Pilot Proficiency

In two weeks, aviation archaeologists will start working to unearth what they expect will be as many as 36 new-in-the-box Supermarine Spitfires. British warbird researcher David Cundall believes the fighters were buried in crates near the end of World War II in Burma, now Myanmar. He worked for years to locate the cache, and earlier […]

We all know that thorough preflight planning makes for safer, easier flights. If you’re flying VFR, an important component of preflight planning is getting to know your destination airport. But there are times when unforecast weather conditions or, worse, a malfunction of some kind may prevent you from continuing to the airport you originally planned […]

Four illustrious pilots will be enshrined in the National Aviation Hall of Fame (NAHF) for 2013. The inductees include Charles Alfred Anderson; Maj. Gen. Patrick Brady; Captain Robert “Hoot” Gibson; and Dwane Wallace, who will be honored at a black tie dinner. Anderson and Wallace will be inducted posthumously. Charles Anderson is called “the father […]

The NTSB is investigating the crash of a King Air 100 near Libby, Montana, early Wednesday that claimed the lives of the pilot and a passenger. According to local news reports, employees of Stinger Welding Inc. became concerned when CEO Carl Douglas never arrived for a planned meeting on Wednesday morning. A witness said she […]

A New Hampshire man who crashed his Cessna 310 on New Year’s Day in 2011, killing his daughter, will never get his pilot’s certificate back but avoided serving jail time after pleading guilty to manslaughter. The judge in the case accepted a plea agreement reached between the defense and prosecution and sentenced Steven Fay, 58, […]

We all have to learn how to perform short- and soft-field landings as part of the training for the private pilot certificate. The short-field landing is one of the most difficult maneuvers because of the precision required to pass the task. You have to maintain the approach speed to accuracy and land the airplane within […]

Thursday, October 11, 2012, a floatplane capsizes in Glen Lake, New York. The two pilots that were in the aircraft escaped without injury. The local emergency services were activated. After ensuring the safety of the pilots, a volunteer dive team decided that they would flip the aircraft back over. After attempting unsuccessfully for many hours, […]

Flying instrument approaches in IMC is one of the busiest times we pilots face, so it makes sense for us to do as much preparation as possible beforehand. An important part of this process is briefing the approach so that you and your right-seater (if you’re luck enough to have one) know exactly what you’re […]

It appears that pilots and passengers taking off and landing at the Bilbao Airport in Loiu, Spain, about six miles north of Bilbao, got the ride of a lifetime when challenging, gusty crosswind conditions made for takeoffs and landings that were sketchy, to say the least. The attached dramatic video, which is sped up presumably […]

The Russian captain of a Sukhoi Superjet 100 that crashed in Indonesia last May inhibited the airplane’s terrain-warning system after receiving what he apparently judged to be a spurious nuisance alert, crash investigators say. Indonesian investigators said the Superjet’s TAWS sounded a warning 38 seconds before the twinjet slammed into a mountain in the jungle […]