Technique

Regardless of what you fly, how it’s equipped, and how old or new it is, you eventually will encounter inoperative instruments and/or equipment during a preflight inspection. It can be something known to the operator and the maintenance department, or it can be something new. Once the inoperative component is discovered, you have to make […]

Distracted flying has been cited in the dynamic rollover of a light helicopter in Ireland in July. The country’s Air Accidents Investigations Unit said the pilot of an Enstrom 280FX helicopter was landing on a beach near Ardfert when his cellphone, which was mounted on the control panel, rang. The pilot told investigators he glanced […]

Southwest 737 Overruns Runway I was once taught (by my friend who turns 50 today), don’t think ‘how could they,’ think what got them to that place. That is how accident reports make you a better pilot. The first just makes you dismiss the incident. The report places weather at 1m vis, 1300 ovc, wind […]

I’ve been flying for more than a few years and during that time I have observed some piloting that could use some correction. So, here in brief are a few of the activities that I would like to change… if I were king. Straighten Up And Fly Right Many pilots don’t sit right for IFR […]

Who’s Afraid Of A Dead ASI? I could hear the pending screams as I was reading the article. I’m confident the self-appointed expert safety nazis are whipping themselves into a frenzy…I anticipate the storm is already bursting on the phone and email receptionists. (Well, maybe not on the phone. It’s easier to express offense and […]

A Florida man says he’ll try hang gliding again after his first tandem flight left him hanging on for dear life over the Swiss countryside. Chris Gursky’s pilot on the flight forgot to attach his harness to the aircraft and as they soared from the takeoff point Gursky grasped the control bar and the pilot’s […]

If you’re among the aviation illuminati, you will know about the Swiss cheese theory of accident incidence. That’s where the holes in multiple slices of cheese line up to allow the determined accident to sail straight through to the bottom of that smoking hole where you find yourself picking shards of your iPad out of […]

Advancing age has its benefits when it comes to flying—wisdom and experience are two, and perhaps greater financial security to allow us to indulge our aviation passion. But despite increasing longevity, much as we fancy achieving the ripe age of 969 years as Methuselah, we’re a long way from that (50 is the new 70). […]

Old-School Navigation Technology is fine but has turned a lot of people into morons. I have fond memories of working out the solution to finding one’s position at sea using the stars and a sextant as you described. This was one of the 100 great elementary problems in Heinrich Dorrie’s great book. Also, it was […]