Pilot Proficiency

The late Bill Wagstaff, a former colleague of mine, was a very smart man who loved aviation. But though he’d taken some lessons, he never pursued the actual flying part very far. It just wasn’t a priority to work through (and pay for) all of what it took to operate an airplane safely and with […]

A new rule proposed by the FAA would require photo certificates for pilots. Currently, pilots carrying the “old new” tamper resistant plastic certificates must also carry a second government photo ID, such as a driver’s license. The new certificates would have to be updated every eight years with a new photo. If approved, the new […]

Over the course of the 18 years that I have been writing for Flying, I have received a couple of indignant letters from pilots who for some reason thought an article I had written was directed at them personally. They firmly stated that they would never make the kind of mistake I had written about. […]

Last Sunday I passed my practical test for the Sport Pilot certificate. And what an eye opener it was. To be honest, I had no idea what to expect and, on top of that, I had managed, very methodically, during the few months leading up to that day, to work myself into somewhat of a […]

With the passing of daylight savings time, we’re now faced with fewer hours to fly in sunshine. For many single-engine pilots, that means fewer hours of flying, since they prefer not to fly at night. For those who do, filing and flying an IFR flight plan is even more advisable. Having a second set of […]

A little over a year ago a good friend asked if I would consider writing a column about a skytyping/airshow operation. My friend was a former chief pilot at our New York domicile, and through the years the job had given him the opportunity to become acquainted with pilots that had unique backgrounds; one of […]

It was a wintry day in Salt Lake City with the temperature hovering around freezing and a high, overcast sky with good visibility. We were on the second leg of a three-leg day flying a Lear 35 from a military base to Washington, D.C., carrying three passengers including a VIP. I was sitting right seat […]

A rash of seat track failures in the mid 1980s led to an FAA airworthiness directive (AD) on several Cessna models. Faulty latch mechanisms led to several accidents in which the seat slid back and the pilot lost control of the airplane. Now, the FAA has published a notice of proposed rulemaking that adds new […]

I learned to drive in New England, so I knew about slippery roads. But I remember that every year I almost had to relearn some of the lessons with the first snowfall. It seems there was a close call every winter as I re-acclimated myself to the hazards of lost traction on turns and when […]

A couple of books I’ve been dipping into lately strike me as epitomizing some changes that have occurred in the past 50 or 60 years. One of them, Wolfgang Langewiesche’s classic Stick and Rudder, found its way to me through an old friend who, being well into his 80s, sold his airplane and with great […]