Flight Training

During my long and colorless career as a flight instructor, I’ve been asked a few times to pencil whip a flight review. This I have never done and still would not do, although I am surprised to admit my reasons for not doing so have changed. I never believed that FAR 61.56’s requirement for a […]

The FAA last week published a notice of proposed rulemaking that would increase to 20 hours the simulator time allowed for the instrument rating, following an earlier attempt using a straight-to-final rule process that was derailed when two commenters objected to the change. The new proposal states that the FAA aims to “relieve burdens on […]

Four students are at the Glasair factory in Arlington, Washington, this week helping to build a Sportsman, as their reward for winning the third GAMA/Build A Plane Design Challenge. The Chef Homeschoolers team from Cuba City, Wisconsin, won the trip in a nationwide competition that aims to develop their skills in science, math, engineering and […]

If ever we need a king in this country and someone put me in charge, somewhere on my to-do list would be getting rid of FAR 91.119. OK, so I wouldn’t eliminate it, but I’d amend it so that people would just worry about it less. I’ve been in more discussions than I care to […]

Mark Vanhoenacker, author of the new book Skyfaring, shares a story familiar to many aviators — as a kid growing up in the hills of western Massachusetts, he was fascinated with airplanes, but unsure how to pursue or afford an aviation career. So he got sidetracked — until he ended up flying a 747 for […]

When Mark Vanhoenacker was growing up in Massachusetts, being an airline pilot seemed like an impossible dream — “like wanting to be an astronaut,” he says — but today he flies all over the world in the front seat of a British Airways 747. How he made that journey, and what the experience is like, […]

No matter how smooth and enjoyable the flight, your passengers always will remember the landing. Anything other than a single, bounce-free touchdown is ripe for comment and, if your passengers also are pilots, ridicule. While a good landing is a combination of many factors, the last chance you have to affect its outcome is in […]

AOPA this week opened its application period for student pilots who are looking for help with the cost of flight training. The AOPA Foundation will award almost $120,000 to help teens learn to fly, study in an accredited aviation program or attend a summer camp with an aviation or aerospace theme. Applications will be accepted […]

Aviation groups say a proposed new bill will essentially block military veterans from using their Veterans Administration benefits to obtain aviation degrees. The new measure would cap the VA benefits at $20,235 per year for flight training, a fraction of the cost of the programs that form the basis of degree aviation programs. The provision […]

When I tour around to report on airplane projects, I have basically two reactions and having the imagination of a turnip, these are consistent. The first is wide-eyed wonderment at the audacity of it all; building machines that lift and hurl themselves through the atmosphere with people in them. The second, upon realizing the staggering […]