Search Results for: vfr

I cut my teeth as a pilot in the Midwest — the Chicago area to be exact — and I learned lots about weather during those days. Among the things I learned is that 97 percent of weather is safely navigable (by a qualified and current pilot in a properly-equipped airplane, but that’s another subject […]

It’s a bit disconcerting when it happens. Every once in a great while someone says something that causes your jaw to drop in utter amazement. You stare at the person who just made the statement because you can’t comprehend its magnitude. Meanwhile, your tonsils are attracting flies. It happened to me recently, here in the […]

“With demand for air travel at record highs and many pilots facing mandatory retirement at age 60, U.S. airlines are desperately trying to fill their cockpits.” The Wall Street Journal. I don’t know that there is a general aviation pilot alive who hasn’t toyed with the thought of applying for an airline job, if only […]

Several years ago, a designated pilot examiner was in the habit of asking his private applicants one question to fulfill the oral portion of the practical test, and only one. The question was this: “Which control makes the airplane go up?” If the applicant answered that the throttle makes it go up, he passed, but […]

Every student pilot has heard the admonition to “keep your eyes outside.” When we’re flying VFR, we’re told, at least 70 percent of our time should be spent looking outside the airplane. One of my instructors once referred to me as “human TCAS,” and I’m still proud of my ability to spot traffic and otherwise […]

When I decided I wanted to fly, I did it in a hurry. I passedby Private checkride on November 3, 1995, and purchased a 1982Mooney 231 less than three weeks later. By early December, I hadlogged enough dual that the insurance company would let me flymy new high-performance turbocharged retractable without an instructorin the right […]

Of Flight Breakfasts, Air Races and Roll Your Own Fly-Ins It’s August in the Pilot’s Lounge. The heat shimmers off the asphalt, the trainers seem to sag into the air and the regulars in the big, easy chairs are out of sorts. Hack is complaining that he wants to go somewhere in the Super Cruiser […]

Oneof the most difficult subjects an instructor ever has to teach is the awesomeresponsibility of being pilot in command (PIC) of an airplane carryingpassengers. Federal Aviation Regulation (FAR) 1.1 says, “‘Pilot in Command’means the pilot responsible for the operation and safety of an aircraft duringflight time.” And according to Part 91.3 (a), “The pilot in […]

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