The Friday afternoon weather was clear and visibility unlimited (CAVU), and we were heading south at 7,500 feet to Key West, Florida, with a …
Lessons Learned
Explore Lessons Learned About Flying (and about life), where pilots share their first-person accounts of gripping flights gone bad, and how their skills and quick thinking allowed them to survive to fly another day
Rocky Mountain Turbulence In An Old Stinson
“Experience is a hard teacher because she first gives the test, the lesson afterwards.” Vern Law (major league baseball pitcher …
A Floatplane Pilot Shares How He Got Started
I got to Juneau in April of 1976, after a long Econoline van ride from Florida. I was there for …
Making Jet Dreams Come True
From about the age of 4, I knew I wanted to fly. Nobody in my family was an aviator, nor …
Near-Disaster: Flying A Vintage Piper With Dad
As the sun peered out above the Atlantic Ocean, the wheels of my Dad’s 1951 PA-20 (Piper Pacer …
A Really Short Final And Hard Lessons Learned
The plane hit hard, the dust rose, and, for a split second, I had no idea what the hell had …
Intercepted By An F-16
As the F-16 crossed my flight path in a steep bank, I sensed the deadly honesty of its design …
Pilot Experiences Engine Failure on Family Vacation
“Mayday, mayday!” I guess no pilot expects to utter those words, but on this warm and sunny November day the …
How Not To Loop A J-3 Cub
There comes a time, I suppose, in every pilot’s life when they at least consider pushing their limits into …
Medical Certificate Issues Ends Flying Dream
I took my son to his first air show when he was just 4 years old, about 12 years ago …
Flying To Fate’s Doorstep: Young Pilot Speaks Up To Save Veteran Pilot and Self
The overcast wasn’t budging. That much was obvious. It had been there all morning, and there it seemed determined …