Pilot Proficiency

“I’m going to ask for 380 and another shortcut,” says Greg, sitting to my right and pointing to the CJ3’s MFD, which shows an arrival time of 16:19 Zulu. We are about three-quarters of the way down the East Coast en route from White Plains, New York, to Boca Raton, Florida, and we have a […]

The VE-Day Arsenal of Democracy celebration over Washington, D.C., may have appeared to go off without a hitch. But what most people didn’t realize is that one pilot experienced what he thought was an inflight fire during the stellar flyover. Smoke in the cockpit appeared as the TBM Avenger pilot was flying in formation with […]

Once in a while we hear of pilots making a mistake that has devastating consequences, such as forgetting to remove the control wheel lock prior to takeoff or landing with the landing gear retracted. It is easy to make a mistake and that’s why we use checklists. But in addition to using a printed or […]

Most pilots haven’t given much thought to the requirements that the examiner must meet in order to qualify as a Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE). However, recent changes to the PIC requirements for examiners may have a direct impact on pilots trying to schedule a check ride. Historically, experience requirements for PIC qualifications for examiners were […]

When the idea to create a full-motion helicopter sim in which to train EMS personnel came to Joe Brown, CEO of Hartzell Propeller, he immediately thought of Jerry Gregoire, founder of Redbird Flight Simulations. Within a matter of months, the concept turned into a product, designed not to make money but to save lives. As […]

Lockheed Martin and Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC) have both won contract bids to provide DUATS for a year, the FAA recently announced, meaning Data Transformation Corporation (DTC) will no longer provide service as it has for the past 25 years since DUATS first became available in 1989. The new contracts, which can be renewed each […]

What’s cooler than a high-def video of the Jetman blasting across the sky beneath his jet-powered carbon-fiber wing? A video of two Jetmen flying formation aerobatics over Dubai, of course. Yves “Jetman” Rossy has made a name for himself by flying all over the world with nothing but his jet wing attached to his body. […]

“What’s that?” you wonder, as your back straightens and your ears come to attention. The engine coughs and continues to cough, spitting and hesitating before, suddenly, it dies and all goes eerily quiet. You pitch for best glide, run through your flows, read the checklists, but the engine refuses to restart. It has just become […]

When it comes to properly controlling airspeed and altitude there are a couple of schools of thought depending on which group of pilots you happen to be talking with. One subscribes to the idea that power management is all that’s really needed to control airspeed and altitude assuming the airplane is properly trimmed. The other […]

Video from a news helicopter captured the scene as the crew of a United Express jet was forced to make an emergency landing on Monday morning at Los Angeles International Airport after experiencing a landing gear problem. United Express Flight 5316, a Bombardier CRJ-200 operated by SkyWest Airlines, departed Monterey, California, at about 6:50 a.m. […]