Pilot Proficiency

Details of the 50th edition of the National Championship Air Races, planned for September 11 to 15 at the Reno-Stead Airport outside Reno, Nevada, were released this week. “We are planning for our biggest event yet and are excited to highlight and commemorate 50 years of Air Racing and the sport of aviation as a […]

It is one of the great challenges facing those of us dedicated to reducing the accident rate in aviation: How do we help pilots maintain an awareness of the potential negative consequences of taking chances in aviation? One approach is to publish articles about accidents, exhorting pilots not to make the same mistakes. However, there […]

As the busy summer flying season kicks off, the FAA is taking a slightly different approach to safety by asking pilots, well, to fly safely. In an open letter to the general aviation community sent just before the Memorial Day weekend, FAA Administrator Michael Huerta implored aviators to “make sure you’re ready – really ready […]

It was a sad day for volunteers of Angel Flight Northeast after a Piper Seneca on a mission for the group crashed in Upstate New York on Friday, killing a cancer patient, his wife and the pilot. The airplane had taken off from Hanscom Field near Bedford, Massachusetts, with the brain cancer patient — whose […]

When you’re learning to fly, the cockpit experience can be overwhelming. Precision maneuvers for the Private, Instrument, Commercial and ATP certificates require certain parameters that can, at times, be difficult to achieve. For the Private Pilot applicant there are many new components to learn in the cockpit: instruments, radio communications, airspace and weather, not to […]

Air Force Test Center Flight Safety deputy chief Bill Koukourikos and Public Affairs specialist Laura Mowry approach their T-38.| There is always an edge, a place where what we know, the very best of our machine and our skill do not match what might happen, a place where “a wing and a prayer” holds operational […]

At the end of February, the National Transportation Safety Board released the findings of its investigation of the crash of a Bell 206 JetRanger into New York’s East River in October 2011. The helicopter, with five aboard, had just taken off from the riverside East 34th Street Heliport when it began to yaw out of […]

It seems like a paradox for an airplane based in Florida, but my wife, Cathy, and I fly our Cheyenne less in the winter months than any other time of the year. Why? Well, because the winter weather is so consistently agreeable, there is little incentive to leave home base in Tampa. When we do […]

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 Dave and Ginny Young, who recently flew into Hilton Head Airport in Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, in a Beech Baron B58. Here’s what Dave had to say […]

No doubt you’ve heard by now that Icon Aircraft is asking the FAA for an exemption to LSA weight rules for the company’s sleek Icon A5 light sport amphibian. Specifically, the company is seeking a 250-pound max gross weight increase above the LSA limit of 1,430 pounds. Without the exemption, it’s unlikely the A5 can […]