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This article originally appeared in the October 2002 issue of IFR Refresher and is reprinted here by permission. The most serious mistake that I ever made in an airplane would not have happened without GPS.I was an enthusiastic instrument student with 15 hours of instrument flight under my belt. I had 30 hours of experience […]

Guns in the Cockpit I am a Learjet and King Air pilot who is worried about the abilities for pilots to carry guns in the cockpit and have a secured door. The problem with this can be demonstrated in a hypothetical scenario.A 767 is on final approach to JFK. One of the pilots who has […]

The first terrorist attack on a national landmark after September 11, 2001, has occurred. Fortunately, no one was injured or killed, but the callousness of the act, perpetrated in the dark of night, by a ruthless, calculating, cold-blooded thug, was made more horrible by its far-reaching implications. The act, an assault on a place held […]

Flight School Liability Insurance Twenty years ago, the University of Michigan Aerospace Engineering Department had an airplane and a flight testing course. Western Michigan, Embry Riddle, etc., still do. We sold ours, as “it was too expensive.” Now, we can get the funding for another aircraft, but the administrators tell us that no way will […]

This article originally appeared in the November 2001 issue of Light Plane Maintenance, and is reprinted here by permission. First, we want you to understand that timing magnetos doesn’t fall under the heading of “preventive maintenance.” For certificated aircraft, this is A&P country — especially if the magnetos are to be removed from the engine.However, […]

Charlie Summers jokes that it takes two medical examiners for his exam — each looks into one of his ears and if they can see one another he passes. Charlie flies a one-of-a-kind armor-plated T-28 into thunderstorms — on purpose, for a living — for the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Institute of […]

ADIZ Flight Plans I just returned from Sun-N-Fun this weekend. Coming from Raleigh, N.C., to Hyannis, Mass., the handling of the ADIZ flight plans was cumbersome and does not, in my opinion, add any level of extra security to the area. Our experience was as follows: Sunday (April 6) at 12:00 called 1-800-WX BRIEF, was […]

I‘ve been a fan of Garmin‘s GPSs ever since I spent several hundred hours teaching people how to fly the Cirrus SR20 and SR22, which have dual Garmin GPSs as standard equipment. But I learned early on that having a super-charged piece of avionics is not all peaches and cream. There’s a steep learning curve, […]

We were preparing to push back in Kansas City and we were heavy. The hot weather wasn’t helping the takeoff figures much either.Full up on passengers, cargo and fuel, the gate agent was in the passenger cabin counting babies. Your average passenger is calculated at about 170 pounds (if I remember my ATP written questions […]