Pilot Proficiency

For pilots expecting never again to face a non-precision approach tied to a land-based navaid, we can confirm that rumors of the demise of the VOR have been greatly exaggerated. In 2016, the FAA began eliminating many of the GPS overlay approaches tied to older VOR procedures ahead of plans to also eliminate a significant […]

Pilots who want the most out of their Garmin avionics can attend a number of new, expanded pilot training classes this year. The instructor-led classes are available for the GTN 650/750 touchscreen navigators, the G500/G600 glass flight display systems, and all Garmin integrated flight decks, including the new G1000 NXi platform. Garmin says supplemental eLearning […]

An aviator known as Rachelle is breaking new ground on fundraising techniques to raise money for a scholarship that aims to bring more women to the field of aviation. On January 21, the funds from Jeanne King’s class at Pilates of Pasadena, in Pasadena, California, will go toward Rachelle’s I Hart Flying campaign. The class […]

For his first video of 2018, Flight Chops (AKA Steve Thorne) is conducting a sort of victory lap for what he says is probably his best accomplishment of 2017. The feat? “Actually starting and finishing something.” We all know how good that can feel. More specifically, he earned his multi engine rating, and now his […]

Since the introduction of the internal combustion engine, engineers and entrepreneurs alike have searched for ways to squeeze more horsepower from each gallon of fuel. Despite those efforts, the traditional two-magneto system that provides the spark for combustion in an aircraft piston engine has remained essentially unchanged since World War II. In pairs, magnetos have proved […]

Private and recreational pilots can now access the new online Mayo Clinic BasicMed Course, a free education program for pilots pursuing medical qualification through FAA BasicMed that is an alternative to completing the course on AOPA’s website. “We’re pleased to be able to provide this new option for pilots,” said Clayton Cowl, director of the […]

When I was a child there was an apple tree in our front yard. It was a joy. In the summertime you could walk up to that tree, shake it and feast on those delicious loose apples that were just about ready to fall to the ground on their own but hadn’t yet. Sometimes, if […]

Ground collisions have thankfully been few and far between over the past few years. However, the FAA is taking no chances and continues to raise awareness of the risk of runway incursions between aircraft and vehicles operating on airports of all sizes. The agency said the majority of incursions occur in the first two-thirds of […]

I was surprised when Flying celebrated its 90th birthday last August. Could the magazine really be that old? Heck, am I really this old? And then I realized that dare­devil aviators — followed by legions of prudent and prosaic corporate airplane drivers — have been launching themselves into the air from the Turkey Bottoms, aka […]

In May 2016, I met a woman named Susan Mozena. When she learned that I fly, she told me her father, Charles d’Olive, had been an ace with five victories in World War I. My first thought was that my friend Javier Arango would have gotten a kick out of my having had a close […]