Pilot Proficiency

(January 2011) — Our industry is at an en route intersection. One airway leads to continued reduction in student starts, lack of retention of students and pilots, decline in flight activity and security-based encroachments on our privileges. On the other airway we might be able to sustain healthy growth and an expansion of the utility […]

(February 2011) — We got an e-mail last month from a reader taking Peter Garrison to task for suggesting in his Technicalities column that, if the FAA did a thorough review of the Light Sport Aircraft industry, it would find a lot of discrepancies in the certification process for light-sport airplanes. It seemed like a […]

During my time as a full time flight instructor, most of my students (including myself when I was training) took upwards of 70-80 hours to complete their private pilot certificates. This is about twice the number of hours the FAA requires to get the rating. There were many reasons for this, the most significant being […]

It’s the end of an era. Golf legend Arnold Palmer has made his final flight as pilot in command, calling it quits after almost 55 years at the controls of everything from open-cockpit biplanes to a Boeing 747. Along the way, he amassed nearly 20,000 hours in the cockpit. Palmer, 81, flew his Cessna Citation […]

(January 2011) — I had just begun to fill up the tank on my truck for the drive to JFK when my cell phone rang. The caller ID displayed “Crew Sched.” “Great,” I thought. I was probably going to be told that my trip to London was delayed. Nope. The news was something that I […]

You’re taxiing out for takeoff at an enroute airport, and the controller tells you you’re cleared “as filed.” Hot dog. For once, no worries about reprogramming the GPS before launching into the murk. So you continue on happily with your run-up and other pre-departure chores. But is that enough? Maybe; maybe not. According to FAA […]

The following was received from reader Roger Halstead in response to last week’s Flying_ Tip: Be Careful How You Respond_ “Yes, I think we need to be a LOT more vigilant, but not for security’s sake, but rather for the impression we create with the “unknowing and uneducated” when it comes to aviation. “Like “middle […]

You’ve probably experienced it yourself. A non-pilot friend or family member asks a question about flying that makes your head hurt as you try to think of how to respond. Of course, you don’t want to hurt your friend’s feelings (What’s the saying? There are no stupid questions, only stupid people who ask questions?), and […]

(December 2010) — High-frequency radio, used for beyond-the-horizon communication prior to the introduction of satellite relays, was subject to the whims of various ill-natured atmospheric elves and goblins; but when it was good it was very, very good, with the clarity and nuance of a fine telephone connection. So it is that I can still […]

If it were true that “Flying is inherently safe; it’s just very unforgiving of mistakes,” it would follow that the best way to improve our flying is to eliminate mistakes. To do that I’d like to suggest that pilots adopt the phrase “Every day, in every way, I’m getting better and better” as their mantra, […]