Pilot Proficiency

The mysterious early morning crash of a Cessna 172 on October 29 just became a little less mysterious. Canadian pilot Michael Callan’s blood alcohol level (BAC) has been reported by the Tennessee state medical examiner as 0.081 percent — more than twice the FAA limit of 0.040 percent and just in excess of Tennessee’s threshold […]

What does it take to build the coolest airplane ever? In the case of college student Luca Iaconi-Stewart’s creation — which definitely gets our vote for most spectacular paper airplane — the answer to that question is five years of effort and an abundance of glue and manila cardboard folders. The 22-year-old constructed this incredible […]

Henry Ogrodzinski, a “beloved gentleman-statesman” of aviation who for the past 18 years served as president and CEO of the National Association of State Aviation Officials, died at his home in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday after a two-year battle with cancer. He was 65. Ogrodzinski, known as Henry O to friends, began his aviation advocacy […]

A team of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is examining nanotechnology that could lead to inexpensive head-up displays (HUDs) for general aviation aircraft. The project is supported by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Army Research Office. A proof of concept prototype of the system was recently shown publicly. Using nanotechnology, the […]

Dramatic security video from five infrared cameras at Aspen-Pitkin County Airport in Colorado captured the January 5 crash of a Challenger 601 that killed a pilot and critically injured two others. The video, posted online by Aspen Journalism, a local non-profit media outlet, shows the airplane on its second landing attempt after aborting the first […]

You’ve probably noticed that test pilots, law enforcement and emergency response pilots, and pilots flying military airplanes generally wear flight suits. You are also likely aware that these pilots don’t wear these garments just to fit into some kind of fraternity or to look cool. Flight suits serve a purpose. While you may not want […]

A few years back, a Cessna 172 pilot had trouble starting his airplane and decided to hand-prop it near the Typhoon restaurant at the Santa Monica airport. No one was inside the Skyhawk. The engine spun up, and the airplane made a solo trip across runway 21. In the process, it made a business jet […]

It was an old story. A relatively inexperienced pilot practicing landings got too slow on final approach, stalled and crashed. The pilot, 56, was flying a club Cherokee 180, a type in which he had logged 13 of his 130 hours. He was making a short round-robin cross-country flight, ostensibly for practice, with landings at […]

There I was: fat, dumb and happy. My friend Tim and I had taken my 1977 Mooney 201 from Camden, South Carolina, to Myrtle Beach to get the oxygen cylinder filled. We filed IFR on the outbound leg at 7,000 feet msl and had to fly the ILS at Myrtle Beach to get through some […]

The lobby of the Hilton Hotel across from the John Wayne Airport in Orange County, California, is packed with conventioneers. They are making a joyous noise. I am looking for Phil Smith among the throng; we will be joined at the hip for the better part of a month as we progress through “Indoc” at […]