Pilot Talk
Article: The Ted Stevens Accident
The NTSB says cockpit recorders might have helped shed better light on exactly what happened in the accident in which former U.S.
Article: Light-Sport Chronicles: Where Everybody Knows Your Name
The success of the long-running Cheers TV show, I’m convinced, came in no small part from the seductive lines in that great theme song that so well captured the spirit of the show.
Article: Oshkosh By Any Other Name
Yeah, I know: It’s officially AirVenture. But to a lot of folks, the name just hasn’t clicked.
Article: When Airplanes Collide: Avoiding The Unexpected
It’s ironic that most general aviation pilots consider a possible engine failure as their greatest fear.
Article: From The Editor: A Pilot’s Pilot
More than 500,000 people and 10,000 airplanes took part in the annual aviation mecca that is EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wis.
Article: The Value Of Corporate Time
Back in November 2008, when the CEOs of Chrysler, Ford and General Motors flew to Washington to ask for a government bailout, congressmen made much of the fact that the executives had all used corporate jets for the trip.
Article: A Whole New Flying World
A fellow pilot once asked, "How long does it take to check out on skis?"
Article: Broken Brakes
Not too long ago, I was looking forward to an hour or so of poking holes in the sky in a Piper Cherokee 180.
Article: Pressure’s On...Or Is It?
It's 95 degrees, and sweat is dripping down my face. The box suddenly seems impossibly small.
Article: Light-Sport Chronicles: Gag Reel
To help with my recent write-up on what's great about owning and flying LSA, I had the pleasure to jaw with several owners, from teachers to pleasure flyers. ...
Article: Critter Delays
Gulfstream Eight Charlie Charlie, go around. The airport is temporarily closed.
Article: Piper Cub Heaven
On an overcast, humid June day, I top a high dike built to prevent the Susquehanna River from flooding William T. Piper Memorial airport.
Article: From The Editor: Over Water
It never seems to matter what headset I'm wearing—when I'm flying over a large stretch of water, I can hear every single sound that the engine makes. ...
Article: Should We Rely On GPS?
Ido some post-maintenance test flying for a Cessna 300/400 shop in Long Beach, and a month or so back, I got a call to fly a 421 just coming out of an annual inspection. ...
Article: Accepting A Bad Situation
While a pilot needs to evaluate the consequences of making any decision, he or she needs to know that revising a decision is likely to make a bad situation even worse. ...
Article: Light-Sport Chronicles: Profiles In Vision, Randall Fishman
In 2007, a man no one in aviation had ever heard of walked onto the field at Oshkosh, strapped himself into a motorized hang-glider trike and took off. ...
Article: Aerial Recycling
For the last six months or so, every time we'd taxi out, my eyes would drift to one end of the jet ramp, and linger on a Falcon 10 that has been there for quite a while. ...
Article: From The Editor: Moving On Up
As pilots, we're constantly looking to challenge ourselves and learn more about flying.
Article: Lightning!
Perhaps the most active thunderstorm area of the world is Darwin, Australia.
Article: Excellence In Execution
I've dedicated my entire adult life to the art form of air-show flying.
Article: Getting A Few Winks
Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood and FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt led the outcry of indignation when news broke that the lone controller on the overnight shift at Reagan National Airport (DCA) in Washington had fallen asleep
Article: Light-Sport Chronicles: The “Stork” Flies Again
Weird, cool, authentic, bizarre, eccentric, spectacular: so begins my Adjective Hit Parade to describe the Criquet Storch.
Article: Aerodromes And Longevity
Have you ever stood around the airport or at a fly-in, looked at some of your higher-mileage friends, and realized that even the gray dogs in the crowd act and look 15 years younger than you know them to be?
Article: From The Editor: When Weather Gets In The Way
Each cross-country flight is an adventure, but when things don't go as planned, it doesn't have to become a misadventure.
Article: Low Level By Columbia
What had begun as a simple, 4,500 nm, late-winter ferry flight in a capable airplane had deteriorated to an ignominious retreat.
Article: Light-Sport Chronicles: Scoping The Numbers
Every year about this time, I like to catch up with Mike Adams, the ever-helpful Vice President of Underwriting at Avemco Insurance Company, to take a gander at LSA accident trends.
Article: Destination Unclear
The little Piper PA-22 lifts off in a fraction of the runway at Council (K29), 60 miles east-northeast of Nome in western Alaska.
Article: Jack
We were somewhere in the middle of the desert heading for my daughter's when my cell phone rang.
Article: Inspiration To Africa
During World War II, I was a ferry pilot, flying military aircraft for the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA).
Article: When Not To Go
There's a sign-in guestbook in the pilot's lounge at Avitat in Bangor, Maine, that contains the names and missions of most of the international ferry pilots who have come through here in the last 30 years.




