Columns
Article: LSA Ownership—Condo Style!
I love this concept of sharing ownership in an aircraft, new or used. Last month, I delved into David Kruger’s Aircraft Partnership Association (www.theapa.com), a type of online matchmaking service t...
Article: Air Capital Tanker Chase
As a flight test engineer for the Boeing Company assigned to Wichita, Kans. (“the Air Capital”), I’m among the fortunate people who truly love their work. ...
Article: Sweet Dreams
If the NTSB had its way, the FAA would be gauging whether or not you’re having sweet dreams and sleeping through the night cuddled up with your teddy bear. ...
Article: FlightPrep ChartBook
Over the years, we’ve reviewed quite a few electronic flight bags (EFBs) and other devices that have claimed to eliminate paper from the cockpit.
Article: From The Editor: Spreading The Word
While working on this month’s Guest Speaker column, Managing Editor Pam Lee suggested that the reference to Patty Wagstaff mention that the air show star performs annually in front of thousands of spectators. Hundreds of thousands, I countered.
Article: The Character Of Risk
It’s no news to most pilots that we recently lost Vicki Cruse, president of the International Aerobatic Club. What was almost certainly a control failure caught her in the worst possible position, and I can’t get her out of my mind.
Article: Air Shows As GA Rallying Point
As much of the aviation industry suffered through the effects of the historic economic downturn during the last year, the air show industry experienced double-digit growth and, in some markets, record attendance.
Article: The Paranoia Of Landings
I had been hired to fly a Cessna 340 from Torrance, Calif., to Glasgow, U.K., on an Atlantic tour with the owner in the right seat. The first four days of the trip had gone well. We had departed Torrance, stopped in Denver and made it to Ohio the...
Article: The Steve Fossett Accident
The NTSB says the probable cause of the 2007 crash of adventurer Steve Fossett was an inadvertent encounter with downdrafts above mountainous terrain that exceeded the climb capability of the Bellanca Super Decathlon he was flying. Downdrafts,...
Article: Tech Talk: PilotPlates & Reader Plates
Ten years ago, I started off on my first really long cross-country trip: a two-week flying vacation from my home base in Modesto, Calif., to Parkersburg, W.V. I literally started out with a suitcase full of charts, including approach plates for the...
Article: Light-Sport Chronicles: Matchmaking...For Pilots
Webster should put a picture of a human under its definition of “adaptability.” Webster should put a picture of a human under its definition of...
Article: Flight I'll Never Forget: The Little Runway That Started It All
People often associate memorable flights with a particular aircraft or airport. Others subscribe to the notion that the journey is more important than the destination.
Article: From The Editor: The Wild West
We’re following the map, but as we pull into Lake Isabella’s South Fork boat ramp, Marc Lee and I aren’t sure we’re in the right place.
Article: Pilots N Paws
Like many of you, I’ve owned dogs for as long as I can remember, probably longer.
Article: Listen Up!
All of us will reach a stage in life when we’ve lost or are losing friends (as they slip away physically, mentally or both).
Article: My Secret
I have a secret that I’m going to let fly with the aviation community. I have a secret that I’m going to let fly with the...
Article: Flight I'll Never Forget: Cross-Country Cubbing
Some things in life make sense. Others do not. For instance, flying a 65 hp, 75 mph cruise J-3 Cub 650 miles from Wisconsin to Pennsylvania does not, by most definitions, make sense.
Article: Reflections On Inner & Outer Flight
Why are we so fascinated by flight? What draws us to it? What makes flight so special? Why are we so...
Article: Blocked Pitot Tubes
The crash of Air France Flight 447, an Airbus A330, in the Atlantic Ocean on June 1, 2009, during a flight from Brazil to Paris focused attention on pitot tubes, although many people had never heard of them before.
Article: Light-Sport Chronicles: Three From The Heart
Weeks into the New England summer season, which, as of July 4, is more like an extended March, I’m feeling a serious need for some LSA speed. ...
Article: What Recession?
Is Oshkosh ever really over? It’ll be weeks, maybe months, before my mind catches up with my body.
Article: Ferry Flying As A Career?
I receive more e-mail and snail mail from readers about ferry flying than on all other subjects combined.
Article: From Hero To Bum—Almost
It was January 1989, and I had just delivered a new Grand Caravan to Comair in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Article: Profiles In Vision: Dan Johnson
He’s the kind of guy you feel chummy with the first time you meet him. He’s the kind of guy you feel chummy with the first time you meet him. Maybe it’s...
Article: Knowing When To Cancel
The other evening, I got a call from a friend who operates a Piper Navajo for his business. He filled me in on what had happened with a flight from his home airport in the Northeast to Miami, Fla.
Article: Flight I'll Never Forget: A Sentimental Journey
I took a short flight recently, one not normally worth mentioning around the hangar. But ’twas important to me—an attempt to relive the good old days of flying, that is, the ’60s and ’70s.
Article: From The Editor: Three Classics
It was a dark 3 a.m. when the alarm clock went off last Sunday morning. A glance outside revealed a starlit sky; finally, the June gloom had given way to our photo flight plans.
Article: From The Editor: When You Least Expect It
Article: Flight I'll Never Forget: Stick Time In An F-4 Sim
As a twenty something, I figured that the only chance I would ever have of getting into an F-4 Phantom cockpit would involve a successful run for Congress, followed by finagling a seat on the Armed Services Committee.
Article: The Pilot Decides
Each year, the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA), the union representing FAA controllers, honors members who’ve helped save pilots from dangerous situations that might have resulted in accidents.





