Pilot Stories

Enjoy pilot stories? Our Pilot Talk section is full of informative and entertaining flying tales from accomplished pilot authors.

May 25, 2018

Accident Briefs: May 2018
Reports from the NTSB

Are you an aviation enthusiast or pilot? Sign up for our newsletter, full of tips, reviews and more! These are official summaries from the NTSB. They are printed in their entirety and verbatim. Stinson SR 5E No injuries Burlington, Washington The pilot of the amphibious, float-equipped airplane reported that, 2 days before a repositioning flight, he more »
May 21, 2018

Moving On Up: Getting The Call From A Major Airline
Good things really do come for pilots who put in the time.

Are you an aviation enthusiast or pilot? Sign up for our newsletter, full of tips, reviews and much more! Halfway through the preflight inspection in Bloomington, Illinois, the phone buzzed in my pocket. I let it go to voicemail. I’m not one to screen calls, but I’m also not one who enjoys interruptions in a preflight more »
May 14, 2018

A Pilot’s Perceptions

Sign up for our newsletter, featuring the latest news for aviation enthusiasts and pilots!   If there’s a frequently recurring theme when the NTSB writes the probable causes for aviation accidents, it’s that the pilot was responsible for the outcome: he or she failed to maintain airplane control or didn’t engage in proper decision-making or, perhaps, more »
May 10, 2018

Did We Discover The Fate Of Amelia Earhart?
New information has emerged in the 70-year-long search for Amelia Earhart and her navigator Fred Noonan who disappeared in 1937. What does it really mean?

Are you an aviation enthusiast or pilot? Sign up for our newsletter, full of tips, reviews and more! The Mystery Does new photographic and forensic evidence answer the question of what happened to the pair of aviators, who disappeared in 1937 while on an around the world flight? The Backstory When we last wrote about the more »
May 8, 2018

Ferrying a Racer VFR into IMC
A trip home with a brand new plane in unexpectedly terrible weather made for an unforgettable flight.

Are you an aviation enthusiast or pilot? Sign up for our newsletter, full of tips, reviews and much more! Crammed into the tiny, 18-inch-wide cockpit of a Cassutt lllM, the roar enveloped me, battering my ears mercilessly. Watching the red tachometer needle dance over the dial in front of me, I saw the propeller vanish into more »
April 27, 2018

Behold The Power Of Uninterrupted Descents
"Pilot's discretion" gives us some really useful options if we know how to use it.

Are you an aviation enthusiast or pilot? Sign up for our newsletter, full of tips, reviews and much more! “Descend and maintain” is such a staple of IFR communications, it might as well be a single word. Yet there are times when that’s the last thing you want to do. Maybe those clouds are bumpy, and more »
April 26, 2018

Plane Facts: Beech Bonanzas
Cool and interesting facts about Beech Bonanzas

Are you an aviation enthusiast or pilot? Sign up for our newsletter, full of tips, reviews and much more! Model 35 first flight: December 22, 1945 First delivery: 1947 Years before comparable Cessna (retractable gear, opposed engine, variable speed/adjustable prop, no-strut wing) appeared: 20 Construction: All-metal*, low-wing, monoplane *Note on construction: First few dozen Bonanzas had more »
April 24, 2018

Getting Back In The Air
Sometimes the journey to Private Pilot takes longer than planned.

Are you an aviation enthusiast or pilot? Sign up for our newsletter, full of tips, reviews and much more! I am a neonatologist (a doctor who takes care of premature and sick newborns). I accidentally got into flying in 1979, when I was in my second year of residency at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida. more »
April 24, 2018

Corny Aviation Sayings: Your Ticket To Success?
When you’re looking for a dose of self-confidence, sometimes the clichés are on the money

Subscribe today to Plane & Pilot magazine for industry news, reviews and much more delivered straight to you! Life is full of ups and downs, and so is pursuing aviation, both literally and figuratively. When we start taking flying lessons, we are all warned about the learning plateaus we will have to overcome. It is not more »
April 6, 2018

Why Flying’s Rewards are Worth the Pain of Training
Sometimes the things in life that give us joy take work. Bring it on.

