Pilot Proficiency

Alan and Dale Klapmeier, the brothers who co-founded Cirrus Design in the mid-1980s, are among six people who will be inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio, next year. The other individuals honored by the Hall of Fame include Emily Warner, who flew for Frontier Airlines in the 1970s; the late […]

Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board and the FAA are combing through debris trying to find the cause of a fiery business jet crash on Tuesday night in Atlanta in which two people were killed. The Beech Premier I departed from Fulton County Airport at the western edge of the city around 7:22 p.m. […]

Flying on a gorgeous afternoon last week in the Florida Keys, I saw something that made me shake my head. From my vantage point cruising east at 1,200 feet after stopping for lunch in Key West, I spotted a tiny speck of an airplane at an altitude of maybe 50 feet buzzing cars on a […]

The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, a 760,000-square-foot facility that houses airplanes belonging to the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s vast collection of aviation artifacts, celebrated its 10th anniversary over the weekend. Named after Steven F. Udvar-Hazy, a Hungarian entrepreneur who donated millions to the National Air and Space Museum, the facility is home to […]

When the U.K. Environmental Agency warned of high winds in northern England earlier this month, they weren’t crying wolf. The agency cautioned of 90-mph winds in the region and parts of Scotland, forcing ScotRail to cancel train service on December 5. The pilot of an Emirates Boeing 777 trying to land at Birmingham International Airport […]

The Asiana Airlines training captain who crashed a Boeing 777 at San Francisco International Airport in July was anxious about the visual approach, which he described as “very stressful,” according to investigators. Capt. Lee Kang Kuk, an eight-year employee of Asiana on his first extended trip flying the 777, also told investigators he was confused […]

The Navy Blue Angels and U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds are back. Their sequestration-driven hiatus from public performances is over, and the first performance will be a T-birds fly-over during the Tournament of Roses parade on New Year’s Day in Pasadena, California. The Blue Angels will perform 68 demonstrations in 34 locations in 2014; and the […]

A family of three was killed over the weekend in a Cessna 310 crash near Jacksonville, Florida. The preliminary National Transportation Safety Board report indicates that the crash occurred at 6:21 p.m. on Sunday while the twin was flying in night IMC on a missed approach out of the Jacksonville Executive Airport (KCRG). The airplane […]

Gallup reported today that Congress’ approval rating has dropped to 14 percent, the lowest figure in four decades of polling. The recent battles over the budget and health care are driving the public’s exasperation with the House and Senate, and rightly so. But pilots shouldn’t be so quick to criticize. Never have we enjoyed a […]

As the holiday season is upon us, many people are finding ways to give back to the community by volunteering at local soup kitchens or donating food or toys to charitable organizations. If you are looking for ways to give back and continue to help once the holidays are over, you can use your airplane […]