ­Arrow II. It was my fault. Although our prior airplane, a Cherokee Six, had the same tortuous slam-bang locking system, I forgot that it was […]

A longtime pilot and savvy airplane broker at Lunken Airport named Jerry Swart used to say, “Sooner or later, every crook ends up at the airport.” When you think about it, airports do seem to be a magnet for an array of colorfully shady characters — maybe more so in the days before the “benefits” […]

1. SAT — Static air temperature (sometimes called true air temperature) is the temperature of undisturbed air; that is, the temperature you would read if you could suspend a thermometer out in the air without having the effects (temperature rise) of an airplane moving through the air nearby. In jets, SAT (aka OAT) is determined […]

Cessna 152 Newnan, Georgia / Injuries: 1 Uninjured The solo student pilot reported that he was on final approach for a full stop landing when he observed another airplane waiting for the active runway. He intentionally landed long to accommodate the traffic and then “made [the] decision to keep up speed” in order to exit […]