Pilot Proficiency

While the use of tablet computers as portable electronic flight bags (EFB) has certainly cut down on the paper most pilots carry with them these days, one item that hasn’t changed in the move to electronic charting is the symbology displayed on those charts. No EFB in the world will help a pilot who doesn’t […]

A new FAA order — specifically JO 7110.65, paragraph 5-7-1 — may leave some pilots wondering if they’ve misunderstood ATC’s instructions when they’re asked to fly airspeeds such as 255 or 195 knots, speeds all calculated in 5-knot increments. At or above FL 240, crews can expect Mach number instructions in 0.01 increments for turbojet […]

Nearly as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to be a pilot — nothing more, nothing less. I said as much in a second-grade project that my mother saved for posterity. Over time I developed additional interests and even dabbled with the idea of becoming an architect or practicing law, but I never seriously […]

In VFR Conditions: Squawk — 7600 Continue flight VFR at a VFR altitude (even in Class A airspace) and land as soon as practicable at the nearest suitable airport. Do not continue to your destination if there is a suitable airport for you to land at unless you’re just minutes from your original destination. Flying another […]

Whenever I start wondering if the well will run dry, I find myself embroiled in something so preposterous, spectacular, outrageous or dumb that it’s worth writing about. But I have to confess: I was less than proud about this latest escapade and made several attempts to explain it away as a minor, moderately embarrassing but […]

I didn’t know Irving Smith all that well, but I learned an awful lot at his funeral. As my wife, Cathy, and I huddled with other mourners beneath a tent stretched above to shield us from the heat, I heard of Irving’s years in the Navy and his subsequent service for 25 years as an air traffic […]

A Change for the Better The ACS will save lives, making situational awareness a habit. By John King/Flying He was leaving from a job in his beloved Cessna Cardinal. He took off from a remote airport on a dark night. Light snow was falling. He did not make it home. He had simply exceeded his […]

Modern commercial aviation marvels us daily with its enviable safety record. Pioneers such as Donald Douglas, William Boeing and Dutch Kindelberger pursued passionately the operational consistency and reliability we see today as the world of commercial aviation continues to improve upon its stellar safety record with each passing year. The ultimate achievement? A virtually accident-free […]

A quick turn of the key is all a pilot usually needs to start the engine and go, but have you ever wondered what’s really going on beyond the fire wall to excite those spark plugs? The aircraft components that make it happen, of course, are the magnetos — simple and highly reliable electrical generators. […]

It was a warm spring day at Flagstaff. The wind was down Runway 21 at 16 knots with gusts to 22. The density altitude at the airport, 7,000 feet above sea level, was 9,000 feet; but that would not be a problem for the lightly loaded A36 Bonanza that taxied away from the FBO a […]