Pilot Proficiency

Recreational pilots in the northeastern part of the United States can rejoice as the Recreational Aviation Foundation (RAF), the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) and the Seaplane Pilots Association (SPA) have made strides to gain greater access to backcountry strips and waters for aviation activities. The RAF has succeeded in opening up a strip […]

SocialFlight, a Web and mobile app, has teamed up with Jeppesen, Piper, Lightspeed, Bose, CamGuard, Aspen, FreeFlight and other general aviation leaders to introduce new expert-led community forums. The moderated forums will answer questions relating to aircraft ownership, maintenance, training, technique, pilot products, travel rentals, clubs and communities. “SocialFlight’s new expert forums offer a much […]

Pilot training icons John and Martha King announced major updates to the King Schools training video series in support of the new airman certification standards (ACS), the practical test standards replacement for pilot ratings that were put in effect on June 15. The ACS puts a stronger focus on the thought process of risk management […]

The view out the windscreen from 38,000 feet wasn’t really scary, but it was fatiguing. Nexrad confirmed what we were seeing. After our fuel stop in Wichita, Kansas, we would have to pick our way around air-mass thunderstorms in the dark all the way home to California. It had been a hardworking business trip to […]

Cessna T210K Boise, Idaho/Injuries: 1 Uninjured The pilot reported that he departed on a time-sensitive cargo flight with about 30 gallons of fuel in each tank. The flight was uneventful until the airplane was about 650 feet above ground level and about 2 miles from the destination airport when the engine experienced a total loss […]

The following is an excerpt from official NTSB summaries of general aviation accidents in the United States. NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report. Piper PA-32 Cuba, Missouri/Injuries: 1 […]

In 1752, an interesting Frenchman named Jean le Rond d’Alembert published a work on fluid mechanics in which he demonstrated that a body moving in a frictionless, incompressible fluid does not experience drag. This was a consummation devoutly to be wished — we still wish for it today — but since it was quite obvious […]

Take a close look at the inner workings of a modern turbofan engine and you’ll discover a marvelous network of parts that puts Newton’s second law of motion to work with elegance and surprising simplicity, allowing today’s jets to go farther on less fuel while making less noise and emitting lower emissions. Here’s how a […]

The Pilot Proficiency Center (PPC) will be back at Oshkosh, but even bigger and better than last year. Because pilots learn best through scenario-based training, the PPC offers any AirVenture pilot, or pilot wannabe, an opportunity to experience the dynamic world of flight through one of 14 Redbird simulators stationed in a new 8,000-square-foot facility. […]

“OK, Dick, we’re gonna have you drop the plane off in Orange County.” It is Kevin in mission control (known most places as “ops”) on the phone. What? Like I’m dropping some shirts off at the dry cleaners? The day had been long enough as it was, given that I had planned to be home […]