Pilot Proficiency

If the most dangerous words in aviation are “Watch this,” then the second most dangerous could be, “Show us how it’s done.” I heard those exact words on the frequency last week. The wind was the worst I had ever seen it in these parts, blowing 90 degrees directly across the only runway in operation […]

My personal experience with bird strikes came during a night instrument training flight in a Mooney. I caught a glimpse of a feathered wing in the landing light beam, felt a slight bump, and that was it. When we landed, there were a few splotches of blood and feathers on the tail. Sorry. Not nearly […]

With lots of negative press in hard economic times, anyone who uses a “private” airplane (I guess we view the airlines as public transportation) is in the crosshairs. Now is the time for all segments of general aviation to support each other and find the common ground, rather than seek out differences. It’s true, most […]

It’s been a cold winter for much of the United States, and it stands to reason that many pilots don’t get out flying as much. When the days are short and the underwear is long, motivation for those regular “tune-up” flights sometimes falls victim to inertia. When you do get back in the saddle, there […]

When I put out a request several months ago for responses from pilots on what they would like controllers to know, along with the responses I received from pilots I also received messages from several controllers. Dan Mason said when he saw the title of the previous article (“Working With Controllers,” August 2008), he thought, […]

Have you ever noticed that for every cliché, there seems to be another one that directly contradicts the first one? “Out of sight, out of mind” vs. “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” Or more to my point; “Haste makes waste” vs. “He who hesitates is lost.” Of the last two, pilots are often told […]

This month’s issue of the American Bonanza Association magazine has some salient tips on night flying, courtesy of John Andrick of Nashua, New Hampshire (where winter nights are long — and cold). John is a flight instructor and an air traffic controller, as well as an adjunct professor at Daniel Webster College, the campus of […]

The old axiom for the self-employed is to “pay yourself first.” The same spirit could apply to flying airplanes. Do your best to take care of yourself before and during the flight, and you maximize your chances for a good return on your investment — in this case, a safe landing. It starts with flight […]

I once asked a pilot I know whether he considers using oxygen as a precautionary measure; say on a night approach after a long day’s flying. “That’s for [derogatory feline reference],” he said. I like to think he was joking, at least a little. The USAF requires pilots to use oxygen when flying above 5,000 […]

A few weeks ago, I was sitting in my car alongside the north end of Teterboro Airport in New Jersey listening in on the tower frequency. Several of the pilots on the ILS to Runway 19 were asking for wind checks, and the tower’s answer was consistent — 240 degrees at seven knots. No big […]