Training

(March 2011) — There’s a concept in the philosophy of science that inventions and theories occur when the time is right for their discovery. If that’s the case, then the time seems to be ripe for doing something to make a significant change in the general aviation paradigm. The day prior to its Aviation Summit […]

(March 2011) AFTER MY JANUARY ARTICLE, “Deadly Fatigue,” came out, I received a message from Mark Schwartz, a retired airline pilot and Gold Seal instructor, saying that any article relating to fatigue would not be complete unless it discussed the effects that circadian rhythm has on one’s abilities to perform flight duties. I responded that […]

(February 2011) — Forty-three years after obtaining a private certificate for single-engine land airplane operations, I have gotten it into my head to fly airplanes for real. By that I mean to fly passengers in somebody else’s expensive airplane. I have visions of epaulets, exotic layover destinations and, naturally, extraordinarily fast, ridiculously expensive and new […]

(February 2011) — Last month in “Deadly Fatigue,” I established that a pilot cannot win the fight against fatigue. Sooner or later fatigue will win and the pilot will fall asleep or make a mistake that he or she would never have made when well rested. However, even though we can never win this battle, […]

What are the biggest challenges new instrument students face? (February 2011) — Eric Radtke is an airline transport pilot, Gold Seal flight instructor, advanced ground instructor and NAFI-accredited Master Flight Instructor. Eric has been involved in aviation education since 1998 and currently serves as president and chief instructor of Sporty’s Academy, the educational arm of […]

When I was first getting my feet wet with instrument flying one of the hardest but most crucial skills was learning how to make things simple. Those of you who are experienced instrument pilots might chuckle at this because doing that is the essence of much of what we do in the single-pilot cockpit. As […]

December 2010 — A diverse gathering of aviators from all age groups could probably debate for hours the first airline airplane that required administrative thinking to manage the cockpit. If alcohol were included in this debate, days rather than hours would pass before a collective agreement occurred, if at all. For my purposes, and the […]

Doug Stewart is chairman of the Society of Aviation and Flight Educators. He is a Master CFI, DPE and the 2004 National Flight Instructor of the Year. He has provided more than 10,000 hours of dual instruction specializing in instrument and complex operations (dsflight.com). The answer to this question is not as simple as one […]

With the passing of daylight savings time, we’re now faced with fewer hours to fly in sunshine. For many single-engine pilots, that means fewer hours of flying, since they prefer not to fly at night. For those who do, filing and flying an IFR flight plan is even more advisable. Having a second set of […]

Donna F. Wilt, Ph.D., is an ATP, a Master CFI and an associate professor of aviation at Hampton University. She says: “The FAA states that an applicant for a student-pilot certificate must be at least 14 years old for the operation of a glider or balloon and 16 years old for other categories of aircraft. […]