Features

Our body is traditionally said to have five senses—all of which, it can be argued, are involved in piloting an airplane. The problem occurs when the inputs from two or more contradict each other thereby causing an erroneous mental picture. During instrument training most of us have experienced “the leans” where our eyes convey one […]

The Weekender will kick off October with some scenic fly-in destinations on SocialFlight.com. OnSaturday in Greenville, Illinois, see a special appearance by a TBM Avenger at the 50th anniversary of the Greenville Airport Fly-In/Cruise-In. Also on display will be a Stearman and Waco biplanes, T-34s, a T-6, vintage cars and more. Rain date is Sunday. […]

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 […]

JAX Approach: American 123, airport 11 o’clock, 8 miles. Report in sight. AA123: (obviously, the co-pilot) The man says he has the airport in sight. JAX approach: Tell the man he’s cleared to the airport, expect a visual runway 8. AA123: I’ll break it to him gently.

In our series on refurbishing airplanes, we’ve examined what’s involved with updating all aspects of your airplane as well as helping it age gracefully. In this article, we turn to breathing new life into an existing airframe by adding more power to get more performance. We’re looking at one of the more exciting upgrades currently […]

On a clear day in January 2010, I took-off from Montgomery Airport in San Diego, California, in my highly modified RV-6A (christened The Feral Chihuahua) for Jacksonville, Florida. Twenty-four hours later, I landed back at San Diego, having successfully crisscrossed the United States. It was an official NAA round-trip transcontinental aviation speed record. This is […]

The Weekender plans to take in a variety of classic planes, cars and historical attractions found on SocialFlight.com.Head to Santa Rosa, California, this weekend for the Wings Over Wine Country Airshow, presented by the Pacific Coast Air Museum. See demos for aUSAF F-22 Raptor Stealth Fighter,Royal Canadian Air Force CF-18 Hornet andUnited States Navy F-18 […]

The pre-private, 16-year-old, 12-hour total time solo glider student called the TFR-fire base temporary tower staff. Glider Student: “Santa Ynez Tower, Glider 28 Tango, 45 entry to right traffic, Runway 26, Santa Ynez.” This was followed by a deep baritone, “Santa Ynez, Skycrane 2C, inbound three miles from the southeast.” Tower: “Glider 28 Tango , […]

Nutjob. That’s what we all called him. He was one of my trainers at my first tower. Extreme skydiving and off-the-grid adventure travel earned him the title. His not-safe-for-work “There I was…” stories were legendary throughout our ATC community. Despite his off-campus reputation, he didn’t screw around in the control tower. He confidently ran his […]

The Weekender’s headed to all four corners of the country with festivals, air tours and airshows to choose from on SocialFlight.com.Head to the “Hop Capital of the World,” Independence, Oregon, for the Hop & Heritage Festival Friday and Saturday. Fly into theIndependence Airporton Saturday morning for the Flap Jack Feed, a fundraiser for a local […]