Flight Safety

I heard the commotion as I started down the hall from the flight school to the Pilot’s Lounge at the virtual airport. In the few moments it took to get to the door of the Lounge, individual voices became clear, split into two very vocal camps: The vehement “Yes it will!” calls being answered by […]

A 777 cockpit can be a crowded place if you fill all of the seats. Along with the relief-pilot seat there is a fairly uncomfortable jump seat. With the back of the airplane full of returning Americans and potential British ex-pats, I found myself a sort-of cockpit captive for the eight and a half hour […]

With the coming of the very light jets (VLJs), I’ve had many folks ask me just what jet type-rating training is like. Although it’s hard to evaluate the programs currently under development, there is a general format they will all have to follow: the Practical Test Standard, or PTS, provided by the FAA for the […]

I said it before but I’m going to say it again: The job of an air traffic controller epitomizes the saying, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” Imagine my surprise this morning when I saw a flight plan with BZM.T203.PSK in the route of flight. What the heck is T203? Turns […]

All pilots know the basics of night flying and much of the literature talks — rightly so — about the need to adapt your eyes for darkness and about the rules and regulations. Most of us can parrot back that to carry passengers at night we need to have made three takeoffs and landings, at […]

It was about an hour after sunset at the virtual airport. I was sitting in one of the big recliners in the pilot’s lounge wondering whether the cost of avgas was a great cosmic practical joke and curious as to whether it was possible to calculate just how much weight I’d have to lose to […]

Editor’s Note: This article first appeared in Twin & Turbine, Sep. 2004, and is reprinted here by permission. On June 3, 1999, a pilot was seriously injured and his Cessna T310Q was destroyed during a forced landing in West Laurens, N.Y.He had just purchased the turbocharged twin the day before, and was in the process […]

My 17-year-old nephew Kermit asked me to go with him out to the local airport to have a gander at some WWII bombers that were visiting the aviation museum. It was a good excuse to avoid mowing the lawn and gave him the chance to scare the bejesus out of me with his driving.I was […]

An Australian pilot who was criticized for recklessness two years ago has won one of aviation’s highest honors. Jon Johanson, 49, was awarded the Federation Aeronautique Internationale gold medal for attaining 48 FAI world records, flying an RV-4 he built himself. “Jon’s hard work, meticulous planning, initiative and commitment when building his own small aircraft […]

It’s time to pick annual leave for 2006 at Atlanta Center (ZTL). We pick our days off and two weeks of leave at the same time. I’ve been senior enough to get Saturday and Sunday off for some time now. Lots and lots of controllers get really excited about seniority. Me, I never give it […]