Proficiency

As an FAA Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE), I’ve felt like my pass rate on practical tests has been declining over the last couple of years. It started as a gut feeling, but then I compared my recent numbers with my pass rate from a few years ago and found it was also statistically true. It […]

Nearly 20 years ago I began writing a column—The Pilot’s Lounge—for AVweb. It eventually evolved into the position of Features Editor and writing two or three feature articles each month. As a result of my association with AVweb, I’ve been fortunate enough to meet many of the fascinating and delightful people that characterize aviation, learn […]

In this installation of AVweb’s series on flight simulators we’re going to take a look at a company that uses an innovative program to bring access to sophisticated—and expensive—flight simulators to users who otherwise could not afford them. Started in 2010 by Xylon Saltzman, a flight instructor and charter pilot who was unhappy with the […]

The Aviation Safety Reporting System, ASRS, is a means of confidentially and anonymously reporting unsafe conditions—including your own actions—in aviation, generally without fear of FAA enforcement. Most of us are at least somewhat aware of the ASRS program, but few of us really understand how it works. This is an important program that is of […]

You’ve had your instrument rating for a couple of years by now. The first year you didn’t have any trouble keeping current to fly IFR—you were out there just about every week “flying in the system” as you called it. The new hadn’t worn off your rating; you knew that you were just a baby […]

I’ve amended the details a bit to preserve anonymity. The pilot and his family came to grief on a flight that was forecast to be VFR. There was a slow-moving warm front approaching, but it appeared the 150-nm trip could be completed before conditions worsened. Friends of the pilot indicated he had intended to launch […]

The NTSB hosted a roundtable discussion to examine available solutions for preventing loss of control accidents in general aviation and to identify a path to improving GA safety on April 24. According to the board, accidents involving loss of control still account for more GA accident deaths than any other single factor. The focus of […]

Last month we began our occasional series on personal flight simulators with an introduction to the world of flight simulators and, more specifically, the ones that a pilot might reasonably have at home that are capable of doing a good job of simulating the airplane the sim owner usually flies—which means matching the cockpit, including […]

AOPA will be holding a Rusty Pilots seminar at Sun ‘n Fun this year for pilots who have been out of the air for a while and are looking to get flying again. In this podcast, AOPA’s Jamie Beckett told AVweb about some updates to the program and how pilots of all levels of currency […]

One of the comments made by some pilots when a group of them gather is that their spouses or significant others and family members won’t fly with them. While riding in little airplanes is certainly not to every person’s taste—and rising above the planet does generate a concern about returning to it less than gracefully—some […]