Technique

Talk about IFR holding patterns in a recurrent training setting and your time will most likely be spent discussing entries, maximum speeds and mandatory reports. There is a need created by the realities of the system for ATC to park you somewhere in the sky until it is time to move on. The reasons for […]

In discussions with new pilots at airports and on aviation forums, two of the recurring questions I get are how to give a good ride to someone who has never been in an airplane before and how come the spouses and families of a fair percentage of pilots don’t like to, or simply won’t, fly […]

Departing from a 4200-foot runway, the twin engine Beech B60 Duke lifted off after a 1500-foot takeoff roll. The landing gear was immediately retracted but at approximately 100 feet agl, a large puff of black smoke erupted from the left engine. Witnesses stated the airplane pitched up and then banked sharply to the left. At […]

Concerns about pilot aging are just as important for the younger pilot as for the more silver-haired among us. The US population is getting greyer, and it’s plain to see when looking around any airport, so too is the average pilot. This aging brings numerous challenges and a few rewards that should be important to […]

In spring 2003, I was halfway through my flight training. My instructor and I were chatting about air traffic control. He’d just visited the local TRACON. From his description, I pictured a dark room filled with the intense chatter of men and women half-lit by radar scopes and blinking sci-fi lights. A few short years […]

You’re approaching the end of an excellent flight on a lovely day; life is good. Now, on downwind with the speed down into the gear extension range, you move the gear handle to the down position, keeping your hand on it until you get a solid gear down indication—as you’ve done scores of times. Except. […]

Maintaining your IFR currency isn’t that hard. Just fly and log in actual or simulated conditions six instrument approaches, “holding procedures and tasks” and “intercepting and tracking” electronic courses within the preceding six months, and you’re golden. Even if you find yourself slightly out of currency in the 11th month, you can go out with […]

Most instrument rated pilots log about 10 percent of their flight time in IMC. That same percentage holds true for night operations. When you combine the two, encountering IMC at night is a rare occurrence for many. Most of us recognize that night IMC presents a high risk environment (statistically five-times more so than day […]

Of all the major components of a conventional airplane, the tail—empennage, if you prefer—may be the least understood. Yes, we generally know it’s there to help balance and stabilize the airplane’s attitude in flight, and to help control yaw and pitch, but that’s often the extent to which we paid attention in ground school. If […]

Airshow season is at its height and hundreds of thousands of people are flocking to watch some of the coolest airplanes on the planet being flown by some of the finest pilots around. At the same time, summer weather means the backcountry airstrips are open and pilots with a certain lust for adventure are taking […]