Pilot Proficiency

We all know what it’s like to stick a hand out of a window at 65 mph. Multiply that feeling by 144 (the pressure varies with the square of the speed), all over your body, and you’ll get the sense of what it’s like to exit an airplane past the speed of sound. It seems […]

If you’re fascinated by anthills,** Boeing’s new flight tracking system** is definitely for you. The Boeing Flight Tracker shows Boeing airplane activity around the world during a 24-hour period based on data provided by OAG (Official Airline Guide). The displayed flights are not in real time. The current data is based on information collected in […]

The U.S. government gave up searching for the wreckage of Amelia Earhart’s Lockheed Model 10 Electra a little more than two weeks after the airplane disappeared in the Central Pacific near Howland Island on July 2, 1937. Now, 75 years later, the State Department is reopening the case. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and […]

Recently, a former private pilot student of mine revealed some information during his biennial flight review that made my heart skip a few beats and nearly get stuck in my throat. He said he enjoys flying through clouds. Had this been one of my instrument students, I would have been happy. But this man never […]

In 1804, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark departed from St. Charles, Missouri, for a two-year exploration of America, inaugurating a grand American tradition that has persisted to this day — the road trip. Maybe it’s due to my airline pilot lifestyle, but I have never been a fan of travel for travel’s sake so my […]

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 John Carpenter, who recently stopped by Smyth Wythe Airport Commission at Mountain Empire Airport in a Cessna 172M. Here’s what he has to say about the experience. Smyth […]

This 1960s-vintage video shows the incredible performance capabilities of the C-130 Hercules. After some footage of C-130s landing on skis in Antarctica and conducting refueling missions, extensive coverage is shown from what the video claims to be the first carrier landings by a Hercules. Lt. James Flatley and his co-pilot Lt. Cmdr. W. Stovall conducted […]

The traffic pattern around an airport keeps the flight paths of airplanes in the vicinity predictable. By following the same track, it is easier for pilots to see other airplanes approaching to land. But the safety and efficiency of the traffic flow is dependent on the pilots in the pattern. It can become quite frustrating […]

If there’s anything that the FAA’s latest aviation industry forecast proves, it’s that you can make the numbers paint just about any picture you want them to, especially when you’re guessing using assumptions about what might happen 20 years from now. For instance, what if I told you that the number of student pilots in […]

Jim Lauerman, former president of Avemco Insurance Company, shares his top list of “aviation insurance myths” – those long-held beliefs about aircraft policies that are misunderstood by pilots, whether they own the airplane they fly, rent the airplane they fly or fly a friend’s airplane. These myths are specific to Avemco® in many cases, so […]