Pilot Proficiency

For those of you who are flying yourselves to the Sun ‘n Fun Fly-In this week, the experience begins with carefully studying the fly-in notam. With the swarm of airplanes flying in to the show it’s critical that everyone is on the same page. A very specific route must be flown to enter the pattern […]

Last spring thousands of aviation enthusiasts and hundreds of companies flocked to the grounds of Sun ‘n Fun to take part in one of general aviation’s biggest annual events. One such company was Lockwood Aircraft Corp., a venture centered upon the one-of-a-kind homebuilt aircraft known as the AirCam and the tight-knit community of aviators who […]

Sun ‘n Fun‘s organizers are hoping the 2012 edition of its annual International Fly-In and Expo, held in Lakeland, Florida, this week will be nothing like 2011’s tornado-plagued event, where multiple airplanes were destroyed and visitors ran for shelter from pelting rain and flying debris. While a repeat of last year’s storm is highly unlikely, […]

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 Robert Barbanes, who recently stopped by Landmark Aviation at Lakefront Airport in New Orleans. Here’s what he has to say about the experience. Landmark Aviation (KNEW) New Orleans, […]

In the old days — and I mean prior to last November — we flight instructors could observe a student make a minor mistake in the airplane, and then watch to see how he or she resolved it. That’s not the way it is after February 2012. The FAA has installed a web-based “occurrence tracking […]

When practicing 45-degree banked turns for your flight review or a practical test, where do you tend to focus most of your attention? On the attitude indicator? The altimeter? The vertical speed indicator? If you answered yes to any of these, you’re looking in the wrong place. Your primary attitude reference during steep turns (and […]

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 […]