Subscribe today to Plane & Pilot magazine for industry news, reviews and much more! Like most pilots, my first few lessons in pursuit of a Private Pilot Certificate were memorable. I wish I could report that this was because of the exhilaration of sailing into the wild blue yonder or cavorting among the clouds. With apologies more »
April 5, 2018

When Asking for a Higher Altitude Can Bite You Hard
The challenge to pilots of airplanes that fly the mid-teens and low-twenties is to know when climbing high is avoiding risk and when it’s just making it worse.

Subscribe today to Plane & Pilot magazine for industry news, reviews and much more! “I’ll just climb over the weather,” a friend of mine tells me when planning a departure in his Piper Navajo. “But what if the weather is higher than you can climb?” I answer. It seems to be a valid question to me. more »
March 30, 2018

New Or Used?
In a time of record-high prices for factory-fresh airplanes, the new vs. used discussion is more pertinent than ever

Subscribe today to Plane & Pilot magazine for industry news, reviews and much more!  As a semi-long-term senior editor of this magazine, I’m often asked about the benefits of buying a new aircraft over purchasing a used machine and versa vici. I’m well aware that a majority of readers might automatically vote for the less-costly option. After more »
March 30, 2018

The Insidious Killer
A terrifying look at hypoxia in progress

Sign up for our newsletter, featuring the latest news for aviation enthusiasts and pilots!   A recurring theme from the NTSB and others over the years has been that pilots should never hesitate to declare an emergency, seek all available help and take positive corrective action. The Safety Board, in a departure from its habit of more »
March 30, 2018

Accident Briefs: March 2018
Reports from the NTSB

Cessna 172 Skyhawk 2 Uninjured Ravenna, Ohio The flight instructor reported that, during an instructional flight, while on short final, he told the student pilot to “pitch down” to maintain airspeed. He added that the student did not respond and that he again instructed the student to “pitch down now” while simultaneously pressing forward on more »
March 27, 2018

Mysteries Of Flight: On The Step
Is there such a thing as “The Step?” And if so, what the heck is it?

The Question Is “The Step” just a myth? Or is there really something to it? The Backstory The subject of aerodynamics is a slippery one, with any one effect having many plausible-sounding explanations. One of the most vexing aerodynamic theories is the one that claims that certain airplanes can achieve faster cruise speeds when they more »
March 26, 2018

Plane Facts: Smallest
Check out these cool facts about the smallest things in aviation!

FAA minimum pilot height requirement: None Air Force pilot minimum height: 64 inches standing (5’4”) Shortest fixed-wing takeoff/landing: Bobby Breeden, 44 ft total Smallest multi-engine plane: Colomban Cri-Cri, 13 ft long, 16-ft wingspan Smallest single: Stits DS-1 Baby Bird, 6-ft wingspan, length 11 ft Smallest successful single (biplane): Stits SA-2A Baby Bird, 10 ft long, more »
March 21, 2018

Flying A Taildragger
A transition to tailwheel joy later in life

Since getting hooked on flying in 1948 during my first airplane ride (in an Aeronca Champ), I have heard over and over again that you’re not a “real pilot” until you have flown a tailwheel airplane. Hearing this and similar statements, mostly coming from old-timer taildragger pilots, and understanding the truth that getting your tailwheel more »
March 20, 2018

Being A CFI: Part II
Beyond the Instructor Rating: Communication

Every two years, Certified Flight and Instrument Instructors have to renew their rating in one of three ways—by taking an online refresher course, attending a weekend ground school or taking a check ride with their favorite Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE). I’ve always kept my CFI up to date, but when I started making aerobatics my more »

Most Popular Articles

Most Recent Articles