Pilot Proficiency

A dramatic scene was captured on video today as a Boeing 767 caught fire while taxiing for departure at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Florida. Passengers could be seen evacuating via slides onto the taxiway though there are reports of injuries. Plumes of black smoke billowed from the jet as passengers streamed to safety. A […]

Space-geeks rejoice! NASA recently released into the public domain a collection of thousands of digital photos from the Apollo era, including a wide collection of spectacular shots from the lunar landings. The collection includes images from Apollo missions 7 through 17. Many of the images have never previously been released. In addition to loads of […]

Over the weekend, the board of directors of the General Aviation Manufacturers Association (GAMA) created a new “associate member” category for electric and hybrid-propulsion aircraft. The reason for the new membership category is to hasten the worldwide development, growth and airworthiness certification of electric airplanes, which very well could play an important role in securing […]

While we all love flying, there are times when there is not a whole lot to do in the cockpit. Once you have climbed to your cruise altitude and configured the airplane for cruise you may ask yourself “what’s next?” After you’ve enjoyed the view for a while, the idle time in cruise is a […]

Tornadoes had caused extensive damage and loss of life in central Kansas — the area from which we had departed in our airplane that very morning. There had been a wild weather rampage all the way from Oklahoma to Nebraska. The video on TV that evening was dramatic. Had I taken an extreme risk to […]

It’s a deepening mystery that probably will only lead to more questions than answers as we try to get to the bottom of the case of a stolen Piper Cub by an absconder that can only be described as, well, “skinny.” YouTube poster Gizmo brought us the creepy video of Mr. Skeltal, a decent-enough pilot […]

An F/A-18C fighter jet based at the Marine Corps Air Station Miramar outside San Diego crashed in a farm field near the Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England, yesterday. The airplane was part of Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 232 and was on its way back to California from a mission in Bahrain, MCAS Miramar reported. The […]

Flying Aviation Expo wrapped up on Saturday with the Parade of Planes back to the Palm Springs Airport, leaving everybody who was there smiling and wanting more, more, more. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say the second annual Aviation Expo was twice as good as the first. The convention hall featured more exhibits, […]

It drives me a little crazy that the Code of Federal Aviation Regulations is so vague on so many crucially important points. For example, the regs say private pilots can share certain flight costs with passengers. The rule seems pretty straightforward. It’s not until you come across up various “legal interpretations” by FAA lawyers that […]

Back in July 17, 2014, Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 went down over Ukraine killing all 298 people on board the Boeing 777. On Tuesday the Dutch Safety Board released their final conclusions in the investigations citing that the crash was caused by “detonation of a 9N314M-type warhead launched from the eastern part of Ukraine using […]