Pilot Proficiency

While at the 2010 NBAA convention, I stopped by the booth of Stratos Aircraft to check up on the progress the company was making with its eponymous single-engine jet. What I discovered was pretty much exactly what I expected to discover. The company was exceedingly optimistic about the prospects for its jet while admitting there […]

Chris Esposito is co-founder of First Landings Aviation, a central Florida sport pilot flight school, and holds both CFI-ASEL and CFI/CFII-H ratings. Chris has given more than 1,200 hours of flight instruction, 600 of which have been in light-sport aircraft. “Flying both the PiperSport and Remos, two fairly well-known light-sport aircraft, I am often approached […]

I know. Just what you didn’t need to hear. Another batch of New Year’s resolutions that are most likely to wind up forgotten before the spilled champagne dries from your carpet. Well, here they are anyway: five areas in which we could all benefit from a little more attention. 1. Read something old. There was […]

As I write, the year 2010 is almost over, and the overwhelming sentiment among most of us is, “out with the old and in with the new.” In aviation as in nearly every other economic segment, the year served up many challenges and few answers. Still, despite a wealth of bad news, there were some […]

My dad was the one who led me to combine my dual interests in flying and writing—and as a talented pilot and storyteller, he taught me a great deal about both, particularly when I was a teenager working as a lineboy at Teterboro Airport and writing part time for a few local community newspapers. In […]

When I was recently asked to fly from my home in Los Angeles to Paso Robles, I experienced an unfamiliar nervousness. Flying used to be second nature. It didn’t feel much more challenging than stepping into my car to drive to the grocery store. But I gave birth to a son in the summer of […]

I didn’t think it was such a crazy idea. My boyfriend’s 17-year-old son, Connor, had been expressing an interest in flying for the past couple of years. I’d promised him I’d take him up one day so he could get a better idea of what it was like, but Connor and his dad lived in […]

Q: I would like to get my Sport Pilot Certificate and have a lot of questions about the training requirements. But first, I have an opportunity to purchase a Luscombe 8E. Can a sport pilot fly this airplane? A: Congratulations on your goal to become a sport pilot! But don’t buy the Luscombe 8E. Other […]

There’s a discount store, called the Dollar Store, where everything in the establishment goes for a dollar or less. This is not strictly true, for some items may reach two or even three dollars, but you get the point. This retailer suggests a metaphor for flying short distances. A lot of satisfaction can be had […]

Christmas Eve 2002 should have been a happy time. It was my first Christmas with my new wife in our new home in Miami. I was a commercial pilot for a small, domestic freight airline. Pilots who do this type of flying are referred to as “freight dogs” because sometimes a day for us can […]