Pilot Proficiency

What started as a fun-filled Young Eagles event on Saturday at the Buffalo-Lancaster Airport in Lancaster, New York, with philanthropic pilots giving rides to young potential aviators, ended in tragedy as a Cessna 172 and an experimental Searey collided. The pilot of the Cessna and his 14-year-old passenger died in the crash that resulted from […]

We bought ice and Styrofoam chests at a Family Dollar store after leaving the Bourgeois Meat Market in Thibodaux, Louisiana, and packed them with crawfish boudin (sausage), headcheese and beef jerky. The boudin and headcheese (sounds gross but this stuff is a scrumptious pâté kind of thing) would be OK for a long time but […]

“Don’t do that. Don’t ever do that,” my instructor said. I was confused. I wasn’t even sure I understood what his complaint was. But when I did, I realized the issue lay at the very heart of the debate about how to deal with cockpit automation. I said, “Let’s talk about it on the ground.” […]

North Atlantic crossings to London have become such a frequent part of my repertoire that the ocean is now marked with a magenta line dotted with large directional arrows that say, “Les, this way!” Regardless of the routine, each trip has its own unique challenges. A trip this past January was no exception. It was […]

Sporty’s has partnered with ABX Airlines in Wilmington, Ohio, to offer a program that complies with the recently implemented training requirements for the FAA airline transport pilot knowledge exam. Under the new rules, which were implemented August 1 (despite a stellar track record of safety for ATP-rated pilots) ATP candidates must complete an FAA-approved ATP-Certification […]

A highly critical report released yesterday by the Department of Transportation’s Inspector General outlining serious shortcomings with the FAA’s progress on ADS-B is embarrassing for the agency, coming as it does on the heels of pronouncements that the $6.5 billion program is progressing just fine and the 2020 ADS-B mandate is a sure-fire, locked-and-loaded firm […]

As a pilot in the right seat, you can be an invaluable asset to the pilot flying. Whether you are a certified flight instructor or not, you can help the pilot in case of an emergency, or if a critical action or an ATC call is missed. You can step in and handle the issue […]

Let’s see; at 380 pounds an hour, we should land with 400 pounds total. This is my bingo fuel for our Cheyenne and is permissible only when our destination is VFR and no delays, holds, vectors or early descents are anticipated. I have a little hand calculator that I bought for three dollars at Staples […]

(August 2014) Time is running short, so I’m going to get straight to the point: If you’re a pilot or aviation enthusiast and you’ve never been to Oshkosh for EAA’s annual fly-in and shindig, you need to go. It runs July 28 through Aug. 3 this year, so depending on when the postman delivers this […]

On Sept. 29, 2013, a Cessna Citation CJ2 landing at Santa Monica Airport near Los Angeles suddenly veered off the runway and crashed through a hangar, bursting into flames and killing all aboard. Three months later, on Jan. 5, 2014, the pilots of a Challenger 601 landing with a strong, gusting tailwind in Aspen, Colorado, […]