Eye of Experience

A bit over 25 years ago, the FAA selected a General Aviation Operations Inspector in each of two District Offices (Detroit and Grand Rapids, Mich.), designated them Accident Prevention Specialists, and charged them with the responsibility of establishing a safety program on a test basis. Each of these two inspectors selected several flight instructors in […]

One of the frequently asked questions that instructors and flight school administrators hear quite often from the primary student is: “Once I acquire the Private Pilot Certificate, what then? What can I do with it?” Most often, this student is training to become a pilot just “because” – he or she doesn’t have a specific […]

Not long ago, I was in the office of the Chief Flight Instructor at an FAA Part 141 approved flight school when a young man came in fresh from passing his Private Pilot certification check ride. Amid all the congratulations, one of the things the chief instructor told him was that he should start his […]

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 […]

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 […]

Wepreviously discussed the subject of flying by “sight picture” asopposed to “flying by the numbers.” Now we will undertake to considerall the sensory cues that a pilot uses in manipulating the controls of anairplane and making the machine do what he or she wants it to do (or, at leastkeeping it from doing that which […]

Flight training has been consistently running 10 to20 years behind the state of the art. A prime example of this is the way I wastrained in the early 1940s. Aircraft engines produced back in the early 1930s(and before) were so undependable that every time one took off you could toss acoin as to whether or […]

Jerome C. Stannard was one of the “quiet heroes” to survive thesecond world war. He completed 76 combat missions flying the Jug (the RepublicP-47 Thunderbolt) in the U.S. Army Air Corps (predecessor to the United StatesAir Force). USAAC Cadet Stannard in 1943 When he returned home and separated from the Army – like manyothers – […]

TheFreight Dogs When someone says, “commercialpilot,” the first thing the listener thinks of is an air carrier pilotwearing a blazer with stripes up to his/her elbow. But there are many moreoccupations for professional pilots than just flying a human mailing tube, notleast of which are the so-called “freight dogs” – the cargo haulersflying all kinds […]

Areader who requested that I discuss making perfect landings, – with animation, noless – prompted this column. In a perfect world it would be easy to consistently make those neat landingsin which our passengers, as we are rolling out after a real greaser, look aroundand exclaim, “When did we land?” However, I don’t live in […]