Technique

On a recent flight home, we were cruising along at 7,000 feet in good weather, except for the occasional encounter with the very top of a cumulus cloud. Knowing my wife is not a fan of any amount of turbulence, I asked ATC for a climb to 9,000. ATC replied, “That’s approved. What’s the reason […]

We just had our annual summer cookout here at the virtual airport. It was a success—we didn’t run out of brats, burgers or beer and nobody got food poisoning. Ok, we set the success bar low, but there was an excellent turnout and folks seemed to have a good time. Better yet, because the flight […]

Too many IFR pilots don’t know their GPS as intimately as they should. Hitting “Direct To” and their destination is as much as many can muster out of their navigator. There is a serious lack of knowledge of what the GPS is trying to tell them. The most basic information a GPS provides to a […]

Researchers at the University of Toronto have developed new simulations that they believe will help pilots to better recover when faced with an aerodynamic stall. “Part of the challenge is that pilots are often trained on simulations that take an aircraft right up to the point of aerodynamic stallbut not past it,” said Peter Grant, […]

I am not a big proponent of memorizing airspeeds. It can be a risky practice if you fly many different types of aircraft. Most of the important airspeeds can be determined from the airspeed indicator (ASI), though there are a few you probably should commit to memory, or at least keep on a placard. Eight […]

Aviation has never lacked for dumb ideas. It’s what drives innovation. “Hey, Orville, wanna jump off a sand dune strapped to these really cool wings I made in the bike shop?” What seemed stupid in 1903 is recognized as pioneering genius today. Likewise, countless other notions such as flying inside clouds without reference to the […]

As pilots, each time we read an accident review we often evaluate the pilot’s response relative to the developing chain of events. If the chain is slow in evolving, there is a tendency for the pilot to either not recognize the link or to downplay or ignore it. Knowing the end result, and then replaying […]

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 […]