Pilot Proficiency

My name is Jack — I am 82 years old. My friend Gary is 83 years old, and my 1947 Aeronca Super Chief (N3900E) is 65 years old. In 1960, I went to work for Alaska Airlines for 25 years. Before and during that time, I worked on a lot of different airplanes, and for […]

A Mooney M20 nearly clipped several cars as it crashed into trees right next to Route 50 in Bowie, Maryland, according to witnesses. The accident occurred around 3:45 p.m. on Labor Day afternoon, typically one of the busiest traffic days of the year. A number of drivers pulled over to assist those aboard the downed […]

While you need to enlist a certified flight instructor once every couple of years for your biennial flight review, you don’t need to pay a CFI to learn new things about flying. If you connect with other pilots at your flight school or at neighboring hangars, you are likely to learn new things and find […]

In the latest “record” attempt involving very young pilots, a five-year-old boy from China has become the youngest person to fly an aircraft, according to reports from Chinese media this week. Many hundreds of parents of three-year-olds who have briefly let their child take the controls might differ on this point, though. He Yide, who […]

A heart surgeon flying out of the Danville Regional Airport (KDAN) in Danville, Virginia, crashed last week while reportedly approaching to land at one of the runways during a student solo flight. Local news outlets reported that the airplane, a Piper Warrior, hit a tower before crashing. The NTSB is investigating the cause of the […]

A British Airways poll conducted last month shows that at least British kids still aspire to fly. The independent research involved 650 U.K. youngsters from ages six to 12. Most boys chose careers as football (soccer) players, followed by pilots and then “superheroes.” (Nice to know pilots came out ahead of caped crusaders.) Girls favored […]

The date was Dec. 23, 1943 — I was 21 years old. I was in the rear cockpit of a Fairchild PT-19 primary trainer with a total dual time to date of 10 hours. My instructor was in the front cockpit. The wide-open grass landing strip of Cimarron Field Primary Flight School in Oklahoma was […]

Talk about a deal that’s too good to miss. For the month of October, Redbird Skyport in San Marcos, Texas, will be selling avgas for the bargain price of $1 per gallon. There are no strings attached as long as you fly in and fill up at the FBO, which currently charges around $6 a […]

It’s too early to say how the forced landing of Cessna’s diesel 182 JT-A test airplane after an apparent engine failure will impact the certification program. Cessna and French engine maker SMA are now working to determine what went wrong last Wednesday. The test pilot of the experimental 182 JT-A, N9008H, reported to ATC that […]

Passengers of a Douglas DC-3 belonging to Yellowknife, Canada-based Buffalo Airways got a wild ride after one of the two big radial engines caught fire shortly after takeoff from the Yellowknife Airport, Canadian news network CBC reported. The pilot of the heavy taildragger circled back to the airport, but didn’t quite make it to the […]