Pilot Proficiency

Back in 1989, businessman Wally David made an interesting observation: Computer graphics technology was improving so dramatically that a whole new realm of simulator training was about to become possible. With the new graphics technology, a non-moving Flight Training Device (FTD) might be able to provide a realistic sensation of movement simply by incorporating high-quality, […]

Whether it involves a national TV news reporter or simply a friend looking for fast answers, all of us pilots become designated experts when a high profile accident occurs. And we need to recognize some priorities. Today’s news “industry” is extremely competitive, and there is a strong motivation to seek out headlines and quotes that […]

Rich Karlgaard is a late bloomer. At least, in terms of aviation. “I never had an itch to fly until I read a New York Times Sunday Magazine piece called “Turn Left at Cloud 109″ by James Fallows, which appeared on Thanksgiving weekend in 1999,” says Karlgaard. “It was about Cirrus. A couple of days […]

My July 16 Flying Tip discussed vertigo and how insidious a hazard it can be. Dennis Doyle of Tahoe Turbines in California responded with his own tip — a sort of ‘poor-man’s synthetic vision’ that uses your imagination instead of a computer database. Doyle wrote that he has been flying since 1965 and developed his […]

If you’re here at EAA AirVenture, chances are you’ve been tempted by some cutting edge device you’ve seen in the display booths. There’s also a good chance you’ve expanded the budget envelope and you’re bringing one of them home with you. Normally, you’d open the box, lay out all the accessories in their plastic bags […]

Even though I fly a Technologically Challenged Airplane, I do have a Garmin 396 with datalinked XM Weather. My trip to Oshkosh last Friday would not have worked without it. I filed IFR from home base, Somerset Airport in New Jersey, to my fuel stop at Sandusky, Ohio. With the headwinds forecast by fltplan.com, I […]

My bags are packed. The venerable V-tail is perky and ready. Even the weather looks like it ought to cooperate for my trip to aviation’s equivalent of the Promised Land — Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and the annual EAA AirVenture. If you’re looking forward to the same pilgrimage next week, there might be a few checklist items […]

Vertigo, or spatial disorientation, is a tough concept to those who’ve never experienced it. Not the extreme dizziness you get when you spin around with your forehead on a mop handle and then try to walk a straight line. Rather, it’s the more subtle form that can be the most profound danger to new instrument […]

There are those who’ve been, and those who haven’t. And there are those who wouldn’t miss it for anything. The journey to EAA AirVenture at Wittman Field in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, has been compared to the annual Hajj to Mecca. And for aviation zealots ranging from weekend ultralight aficionados to military or airline pilots, there is […]

I’m getting ready for my biennial flight review, and I’m incorporating an instrument proficiency check, even though I’m technically current. For someone like me who doesn’t fly real IFR often enough, one way to remain comfortable is to supplement experience with regular recurrent training. I really should do more. I admit that one of the […]