Flight Training

One morning on departure from Peoria International Airport: Peoria Approach: “I bet you didn’t think you were going to get this type of workout when you asked for the clearance into the Class Charlie, did you?” Cessna: “Peoria Approach, student pilot here. I enjoy the workout.” Peoria Approach: “Roger that.” Unknown aircraft: “If he’s a […]

Fuel Strainer Lottery A significant omission from Jeff Parnau’s very interesting article is the Decathlon’s fourth fuel drain point under the rear fuselage aft of the rear seat that is easily overlooked. It is there because the gascolator is not the lowest point in the fuel system when the aircraft is parked. The plumbing to […]

Instead of Christmas cards this year, I’m sending out a class-action apology to all those primary students I led so seriously astray with my misguided whiteboard talks. If you’re an instructor, you’ve surely done the same during the standard foreplay before committing lift. You’ve sketched the wing section, drawn in the airflow above and below […]

Diamond Aircraft, of Austria, announced this week at the Middle East Business Aviation Association Show in Dubai they have agreed to sell 60 airplanes, including both the single-engine DA40 NG and the DA42-VI twin, over the next five years to the Saudi National Company of Aviation’s CAE Authorized Training Center. The new 10-acre center, announced […]

American Airlines recently opened a Cadet Academy for new flight students looking for airline pilot careers. With its first cadets already in training, American Airlines Pilot Career Strategy Manager Christopher Shope shared program details with AVweb. Duration: 9:16 File Size: 8.52 MB download here

Southwest 737 Overruns Runway I was once taught (by my friend who turns 50 today), don’t think ‘how could they,’ think what got them to that place. That is how accident reports make you a better pilot. The first just makes you dismiss the incident. The report places weather at 1m vis, 1300 ovc, wind […]

My wife and I departed Deer Valley Airport in Phoenix in our Cessna 177RG. Before departing we received a complicated taxi clearance to what looked like a parking lot at the end the active runway. Deer Valley calls itself “the busiest general aviation airport in the country” with lots of flight training. The “parking lot” […]

It was a Wisconsin-warm, winter-to-spring day. Roads and runways were plowed, but the heavy rains from the previous night did little to diminish several feet of snow on lawns and fields. My friend (let’s call him Bill) and I drove to the airport at 12:30 p.m. to practice some aerobatics in a rentable Super Decathlon. […]

I’ve been flying for more than a few years and during that time I have observed some piloting that could use some correction. So, here in brief are a few of the activities that I would like to change… if I were king. Straighten Up And Fly Right Many pilots don’t sit right for IFR […]

Who’s Afraid Of A Dead ASI? I could hear the pending screams as I was reading the article. I’m confident the self-appointed expert safety nazis are whipping themselves into a frenzy…I anticipate the storm is already bursting on the phone and email receptionists. (Well, maybe not on the phone. It’s easier to express offense and […]