Features

We were flying into Birmingham, Alabama at about 2:00am on a Sunday morning. The sky was clear with great visibility. Birmingham has an ILS to runway 6, and the final approach fix is MCDEN. After checking in with Birmingham Approach, we were told to fly “direct to MCDEN for the McVisual approach.” John Young

Letter of the Week:The Privatization Trap HR 4441 (ATC privatization) is a bear trap using austerity for bait. Don’t think for a moment that user fees will stay out of private aviation. Think revenue. Functional ADS-B infrastructure provides a precision billing platform to warm any number of Congressional hearts. With growing Part 23 and 25 […]

Obstructions, sand, mud, wandering animals and other surprises like the end of the runway rushing up to meet you…these are just some of the hazards common to short and soft fields. We all think we’re trained for them, but there’s a big difference between training and reality. I’m not knocking what CFIs teach or what’s […]

The Pitts Special aerobatic airplane is not for every pilot, of course. Its small stature, dictated by the need to keep things light and strong, means a short fuselage and stubby, relatively highly loaded wings when compared to most other personal airplanes. All of this results in an airplane responsive to the slightest control input, […]

The Weekender plans to make the most of February’s chill by heading out to fly on the snow in search of hot meals as listed on SocialFlight.Skiplanes can head to Plymouth, Michigan, Saturday for a warm hangar, hot food and good company as EAA Chapter 113 hosts its Chili Fly-In. There will be lunch regardless […]

While flying from Chicago to Bismarck, North Dakota on New Year’s Day, my co-pilot and I were monitoring 121.5 when someone asked if anybody had any New Year’s resolutions. Without skipping a beat, my co-pilot keyed the mic and responded:“Yeah, NOT talking on Guard!” To which someone else responded:“Yeah, me too.” Jim Burns

The inability to achieve normal power output (e.g. poor static power) can be an insidious, difficult-to-troubleshoot condition that ultimately affects almost every small engine sooner or later. Sometimes, the cause can be pinpointed quickly, especially via multi-probe engine analyzers. But many times it can’t. The best bet is often analyzing all the power instruments that […]

Aviation lore is full of heroes like Chuck Yeager, who saved the day while calmly muttering on the radio something about “some little fire going in them engines” or such. The quiet, unflappable, laid-back flyer has been the role model for young pilots since the days of the Lone Eagle. But is there such a […]

The Weekender is starting to venture out a little as the SocialFlight calendar includes some fly-ins and fly-outs. On Saturday, Palatka Municipal in Florida will host its sixth annual Community Open House & Fly-In. See warbirds, vintage and modern-day aircraft plus automobiles on display, plus airplane, biplane and helicopter rides. Also Saturday, get a behind-the-scenes […]

This occurred on a flight from Cincinnati to Roanoke, Virginia around 2005, give or take a couple years; I’m too lazy to look up the actual date in my logbook but remember that flight distinctly. I was the pilot monitoring, and John, the captain, was the pilot flying. We were approaching from the west, heading […]