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Time To Listen Up Paul, your story reminded me of one of the best controller reactions to a wayward aircraft/pilot that I have ever witnessed in my 50 years of flying. It was early 70’s and I flew a friend into KIND in a Mooney to pick up his Bonanza that he had left there […]

Product development has many mothers. Sometimes you create a new airplane for a particular set of missions. Sometimes you take that design and tweak it based on customer feedback, advances in manufacturing capability or simply to crank up your market share and get your brand some juicy press coverage. And sometimes necessity is the driver. […]

There are reasons for high owner satisfaction among Grumman Tiger owners. A sliding canopy alone lends to decent ramp appeal, plus with snappy handling and 180 horsepower it easily runs with Piper Archers and Cessna Cardinals. With plenty of approved aftermarket retrofits for avionics and speed mods, reliable engines and enthusiastic owner groups to help […]

I was with my instrument student in his plane, (an Alarus CH2T that is not a speed demon), and he was flying a five‑mile final to my home airport, Gwinnett County Airport Briscoe Field. Itwas a busy weekday afternoon, with lots of traffic in the pattern and also straight in for Runway 25. All of […]

Unusual attitude recovery is a standard part of the FAA checkride for nearly every rating, plus flight reviews and instrument proficiency checks. Pilots dutifully don a hood, put their heads down as an instructor or examiner puts the airplane through a few gyrations and then says, “You’ve got it.” The pilot looks up to see […]

Editor’s note: For our July 2021 Accident Probe, Oshkosh Or Bust, we explored an accident involving a non-instrument-rated pilot who took off into dark night IMC and crashed into an open field near the airport, killing himself and his passenger. This month’s accident is eerily similar, except both occupants were instrument-rated commercial pilots. The underlying […]

Devotion: Made Like They Used to Make Them My father, Capt. Walter F. Madden, USN (RET) was CAG (Commander Air Group) of Air Group 3 on board the USS Leyte when this incident occurred. Like most combat veterans he talked very little about the Korean War (or WWII in which he also fought) but he […]

Heading into another winter season, our thoughts begin shifting to cold-weather flying hazards—fog, icing, and widespread precipitation. Most pilot training considers each of these factors individually. But most of them share a common cause, and it’s rooted in the weather patterns. Because of that, most pilots will be ahead of the game if they can […]

One night the Potomac Approach frequency was not very congested. I overheard a pilot talking with the controller about his impending arrival at an outlying airport just at the tower’s 9 p.m. close. Pilot: “I think they’ll be closed by the time I get there.” Potomac Approach: “I don’t know. You might just make it.” […]

The backup rechargeable batteries used in current-gen EFIS models have gotten better over the years. But they still require routine inspections, might have mandatory replacement intervals and are intolerant of extreme storage conditions. Don’t underestimate the costs associated with replacing them, either. Fortunately there are some things you and your mechanics can do to ensure […]