Proficiency

Most pilots I know are lazy. Writing as one who has spent most of his career flying airplanes, that’s meant to be a compliment. The lazy pilot tends to accomplish the least work necessary in order to achieve the intended goal. This usually improves workload management and provides a greater reserve of attention. However, sometimes […]

Last July I wrote an introduction to tailwheel flying as an AVweb Feature. It went into those hot-button items a fledgling tailwheel pilot needs to keep in the forefront of consciousness when coming down final in a tailwheel airplane. Let’s consider it “Tailwheels, Part I.” With this article, I’ll go through what you should expect […]

With sunny skies and calm winds, it’s a surprise to reach cruise altitude and find a bumpy ride. Though computer modeling is beginning to overcome many limitations in turbulence prediction, the products aren’t always accurate and don’t convey the nature of the problem. So, it’s pretty important for pilots to be well versed in what […]

So there you are, flying along, proverbially fat, dumb and happy. Suddenly a cacophony of unusual sounds and vibration, accompanied by a pungent smell that pierces the cockpit, and the windshield is sprayed with oil. Some emergencies are clear cut like this—others more subtle. Some are caused by outside events such as a mechanical engine […]

Letter of the Week:Correcting the Imbalance Regarding Paul Bertorelli’s blog about gender imbalance: Aviation, as a profession, seems to have set the modern standard on “imbalance,” an ironic fact given the physical principles on which it is based. Does it make sense to address the subject of gender imbalance without including wage imbalance, race imbalance, […]

Boy, oh boy, has this been fun! The excitement level at Liberty Landing International Airport had reached a fever pitch; the crowds of cheering spectators were on their feet! The field was littered with the orange carcasses of shattered pumpkins scattered over a very impressive area. Some were pretty dang close to the hangars. That […]

Last month’s feature on the frustrating persistence of engine operating superstitions generated a number of comments from readers, most appreciating the ammunition to fire back at the Old Wives’ Tale-spouting “experts” at their local airport. Several referenced other operating superstitions—engine and airplane—regularly being passed off as time-honored aviation truths and asked if they could be […]

Every pilot is inspired to fly for different reasons—personal and technical challenge, freedom and new perspectives, civilian or military professional career paths. But the obstacles that arise between us and that goal are just as varied. Medical problems, family priorities, geographic inconvenience and financial obligations can all get in the way. The latter is what […]

With glass cockpits becoming more prolific, a wider spectrum of the pilot community is now engaged in flying them. Understanding the implications of malfunctions is an important responsibility of the PIC as higher levels of technology competence and preparedness are required. While glass presents increased capabilities for pilots, it also offers a new set of […]

As with any airplane there are specific techniques to managing the finer points of the critical phases of flight. Historic Flight Foundation’s John Sessions got some pointers from Dan Gryder when he picked up his refurbished DC-3 at Sealand Aviation in Campbell River, British Columbia. view on YouTube