Flight Safety

Transport Canada just released some proposed guidance on the commercial operation of light unmanned aerial systems. Drones. If you haven’t had a chance to look it over, here’s the link (PDF). I suggest at least skimming it. (I’ll wait while you do that.) Clearly, our friends north of the border have come adrift from reality […]

GAMA and Build A Plane have opened up their 2015 design competition, and high-school teams are invited to apply before the Feb. 13 deadline. The call for entries may close earlier if the limit of 100 entries is reached. Each school will receive a free “Fly To Learn” curriculum that includes flight simulation software from […]

We did not have digital radar in the TRACON 25 years ago when I was an air traffic controller. With our analog radar, spring and fall waterfowl migrations of ducks, geese, and cranes always created a cluster of raw radar returns on the scope. It was one of those days when the scope was almost […]

Late last month, I spent a day over in Miami at a company called Africair, checking out some of the company’s sales programs. They happen to have the Cessna territory for Africa and the Caribbean and they’ve established a steady trickle of business in converting Skyhawks to diesel propulsion. “Trickle” means about six to eight […]

I am a 68 year-old Baby Boomer who got his private certificate in 1975 with the University of Michigan Flyers at the Ann Arbor, Michigan Airport. At that time, the Flyers had five Cessna 150s, a Skyhawk, a Piper Arrow, and a Citabria. Within a few months, a twin was added to the fleet-which continued […]

The Society of Aviation and Flight Educators announced Friday that Executive Director Doug Stewart will retire when his contract expires in February. Stewart was among the founding members of the organization, which formed in 2009. Stewart was SAFE’s first chair and was named executive director in November 2011. “I fully expect to remain connected to […]

Isaac Wilson made history in his home state of New Mexico on Tuesday when he flew his first solo in a helicopter at age 16. The flight over Double Eagle II Airport in Albuquerque was the first of its kind there. It also was a unique milestone for Wilson’s instructor, Douglas Christian of Vertical Limit […]

Were flying blissfully along enjoying the smooth night flight conditions and the panorama of lights below. The engine is purring smoothly, and, for once, we have caught a tailwind. We think to ourselves, this is why we became pilots and then we proudly wonder out loud what the ground-bound populace below is doing on such […]

Tyler Francis, owner of an FBO business in New Mexico, died Monday when the experimental airplanehe was flying crashed at Las Cruces International Airport, the Las Cruces Sun-News reported. Francis, 29, owned Francis Aviation, headquartered at the Dona Ana County Airport in Santa Teresa, New Mexico. He had recently expanded operations to Las Cruces, the […]

ATC audioof a Houston controller talking a VFR pilot through an emergency IFR approach into Houston Executive Airport included instruction on setting up a GPS, vectors, and managing the Cessna 172’s engine as it descended from 8500 feet. Pilot Mark Nelson had called ATC for help when he was trapped above clouds flying his Cessna […]