Flight Training

Are Towered Airports Safer? Overall, I consider towered airports to be safer. However, that is due mainly to the fact that they provide order to traffic procedures that does not always exist at nontowered fields. Plus, they normally handle larger aircraft with more experienced pilots who are accustomed to following directions from controllers. In my […]

I was preparing for some instrument and maneuvering practice with my instructor, Andy. Sitting in the apron area in a Cessna 172 with the engine running, I made my initial call to Texarkana Ground as follows: Me: “Texarkana Ground, Skyhawk 62689, Texarkana Flying Club; ready for departure with information Delta.” Texarkana Ground (in a completely […]

Purdue University’s Research Foundation is helping two Purdue alumni develop and market a new aviation communications simulator aimed at helping new pilots (or rusty old pilots) master radios skills and phraseology. PlaneEnglish has been developed by Muharrem Mane, a graduate of the School of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and Eren Hadimioglu, from the School of Aviation […]

NASA has released a new app that can create 3-D models of its current research aircraft using your phone. Download the app, point the phone at a flat surface and you can access models of the X-59 QueSST quiet-supersonic research jet;the X-57 Maxwell, a modified Tecnam P2006T used for testing electric powerplants; andNASA’s G-III Gulfstream […]

One morning on departure from Peoria International Airport: Peoria Approach: “I bet you didn’t think you were going to get this type of workout when you asked for the clearance into the Class Charlie, did you?” Cessna: “Peoria Approach, student pilot here. I enjoy the workout.” Peoria Approach: “Roger that.” Unknown aircraft: “If he’s a […]

Fuel Strainer Lottery A significant omission from Jeff Parnau’s very interesting article is the Decathlon’s fourth fuel drain point under the rear fuselage aft of the rear seat that is easily overlooked. It is there because the gascolator is not the lowest point in the fuel system when the aircraft is parked. The plumbing to […]

Instead of Christmas cards this year, I’m sending out a class-action apology to all those primary students I led so seriously astray with my misguided whiteboard talks. If you’re an instructor, you’ve surely done the same during the standard foreplay before committing lift. You’ve sketched the wing section, drawn in the airflow above and below […]

Diamond Aircraft, of Austria, announced this week at the Middle East Business Aviation Association Show in Dubai they have agreed to sell 60 airplanes, including both the single-engine DA40 NG and the DA42-VI twin, over the next five years to the Saudi National Company of Aviation’s CAE Authorized Training Center. The new 10-acre center, announced […]

American Airlines recently opened a Cadet Academy for new flight students looking for airline pilot careers. With its first cadets already in training, American Airlines Pilot Career Strategy Manager Christopher Shope shared program details with AVweb. Duration: 9:16 File Size: 8.52 MB download here

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 […]