Pilot Proficiency

Mark Twain’s fanciful novel featured an industrial age New Englander transported back in time to the court of King Arthur, but this true tale is about an East-Coaster, his family, his airplane and a trip to Carmel, California. The basic plot ingredients feature a 35-year-old Piper Cheyenne I turboprop that they’ve owned for 16 years […]

A rare scene was caught on video in the skies over Fayetteville, Arkansas, on Tuesday when former Walmart CEO Bill Simon experienced engine trouble en route to Waco, Texas, and popped the ballistic parachute on his Cirrus SR22, floating to safety as amazed onlookers watched. According to a recording of the incident at LiveATC.net, ATC […]

One of the most-often busted federal aviation regulations is VFR cloud clearances. That’s because pilots often have a hard time judging how close they really are to clouds. We all know that in Class E airspace below 10,000 feet msl we need at least 3 statute miles of visibility and must remain 500 feet below, […]

The Internet is rife with speculation as to what may have caused the crash of a Russian jetliner in Egypt on Saturday after an airline executive categorically ruled out pilot error or a mechanical problem. The suggestion by the executive with airline Kogalymavia is that a missile or a perhaps a bomb brought down the […]

The future of AgustaWestland’s AW609 civil tiltrotor program has been thrown into doubt after the crash of a prototype in Italy on Friday that killed the two test pilots on board. Radar data appears to confirm that the aircraft, Prototype 2, went down about 10 minutes after takeoff near Santhia in northern Italy, near the […]

Back in March, Harrison Ford made headlines with his emergency landing in a Ryan PT-22 on a golf course in Santa Monica, California. The forced landing was successful, and while Ford suffered serious injuries, he was back in the skies after only three months. However, it appears that he doesn’t remember all of the forced […]

It goes without saying that safety has to be the first priority for any airline, but reliability certainly runs a close second. If an airline is perceived as unreliable, no amount of travel vouchers or complimentary cocktails will restore a negative image. A carrier’s scheduled performance is a direct measure of its product quality. The […]

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 […]