Pilot Proficiency

Our United States government, in a fit of misguided zeal, defaced the sacred Black Hills of South Dakota with the likenesses of four politicians—one of them remembered today, among other things, as the inspiration of a plush toy. And yet, those stone faces are there forever—which is a long, long time. Another instance of violent […]

Sometimes we face situations as pilots that we feel lucky to walk away from. In my case, I learned a valuable lesson in dealing with hazardous attitudes and forgoing a checkout on a similar airplane to the one I had been flying. Little did I know that this situation would become the catalyst for my […]

A couple of years ago, I restored a 17th-century barn in upstate New York. I acted as the general contractor. I was working from home, writing a screenplay, and figured I would keep costs down by not hiring a GC. And I did. The screenplay, though, did not get written. Between researching and ­buying materials, […]

As human beings, we’re constantly ­evaluating our paths—our dreams, our fears and the simple truth that fulfillment always lies just beyond the veil of what we perceive our limitations to be. Frictions in our lives define us, not at face value but rather by the path we cut through them. It is our innate and […]

He could have been a ­10-year-old kid. He was certainly acting like one. We were at the Helicopter Association International annual convention, and John was sitting in a helicopter pretending to fly it. He gradually became aware that someone had been standing beside him, waiting for him to come out of his fantasy. “I am […]

To paraphrase a line from The Lone Ranger radio series, “Return with me now to those thrilling days of yesteryear! From out of the past comes the thundering sound of a Cessna 150…Barney flies again.” This goes way back to the olden days—before radio and TV stations employed drones and live traffic cams to report […]

A questionable takeoff in fog by the pilot of a Cessna 340 ends in tragedy.

A lot has happened to the two greatest careers imaginable (to me) since I fell in love with each of them. When I started medical school 53 years ago with the intent of becoming a surgeon, such a career promised interesting work, a middle-class income and a respected role in society. When I got certificate […]

In 1986, I flew a Beechcraft Baron 58 each night carrying canceled bank checks from Baltimore to Richmond, Virginia; Charlotte, North Carolina; Philadelphia and back to BWI, departing at about 10 p.m. and returning by 6 a.m. the next morning. I was part of a network of check-carrying general aviation aircraft that crisscrossed the nation […]

I still believe my instrument-rating check ride was my toughest, but then maybe it just seemed that way because the technology in the Cessna 172 I flew was pretty basic: two communications radios, two VORs, an ADF and a transponder. Keeping an airplane upright in the old days demanded constant brain work to scan the […]