Pilot Proficiency

For tens of thousands of aircraft owners, the deadline has been looming. ADS-B will be required on January 1, 2020, in airspace that now requires a transponder. It was clear to John and me that we wanted to meet the requirement before the deadline — because without ADS-B our old jet would become useless. And […]

An instrument landing system (ILS) uses two separate ground-based radio transmitters to provide both lateral and vertical guidance to pilots during an instrument approach procedure that normally includes the lowest landing minimums. A Category I ILS approach, for example, typically offers a 200-foot decision height above the ground. ILS approach visibility minimums are measured either […]

Around here, we call it the “trip of a lifetime,” though that hardly does it justice. You might remember last month’s column that left off at an improbably tasty restaurant in Kangerlussuaq, Greenland, after just the first day of a 23-day private jet tour of Europe. Air Journey organized the trip, and it featured three […]

I totaled my airplane on May 27, 2018, at 10:30 in the morning. I was departing Telluride Airport in Colorado. It was a Sunday. She was a V-tail. I loved her. She was fast and strong and easily the most exotic thing I have ever owned. And I killed her. They say it’s better to […]

In 2018, a Junkers Ju 52 crashed in the Swiss Alps while attempting to cross a 10,000-foot saddle from south to north amid gusting winds.

Milwaukee ILS/Loc Rwy 1L is a complicated simple procedure. Scroll over the interactive image below for details.

CloudAhoy is used by pilots at all levels for post-flight debrief. CloudAhoy provides “Flight Debrief in the Age of Technology“. It is data-driven and incorporates artificial intelligence technology, advanced analysis, state of the art visualization, integration of video, and automatic scoring of flights (currently in beta). The ability to relive the flight, to quickly identify […]

It doesn’t much matter whether Boeing intended to set off a revolution in cockpit instrumentation when it delivered the first 767 in the early 1980s. That, of course, was the result when the new jetliner unleashed the first computerized cockpit displays destined to forever change the way pilots control and navigate aircraft. The new instrumentation […]

Here’s an emerging safety story that hasn’t received much attention: Fatal accidents caused by weather are declining. Nobody should be popping Champagne bottles just yet, but there is enough data to suggest a steady downward trend over the past few years. What’s the cause of this encouraging course reversal? There are probably many, but the […]

Recently, an iconic figure in the flying world celebrated his 80th birthday by soloing an Aeronca Champ — the very same Champ he first soloed on his 16th birthday in 1954. How sweet is that? This career airline pilot, author of numerous books, narrator of aviation programs and videos and, for 55-plus years, writer and […]