Flight Safety

Polly Vacher was born January 13,1944, in Paignton, England, and spent her childhood in the rolling hills andsunny beaches of Devonshire. She trained as a physiotherapist, then as a musicteacher, married, and raised three sons. Her attraction to flying began in 1989when she skydived to raise money for a charity, and she subsequently logged 245jumps. […]

At a recent press conference, Hal Shevers, founder and “head guy” of Sporty’s Pilot Shop, mentioned a drastically different training technique that Sporty’s Academy has been employing in its ab initio program. Instead of doing things the “traditional” way – planning for the Private Pilot practical test from the beginning – they start all students […]

The ink is barely dry on my new temporary pilot certificate with “G-IV” appended as a type rating. This is, of course, the rating for the magnificent Gulfstream IV. This airplane, more than any other, has become the favorite of movie stars, “dot.com” billionaires, and those whose time is of very high value. If you’d […]

Summertime. Here at the virtual airport the talk in the pilot’s lounge is of aerobatics, airshows and performers; who is worth going to see and which ones the faithful can miss if a choice has to be made? The other day, a group of us in the lounge were, um, discussing – yes, that’s it, […]

When I was an aspiring young aviation cadet in the old Army Air Corps during World War II, we were told that anybody can learn to fly – some just take longer than others. It was probably true then, because that group was carefully selected for aptitude, but I have since learned that it is […]

Without ever having touched one, my usual comment about the B-24 has always been something on the order of “Ugly as sin, flies like *&^%,” based on the words of Ernest K. Gann in “Fate Is the Hunter.” He hated them. Well, pass the salt … I’ve got to eat a little crow here. Maybe […]

Last month I told you I’d spent an evening here in the pilot’s lounge at the virtual airport writing two letters. I wrote them after returning from a trip where I had seen, talked to, and briefly flown with, an airport kid, a kid who wanted to fly more than anything in the world. The […]

Over the years I have been a sole airplane owner, been involved in a two-person partnership in owning an airplane, and been in another partnership of four people that owned two airplanes. I have also belonged to several airplane ownership clubs, and I’ve been an airplane renter. I think this probably qualifies me to speak […]

Before getting into this month’s column, I’d like try and address one of the most common question I’m getting from readers of my series on piston engine operation: “John, you talk about fuel-injected engines, but I don’t have one. What can I do in my Cessna 182, with its O-470 carbureted engine?” Managing Carbureted Engines […]

It’s another one of those late evenings here in the pilot’s lounge. I’m here because it’s a place that is conducive to thinking. I returned from a trip a couple of hours ago, put the airplane away and started to leave the airport but turned around and came back here to the lounge where it […]