Pilot Proficiency

Brazilian presidential candidate Eduardo Campos was killed yesterday in the crash of a Cessna Citation XL in Santo, Brazil, shocking supporters as October’s elections approach. Reports say the crew aborted a landing in poor weather after a flight from Rio de Janeiro. They were attempting to head for an alternate when the crash occurred about […]

A new 3D display of the Wright Flyer, credited as the airplane that achieved the first powered flight in December 1903 at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, has been added to the downtown campus of the Smithsonian Institution. The Wright Flyer was scanned using a 3D laser, which produces a highly detailed and accurate image of […]

Early bird registration for the Flying Aviation Expo this October 31 through November 2 in sunny Palm Springs, California, runs through August 29, with show passes available until then for as little as $35. In addition, those registering early will be entered to win a Bose A20 headset in a giveaway. The expo, sponsored by […]

The fire season is upon us and, with severe drought conditions in some parts of the country, it has the potential to be an ugly one. If you’re planning on flying in the late summer and early fall, before any regular precipitation starts to fall, you need to be aware of the fire potential and […]

Two business associates and I were on the second leg of a three-leg business trip that would carry us from Chino, California, to Las Cruces, New Mexico, to Boulder, Colorado, and then back home. The first leg was one I had made on numerous occasions because my company had several customers in the New Mexico […]

The warm wind through the steel brace wires generated a distinct whistle over the rumble of the Stearman’s big radial engine as we followed our shadow up and over the rolling green hills. The prop churned the summer air and flung it across the open cockpit, beating it against my head in a steady, rhythmic […]

In remote regions of the world, general aviation serves as a vital tool for countless people who rely on the life-saving transportation it provides. Flying enthusiast Peter Neal gives us a closer glimpse into the types of incredible missions aviation makes possible with this video footage of service flights to the Borneo Jungle. Check it […]

There’s been a lot of nervous hand wringing over the idea of letting more recreational pilots self-certify that they are fit for flight by forgoing the formal FAA medical process. Christopher Hart, the acting head of the National Transportation Safety Board, told lawmakers recently he is “very concerned about pilots flying without adequate medical standards,” […]

Here’s a story with an interesting twist. Flying reader Maurice Cabirac shares his run-in with an unexpected aircraft in the sky. For a midair collision, the incident had a rather unexpected ending. My student, a 70-year-old friend, and I were shooting touch-and-gos when on one of our takeoffs our airspeed indicator went completely to zero. […]

The “good ol’ days” of aviation often weren’t all that good. When I learned to fly instruments in 1970 in our Cherokee 140, we had a single navcom and no DME. Trying to determine my position by using cross-radials from nearby VORs often left my head, as well as the OBS, spinning. And in the […]