Pilot Proficiency

They say very few aviation records are left to be broken, but here’s one that’s never been tried before, at least as far as we know. Wakeboarding world champion Bernhard Hinterberger recently became the first person ever to skim across the water while being towed by an airplane in flight. Hinterberger and his team accomplished […]

Here’s a video that’s just too good not to share. An intrepid aviator in his Super Cub lands atop a mountain in central Nevada, the oddly named Bunker Hill, at an altitude of around 11,000 feet. The approach and landing are worth a watch, but the subsequent takeoff is absolutely spectacular. After stopping for a […]

The body of David Riggs has been recovered from the lake near Shenyang, China, where his Lancair 320 crashed last week. Unfortunately the story hit close to home for me. I hate to admit it, but I flew with Riggs a few years ago. It is an understatement to say that the flight left a […]

Firefighters from the Charlotte Fire Department got a big surprise as they recently tested sonar equipment in Lake Norman, a large lake northwest of Charlotte, North Carolina. According to local news outlets, the firefighters found an airplane resting on the bottom of the lake. As some of the firefighters took a closer look by diving […]

That no-strings dollar-a-gallon fuel you’ve been hearing about has a few catches now, forced by rumors and reports of commercial operators planning to game the system. When Redbird Skyport (KHYI) in San Marco, Texas, announced a couple of weeks ago that it was going to sell fuel for a dollar a gallon throughout the month […]

Several reports claim David Riggs, a pilot with a checkered past who lost his FAA license not once but twice, is missing after his Lancair 320 crashed in a lake outside Shenyang, China. Riggs’ passenger, an 18-year-old Chinese translator, died in the crash. The Los Angeles Times reported that Riggs took off in rainy conditions […]

In our FBO Spotlight series, we’re highlighting FBOs around the country that have received rave reviews from our readers. This latest Spotlight is brought to you by Mark Warner, who recently flew into Pensacola Gulf Coast Regional Airport in Pensacola, Florida, in a Mooney 252. Here’s what he had to say about one of the […]

The current issue of FAA Safety Briefing targets aviation citizenship among general aviation pilots. It urges us to show our responsibilities toward fellow pilots by sharing values, customs and culture with the rest of the aviation community. Feature articles in the September/October 2013 issue include primers on developing intervention strategies for fellow pilots who may […]

Yves Rossy, aka Jetman, took to the skies at the National Championship Air Races and Air Show, which took place this past weekend in Reno, Nevada. This, the second show during Jetman’s U.S. visit after AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, presented some new challenges for the man who straps a jet-powered carbon-Kevlar wing to his body, […]

The FAA announced changes that would exempt some pilots from having to complete a biennial flight review. Open for public comment through October 16, the proposal posted in the Federal Register this week seeks to address what the FAA says it now views as an error in the list of exceptions to meet the 24-month […]