Pilot Proficiency

Extended physical stagnation is not good for your body. It restricts blood flow and can lead to clots. Fortunately, you can take action and create circulation in your body, even while flying on long cross-country flights when you can’t get up and walk around. The following exercises can easily be performed while you’re seated, but […]

If you’re fortunate enough to live a long life, you may reach a point when you start to wonder whether it’s time to retire as pilot in command. You may feel that your vision or mental status isn’t up to par, or you may begin to have trouble entering or exiting the airplane. The point […]

Good habit patterns are the best indications of a good pilot. It’s easy to get lazy when flying non-complex airplanes that don’t require a lot of action on the behalf of the pilot. But if you don’t continue practicing your ingrained habits while flying airplanes that are “easy” to fly, you’ll be sorry once you […]

I’ve been lucky to have flown a lot of airplanes over the past 20 years, almost all of them belonging to other people. Some were high wings; some were low. Some were taildraggers; some were nose pushers. Some were brand new; some were downright decrepit. Some were fast; some were painfully slow. Some were pleasantly […]

The FAA has given the nod to the TouchTrainer – a home-based basic avionics training device (BATD) based on the X-Plane software with which you can stay instrument current in the comfort of your own home. You can even log up to 10 hours toward your instrument rating with this system, as long as you […]

After hearing news that one English farmer’s 15-year quest to locate Spitfires buried beneath Burma has proven successful, Prime Minister David Cameron has in turn struck a deal to have the iconic aircraft returned to England. According to the Telegraph, the announcement stems from the dogged efforts of 62-year-old David Cundall, who made it his […]

“Kick the tires and light the fires.” It’s a comment often heard at general aviation airports. And while many say it with a grin and actually perform a preflight before they take to the skies, most pilots probably don’t take the time to preflight sufficiently. And if they do, it is possible that some items […]

Think you know airplane noise? Put your knowledge of vintage aircraft to the test with our engine sounds quiz. We’ll give you several different engine noises to listen to and then ask you to match them up with the airplanes that make them. Launch the quiz here.

I recently spent a week on a sailboat as a guest of an experienced captain and his first mate – in this case, literally so because she is also his wife. This was my first real exposure to sailing on the open sea, of which past experiences have been confined to the occaisional summer afternoon, […]

It was a picture-perfect early February day in Michigan — clear blue sky, calm wind, 30 degrees Fahrenheit. It was even better because there was no snow on the grass strip. But a storm was forecast to bring 12 inches of snow the next day. That much snow would shut down my flying for days […]