Search Results for: vfr

Somewhere between conception and execution of the light sport aircraft idea, the notion of simple and inexpensive got tossed overboard. Typical LSAs are lavishly equipped at prices in the $130,000 range. Yet at least a couple of companies persist with offerings below that price, including the Italian-built Groppo Trail, which surfaced again this year at […]

At last week’s NBAA show in Orlando, I was having a little argument with myself in one of the press conferences. A staple of these things is what we used to call in the newspaper business “grip and grins.” The assembled people of import grip the certificate/plaque/award/trophy, face the camera and beam. Click. Two cols […]

As simple and straight forward as the visual approach, is sometimes you might end up wishing you were in the soup to minimums. The visual approach has a few traps waiting to grab you. It is important to remember the visual approach is not an instrument approach even though you are still on an IFR […]

BuildAPlane is joining hands with the Eagle Flying Museum to fund youth aviation education programs. The Fort Worth, Texas-based non-profit organization is raffling off a recently refurbished Cessna 150 to raise money for a new Build A Plane opportunity for kids to restore a classic Boeing Stearman. Raffle ticket sales are underway now and will […]

As a variation of the old and bold pilots clich, there’s an old Sicilian saying: You can be arrogant; you can be ignorant, but you can’t be both at the same time. It’s appropriate for flying in Alaska, where I live. Every year we revisit the world of midair collisions and year after year, they […]

Compared to landing, taking off is relatively simple. Our instructor lets us make the first takeoff of our very first flying lesson—or at least makes us think we made the takeoff. If everything goes right, it’s easy. But how do you know everything is going right? And how do you know what to do in […]

There has been one light quietly continuing to burn despite the dark news of declining general aviation activity—that’s sport parachuting, you know, skydiving. While the number of pilots has dropped, airports are closing and new aircraft sales just struggle along, skydiving activity has been consistently growing. Canny airport managers looking at red ink in their […]

Let’s begin with the conclusion: American Champion’s decision to add 30 HP to the long-serving, 180-HP Scout, to make what it calls the Denali Scout—created the stud brute of the two-place, backcountry airplane set. It keeps the honest handling and excellent ground manners of the Scout while notching up the climb rate from very good […]

Perhaps one of the most recognizable and most produced general aviation aircraft, Cessna’s 172 Skyhawk may also be among the most economical four-placers to own. Sure, there are others worth considering, including the Piper Warrior, Beech Sundowner and even a Grumman Cheetah, but Skyhawks tend to be favored by flight schools. This makes more of […]

I am an instructor in Germany and was with a student flying to his first towered airport. The aircraft has no GPS installed and visibility was around 4-5 km in mist. We were given the entry into the control zone via VFR reporting point “November.” Tower (in a kind, investigative voice): “D-HR you are a […]