Pilot Proficiency

2011 has been an eventful year in the world of aviation. From the tragedy at Reno to the tornado at Sun ‘n Fun, there has been no shortage of headline-grabbing stories. Check out the top 15 events that had the biggest impact on the flying community. View the top stories here.

When I first started flying, I flew using what some people call “the death grip,” a morbid term for hanging onto the yoke for dear life. I held so hard that my forearm would be sore the next day and I had a permanent tiny bruise on my thumb from pressing the push-to-talk button. After […]

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 Bryant Fisher, who recently flew into KCGI in a Piper Malibu. Here’s what he has to say about the airport’s FBO, Cape Aviation. Cape Aviation (KCGI) Cape Girardeau, […]

The age of space tourism has already begun. In this video Robert Mason of Baltimore, Maryland, shares his flight to the edge of space in a Russian MiG-29 at the Sokol Airbase in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia. While the video has no sound, you can watch as the skies darken and the curvature of the earth […]

(December 2011) For the past week I have been driving a Chevy Volt. The Volt, as you are undoubtedly aware, is a plug-in hybrid — GM’s, and I believe America’s, first mass-produced car of this type. I was staying at Truro, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod, and it was fun to make a 25-mile round trip […]

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 Gregg Erikson, who recently refueled at J.A. Air Center (KARR) after giving Young Eagle flights in a Grumman Tiger. Here’s what he has to say about the FBO’s […]

Loss of control has consistently been the leading factor causing landing accidents, according to the annual Nall Report, published by AOPA’s Air Safety Institute. One way to prevent loss of directional control is to learn to consistently stay aligned with the centerline of the runway during the landing phase. Some tricycle landing gear equipped airplanes […]

There’s been a lot of hand-wringing in Washington after that super-secret American spy drone fell into Iranian hands last week. Tehran claims it shot down the UAV, which analysts have identified as an RQ-170 Sentinel. The White House has asked for it back. The Iranian government has responded with the diplomatic equivalent of, “In your […]

(December 2011) Hutchinson, Minnesota, had been covered in snow, ice and arctic temperatures all winter. A week earlier it had been 24 degrees F below zero. This week brought a 45 degrees F above zero temperature and melting snow. Since the temperature was warm, the moon was full and the stars were out, I decided […]

(December 2011) It is ungodly hot. Sweat cascades off of me; rivulets of perspiration form at the temple, and when I look down, they coalesce into drops that drip into my glasses. I am raining myself into a pair of bifocals. As an unhappy result, I can’t see, much less organize, the flight management system […]