Proficiency

Pull the mixture or condition lever and the propeller comes to a stop. Turn off the switches and what had been saturated with noise and vibration becomes still and quiet. After removing your headset and while sitting in the momentary silence that follows a flight, perhaps you’ll hear the engine ticking as heat dissipates. It’s […]

Standing to get a closer view of my tower’s radar display, I said, “That doesn’t look right.” Somewhere in the dense, ragged and choppy 300-foot overcast outside the tower windows, there was a Piper Matrix inbound on the ILS. Well, supposedly on the ILS. His target was crossing the final approach fix several hundred feet […]

For over 70 years general aviation pilots have volunteered their time, skills and airplanes to help others in need by giving free flights for everything from search and rescue through medical transport, environmental survey and research to disaster relief, animal transport and exposing kids to the world of flight. What has been termed Public Benefit […]

A 22-year-old Alaskan had the shortest combined takeoff and landing distance in the 2016 Valdez STOL competition. Bobby Breeden, flying a Super Cub, took off in 40 feet and landed in 55 feet to win the Alternate Bush category and claim the overall distance title at the competition held two weeks ago at Valdez Airport. […]

A reader of IFR Refresher recently inquired about the ATC/Pilot relationship for departures from airports in Class G (uncontrolled) airspace—specifically executing these clearances, and ATC’s expectations of how that aircraft will maneuver. Hailing from an en-route center where mountainous terrain dominates and TRACONS are scarce, I frequently encounter situations where aircraft request departure off one […]

The FAA has opened comments until Aug.10 for changes to GA flight training rules that would affect a broad spectrum of pilots, including those pursuing private and commercial certificates. Its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking includes a long-anticipated proposal to use glass-cockpit, fixed-gear aircraft for commercial flight training instead of traditional complex aircraft with retractable gear. […]

Engaging in aerobatics—moving dramatically in the third dimension above our planet on a gloriously clear day—ranks right up there among the most delightful things a human can do. If flying represents freedom and an escape from the mundane of beetling across the surface of life, aerobatics is painting that escape and freedom with the broadest […]

So there you are, coming down to the decision height (DH) watching as the approach lights emerge from the clag—all configured and at the right speed. In a few seconds the wheels will kiss the pavement and you will have logged another perfect approach and landing. But this is not to be: The tower orders […]

In his timeless classic Fate Is The Hunter, Ernest K. Gann regales readers with several tales of in-flight emergencies, hairy takeoffs and grateful landings. Perhaps the book’s most memorable takeoff involves a grossly overweight C-87 departing Agra, India, on a hot day, aimed directly at the nearby Taj Mahal mausoleum. Of course, Gann didn’t know […]

It had been a fun morning. The heater had broken in the TRACON radar room. It was 20 degrees outside, not much better inside, and the hot chocolate I was drinking was losing its steam—literally. On top of that, busy last-minute holiday traffic had been giving our morning skeleton crew a kick in the teeth. […]