Technique

Its the Fourth of July-go fly. On a basic level, its summer in the northern hemisphere so enjoy it in the air-if youre in the southern hemisphere, its the dead of winter, you probably havent been flying enough, so go get some of the rust off. On another level, unapologetically, its my countrys Independence Day, […]

Judgment is the cornerstone of the air traffic control profession. This basic trait, common among thousands of successful air traffic controllers worldwide, allows controllers to face a variety of situations-including unusual pilot requests-and act appropriately. As with the folks in the cockpits, a controller relies on situational awareness. She takes a multitude of things into […]

Arent we pilots a confident crowd? We are so certain of our flyingskills that its always the other pilot, the below average mope, that people should be worried about. Because, in a time of need, we truly know we will rise to the challenge and our innate aeronautical skills will be there to save ourselves […]

Pilots who live in Florida, and especially on the west coast of Florida, have this problem. Its called the Gulf of Mexico. Nice beaches and all, and warm for nine months a year, but if youre going anywhere west of about 85 degrees longitude, youll have the argument with yourself about cutting the corner across […]

It never seems to fail. You reserve the airplane for an early morning departure for the family vacation. Then the kids and the packing and the delays add up, so you launch hours late, and arrive at beautiful Lake Runamuck as one of the kids becomes spectacularly ill, the other is screaming about the dead […]

One of the occupational hazards of being a video editor is becoming an inevitable victim of the genius of YouTube code writers. They have absolutely figured out the art of click bait and if youre able to resist falling into the black hole of wasting hours watching pointless videos one day, you wont the next. […]

The most savage controversies are those about matters as to which there is no good evidence either way. – Bertrand Russell That which is legal is not always safe, and that which is safe is not always legal. – John Deakin These two quotes are most appropriate when talking about traffic pattern entries. What IS […]

Several years ago, I bought my husband a ride in a glider as a gift, and I latched on to the idea of learning to soar. I had read and heard about how flying gliders could add to the safety of flying an airplane, not only as a result of the skills and judgment learned […]

Were flying along blissfully the smooth night flight conditions and the panorama of lights below. The engine is purring, and, for once, we have caught a tailwind. We think this is why we became pilots and then we proudly wonder out loud what the groundbound populace below is doing on such a pleasant evening when […]

One thing I like about Florida is that summer comes early, marked by two events-the snowbirds go home and take the traffic jams with them and the weather gets warmer. Eventually, itll get hot, but Im reptilian by nature and the weather suits my clothes, as the old bluesmen say. Its Cub weather. With less […]