Pilot Proficiency

When I first started flying Part 135 on five-day rotations, I ­anticipated meeting up with earthbound friends on overnights in ­Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, New Haven, Boston and Bozeman. I further expected to fetch up in various locales with flying friends on their trips. For airline friends, I thought Baltimore, New York, LA, Oakland, […]

There are airplanes out there, and I know it because they’re all stepping on each other over the radio. The CTAF is a cacophony of squeaks, squawks and indecipherable gibberish clearly announcing that everyone and their brother is flying today. And why not? It’s a gorgeous Saturday in coastal California. It would be nice to […]

With loss of control still the No. 1 cause of fatalities in commercial and general aviation, Aviation Performance Solutions (APS) in Mesa, Arizona, said last week that a college student, Chin-An Lin, had completed the company’s Upset Prevention and Recovery course. Chin-An, an international Aeronautical Science student at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, received the training under […]

“Keep it in tight.” These words, sometimes uttered by frazzled tower controllers working busy traffic patterns, should set off a pilot’s internal master caution alarm. Loss of control is now the No. 1 killer in general aviation and a high safety priority on the radar screens of both the National Transportation Safety Board and the […]

When my cellphone buzzed to life at 0402, I knew it wouldn’t be good news. (A phone call at that time of morning is never good news.) The caller ID displayed “Crew Schedule.” According to the dim red glow of the alarm clock, my reserve assignment period had just begun two minutes prior. I hadn’t […]

The flying Franklins started with Kyle’s grandfather, Oliver Gene “Zip” Franklin, who bought a 1929 Doyle Special at the age of 16. The eldest Franklin mainly used airplanes as farm equipment to fly between two family ranches, and he had his son Jimmy with him in the cockpit while still in diapers before the lad […]

Yesterday, the FAA’s Part 107 small UAS rule took effect, essentially eliminating the need for commercial drone operators to file time-consuming exemption paperwork to use their machines, as long as pilots abide by Part 107, of course. The agency’s explanation yesterday of efforts to minimize risk to people on the ground and in the air […]

Standing on the ramp, glancing at Runway 17/35 at North Houston Airport (9X1), I took a deep breath as I ticked off items on the preflight checklist for N9271U, the 1976 Cessna 150M that had been my primary trainer so far. The brutal heat and humidity of the Houston-area summer had not yet set in, […]

The new airman certification standards (ACS) unveiled in June were created to update elements of the private pilot and the instrument rating knowledge exams, both of which were often riddled with outdated or confusing questions that did little to evaluate an applicant’s decision-making or risk-management skills. Along the way, the ACS morphed into a systematic […]

Recently, I was working with a student pilot on the subject of inflight diversions — a topic I thoroughly enjoy teaching with pilots of all experience levels because a diversion can result from an unlimited number of variables and external pressures. I liken the exercise to a timed puzzle, which often has more than one […]