Pelican’s Perch

Warbird Crews Wanted! Would you like to fly or work on one of these grand old machines? Its not thathard to do, and its really not that hard to get an opportunity. Like anything inthis business, you need to be at the right place at the right time, and have an idea howto act. As […]

Can’t do it? Rubbish! Yeah, I know, the handheld is notFAA-Approved, or TSO-129 compliant. Well, neither is a #2 pencil,but that doesn’t mean you need an FAA-approved pencil (yet) towrite down a clearance, and you don’t need an IFR-approved GPSto use one while IFR, either. I wouldn’t be so hot on this subject,except for the […]

If you haven’t figured it out by now, I like to use a provocative “headline” to grab your attention, and sucker you into clicking that button to read my column. The headline will generally be related to the content, but in ways you might not expect. If you’re reading this, you fell for it! Seriously, […]

Anyone who likes checkrides has to be nuts. One of the toughest things about being a DE (FAA Designated Examiner) is knowing that no one really wants to be in the airplane with me, and even when a successful checkride is done,the checkee is probably going to say bad things about me in the bar, […]

At a party I attended awhile back, a lady was extolling the virtues of her latest macro-biotic diet, and how she wouldn’t drink coffee because it’s bad, wouldn’t touch salt, just on and on about her rather complex feeding routine. All the while smoking one cigarette after another! What is wrong with this picture? So […]

If you’ve been reading any of this stuff, you might have figured out by now that the headlines are written to grab some attention, in the hopes you’ll read on. These “leaders” or “teasers” are written by someone else, I’m too lazy. They may or may not resemble the actual gist of the article, if […]

Fair warning! I’m actually going to say some very nice things about the FAA in this column. If you don’t like this sort of thing, skip this column and comeback for the next one. Yes, yes, I’m of sound mind (well, as much as I ever am), and I am not being coerced, this is […]

You know you’re in trouble when a memo from the chief pilots starts out “It has come to the attention of this office…” Well, the FAA may be in trouble with me, because it has come to my attention that it may be official policy at (at least) one FSDO that simple failure to time […]

Depart “Depart” is test pilot slang for “Departure from controlled flight.” It can refer to something as mild as a wing drop during a stall to a high-altitude “upset” that results in the airplane literally falling out of the sky. Enrichment Virtually all engines have some mechanism or device to enrich the mixture at high […]

The only other words that will more quickly capture the attention of the steely-eyed, granite-jawed airline captain are “Uh, oh, they forgot to load the crew meals,” or “Company’s talking about a cut in per diem.” The latter two don’t even bear thinking about, but we do cheerfully train for the engine failure. But let’s […]