Pilot Stories

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

March 8, 2017

Flying The Presidential TFR
Aviate, navigate, communicate? Well, yes, but if you plan to penetrate a Presidential TFR, those happen only after find, phone, copy, file.

Find the NOTAM. Phone TSA at least 24 hours in advance. Copy your confirmation number. File a flight plan, possibly with an intermediate stop. The milk run for Mrs. Levinson and me is between KBED, in the Boston suburbs where we live most of the year, and KMVY on the island of Martha’s Vineyard, where more »
March 6, 2017

The Art Of Dragging Tail
Don’t admit to loving taildraggers unless you want to be regarded as an aviation traditionalist

Okay, I admit it. I was introduced to flying in taildraggers. Almost by definition, that dates me to the middle of the last century. Today, there are a diminishing number of conventional-gear airplanes still in production, most targeted at the bush plane or aerobatics markets. When it came time to go shopping for that first more »
March 2, 2017

Impromptu Photo Shoot Midair
Experience, planning and discipline were all sorely lacking in this accident that didn’t need to happen

I’m going to tell you about one of those accidents in which what happened is obvious, but why it happened isn’t, despite what the NTSB says. While two planes were flying close together, one underwent an unexpected maneuver and hit the other. The pilot of the plane that was hit managed to keep it flying and more »
February 28, 2017

The Inverted Ribbon Cut
Pushing boundaries to cut a ribbon with a turning propeller while flying 20 feet above the ground upside down

Everest was meant to be climbed and the Antarctic explored. Pushing boundaries is what we do. People are motivated by lots of things—fun, money, the chance to be the first, to prove something to themselves or others, or just “because it’s there.” So, one might ask why would any sane person want to cut a more »
February 28, 2017

Hybrid Aircraft?
The first hybrid propulsion experiments have already taken flight, and capabilities are scaling up rapidly

My father’s dreams of flight were powered by avgas. Lots and lots of it. For his generation, big, radial Wright Cyclone engines and Rolls-Royce Merlin V-12s were the ticket skyward—transforming about 100 gallons an hour into 300 knots or more of speed and an instantly recognizable percussion that those in any nearby zip codes would more »
February 23, 2017

Radio Flyer
For Hans

The weather is not good tonight. Here at the Dakota border, the real temperature is 22 degrees below zero, wind from the west at 18 knots. Yes, the ceiling is unlimited and visibility is a lot farther than 10 miles, but it’s a hard night for flying. On television, the weatherman calls the evening brisk. more »
February 23, 2017

Lessons Learned: A Cardinal’s Close Encounter
A cross-country flight runs into mysterious trouble…over Roswell.

The Navy had issued orders for my transfer to Japan, an exotic land that I had wanted to explore since first studying the martial arts as a child. My household goods were packed, and I was beaming with excitement, until I learned that not all my belongings could go with me. The Yokota flight training more »
February 17, 2017

Flying Mindfully
It’s not a fad. Meditation can help situational awareness, flexible thinking and staying calm in the face of multiple demands for those of us who fly.

It is impossible to get from the bedroom to the bathroom in my house without stumbling across the word “mindfulness” on some book or magazine cover, which is an extraordinary feat because the bedroom and bathroom are connected. It seems as though you can do anything from making your bed to flying an airplane with more »
February 16, 2017

Plane Facts: Electric Aircraft
Fun facts about electric aircraft

First Electric-powered Flight, Tissandier Dirigible ‘Number 6’: 1883 Flight’s Origin: Auteuil, Paris, France Average Speed: 7 kts Cruising Altitude: 1,600 ft. Duration of Flight: About 1 hr.  Distance Travelled: 6 nm Manufacturer of Dirigible Powerplant: Siemens Horsepower: 1.5 Powerplant Weight, Number 6: 1,552 lbs. Power to Engine Weight Ratio: 1:100 First Manned, Electric, Fixed-wing Flight: October 21, 1973 Aircraft: Militky Brditschka MB-E1 Adapted From: Brditschka HB-3 single-seat more »
February 10, 2017

Accident Briefs: January/February 2017
Reports from the NTSB

Bellanca 7ECA Citabria 1 Uninjured The private pilot reported that, during the attempted takeoff from the turf airstrip, the airplane was not at the expected airspeed three-quarters of the way down the runway, and he decided to abort the takeoff. The airplane became airborne momentarily as the pilot applied brakes and aft control input. Once more »
February 9, 2017

J-3 Cub Vs. F-15 Eagle—At 100 Feet
Low level offers its own rewards, no matter what you fly.

I know. Before you spool up your Mac or activate your Acer, yes, I’m the guy who has recommended repeatedly that everyone fly higher in the interest of better fuel economy. As the writer of a dozen or so stories on how to save fuel and continue to fly in an era of $5/$6 avgas, more »
February 6, 2017

Become A CFI
Whether you’re looking to build hours or enjoy teaching others the joy of flying, working as a CFI can be a fulfilling and profitable career path.

Many see working as a flight instructor as just a low-paying job that a pilot does until they can get enough flight time to take a real job flying an airliner or a business jet. While it may be true that some CFIs see the work as a stepping stone to an airline or a more »
February 2, 2017

Hawker Crash: Chain Of Culpability
NTSB names flight crew, charter company and FAA inspector as falling short of their safety obligations.

When NTSB Chairman Christopher A. Hart addressed other board members and staff at a meeting last October, he offered scathing indictments of those who contributed to the crash of a Hawker jet at Akron, Ohio. The accident took place on November 10, 2015, while the British Aerospace HS 125-700A was on a localizer approach to more »
February 1, 2017

Loop
How airshow pilots turn sport into art.

We stand, shoulder to shoulder, gazing up at the sky. With a hand shielding our eyes from the sun, we watch the smoke trail of an airplane flying up, up and over into a perfect loop. A vertical circle in the sky, a loop is a loop, whether flown by a biplane or a Bearcat. more »
January 26, 2017

Ways & Means
"A moment changes everything." Lyrics by David Gray

Life-changing moments form memories in vivid Technicolor. That’s how I remember the moment that changed my life. The moment that changed my life trajectory happened over 40 years ago at Maryland Airport (2W5) just south of Washington, D.C. I was 25 years old. It was a lazy weekend summer day.  My partner and I were more »
January 26, 2017

Lessons Learned: The World’s Most Reluctant Flight Engineer
Sometimes the biggest risk of all is the challenge we don't take.

Whether we deny, shrug or flat out cringe at the thought, most of us are saddled with a nagging shortcoming or two, a bugaboo we’d gladly overcome if only the prospect didn’t challenge the resistance of our own inertia. As pilots, self-introspection isn’t our strong suit. And often wrapped around our weakness is a nearly more »
January 25, 2017

Plane Facts: Instrument Flying
Fun facts about instrument flying.

First instrument flight: September 24, 1929 Site: Mitchel Field, Long Island, N.Y. Pilot: Lt. James Doolittle Plane: Consolidated N-2 (biplane similar to Stearman) Altitude data: Kollsman Altimeter Altimeter feature: Barometric setting (a first) Attitude data: Sperry Artificial Horizon Directional information: Sperry Directional Gyro Instrument approach equipment: Audible Localizer  Method of simulated IFR: Hood covered entire front-seat position Outside conditions: Clear, visibility unlimited Length of flight: 15 minutes more »
December 30, 2016

Surviving The Cold
Below 40 below, there be dragons

Not surprisingly, Alaska is one of those places where cold weather is a way of life. General aviation is often the only way to get around in much of the 49th state, and sometimes, the tribulations of operating in temperatures well below zero can be a challenge for any pilot, whether he’s a seasoned backwoods more »

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