Pilot Proficiency

(November 2011) Just another couple hundred feet should do it; the cloud is much lighter now. There are rips and tears in the fabric of the moisture. If I crane my neck I can see some blue up there; at least I think it is blue. I can feel the sun trying to get through. […]

Like so many things in life, from cooking a turkey to getting an education, a typical flight progresses in phases. The way the human mind seems to work, we like to put things into “beginning,” “middle” and “end” categories. While helpful with most things, this structure doesn’t do justice to the way a flight really […]

Days after setting up a website to allow the public to report instances of lasers being pointed at aircraft in flight, the FAA is urging witnesses to contact police after someone pointed a green laser at six airliners on approach to New York LaGuardia Airport over the weekend. The laser was shined from a point […]

Flying into the Los Angeles area at night presents the pilot and passengers with an aerial view of millions of homes, cars and billboards lighting up the ground. If you haven’t had an opportunity to experience the flight in person, this video takes you on the Sadde Six Arrival over Thousand Oaks, Malibu, Santa Monica, […]

Winter is rapidly approaching, bringing with it more challenging flying conditions. According to the AOPA Air Safety Institute’s annual Nall Report, one factor that causes about a quarter of weather-related accidents is ice. While you are not immune to icing conditions in the summer, you will more likely encounter this phenomenon in the winter. As […]

There’s no question the financial crisis has hammered business aviation in the last 36 months as the economic downturn and an associated undercurrent of negative public scrutiny have combined to plunge the industry into the worst decline in its 65-year history. Still, while it’s tempting to draw colorful conclusions from piles of raw data that […]

Wow, what an eye opener! Last night I completed 1.4 hours of my 3-hour night flight-training requirement for the private certificate, single-engine rating, with First Landings Aviation CFI Chris Esposito. I shot 8 full-stop landings in the Remos GX, leaving the last two of the 10 required for my dual cross-country night flight. All I […]

(November 2011) Federal aviation regulations have not changed, but the procedures the FAA uses to evaluate and certify pilots with alcohol and drug issues, and those on certain antidepressant medications, have changed substantially in the past three years. Pilots with such issues are unpleasantly surprised when confronted by FAA procedures and probably would have chosen […]

In our FBO Spotlight series, we’re highlighting FBOs around the country that have received rave reviews from our readers. The latest Spotlight is brought to you by Clyde Davis, who recently flew into Abilene Regional Airport in a Piper Comanche PA-24. Here’s his thoughts on why the airport’s FBO, Abilene Aero, is as good as […]

None of the pilots I’ve talked to were surprised by Garmin’s decision to discontinue production of its ubiquitous GNS 530W and GNS 430W all-in-one GPS/navcoms (production of the 530 ends this month and the 430 sometime next year). Really, who could be? These hugely successful units have been in production for well over a decade. […]