Wiegman and son in airplane

A mother overcomes her rusty pilot fears to share the joy of flying

I loved my time in the air. But after having my son, I found I feared flying. I was afraid to leave him without a mother. I would think about flying once in a while as I focused on working and raising him. I was busy, for sure, but I was also afraid. I accepted that bad things might happen when I flew before he was born. In the years after he was born, though, things changed.

Friday photo: Boeing 737 shadow

We were beginning a descent into a lower overcast with the late afternoon sun slightly behind and on the right side. I happened to look out the left side window and was amazed to see the airplane’s shadow perfectly silhouetted against the cloud deck.
crashed airplane in grass

Multiple mistakes were too much to overcome

The airplane suddenly was blown to the right of centerline by a strong gust.  I immediately put in left aileron and worked the rudder to get back to centerline.  Just as abruptly the gust was gone, and I felt a sensation that I had not felt before in an aircraft.  The left wing simply stopped flying – as if there was no lift at all.  This did not develop like any stall I had ever experienced.

The hidden benefits of learning to fly

Learning to fly takes time, dedication and commitment. But the reward can serve you in life far beyond flying an airplane. You probably know the benefits of flight - speed, saving time, maximizing productivity - but have you considered the benefits of learning to fly?
Grass runway

Engine Failure Over Kentucky

As I dialed in the tower fre­quency, the cockpit fell silent. Prop-loafing, heart­ stopping engine failure. My training kicked in (thank you, Tom Davis). I added carb heat (late, I know), checked the fuel selector (should have an hour's fuel still in the tanks), flipped through the left and right mags, and pushed the mix­ ture knob into full-rich. No change.
Mooney M20E

Making a difference – speaking up when it mattered

I lost sight of them before liftoff as they passed behind the fuel island tanks. They had passed over the dam and were following the river drainage to the south. At this point, they still had not climbed above pattern altitude. After what felt like an agonizingly long time, they finally reached their cruise altitude of 9,500'.

The Chart Supplement and “Deer, coyotes, and birds on and invof arpt”

The Chart Supplement can spell out the huge words “waterfowl” or “jack rabbits,” but can’t spell out the word “airport,” but instead uses “arpt?”  Or “invof” versus “in the vicinity of?” Why not abbreviate bears, to “brs?”  Or “buffalos” to “bfflo?”  Reason?—because all the bfflo were sht by bfflo-hntrs in like 1885.

Friday photo: turning on a tail

My husband and I discovered flying in Costa Rica last year. We had the pleasure of exploring the land of Pura Vida by renting an airplane based at the Pavas (MRPV) airport, along with a local instructor. Through researching options available for GA opportunities, we found an excellent flight school in San Jose that gave us the direction and training to explore this beautiful country from the air.

A pilot’s views on 360 photography

For me, the most important attribute of these 360 cameras and their capabilities (most of which I haven’t even touched on here) are the game changing effects on my pleasure flying that I mentioned early in this report.  I have literally re-opened my backyard (local) flying areas to a new excitement and now see familiar settings with a revived sense of interest and even joy.
Preflight with CFI

Are Your Preflight Inspections Becoming Routine?

Maintenance-related problems are one of the most deadly causes of accidents in general aviation. Contributing to this is a pilot’s failure to identify maintenance discrepancies because of a lack of knowledge and improper techniques used during the preflight of the aircraft.

The safety window – Raytheon Premier accident analysis

Synopsis It is midday on Thursday 12 March 2015. A Premier I business jet is descending to its destination, Blackpool (EGNH), UK. The aircraft experiences intermittent hydraulic pressure fluctuations with associated indications and warnings.…
ForeFlight radar map

Go or No Go: spring cold front

Sometimes it feels like Mother Nature has access to your Flights tab on ForeFlight: it sees your planned trip and places a front right across your route. That's what today looks like a first glance, as a solid line of rain stretches from Maine to Texas—right in the middle of your planned Atlanta (FTY) to Memphis (MEM) trip. Read the weather briefing below and then tell us if this flight is a go or a no go.

Sleeping on the job – a lesson in staying alert

WAIT!  I’m supposed to be flying, not sleeping!  Where am I?  Where am I going?  I checked the instruments and saw I was now heading west at 10,500 feet.  I glanced around and knew exactly where I was, so I turned back to a northerly heading.

Friday photo: last of the frontier DC-3s

My Dad wanted us to experience airline travel in a DC-3 before they were replaced with Convair 580 turboprops. I still remember the flight as it was my first in an airliner. We sat on the left side, towards the back.

Young and reckless

A wall of clouds quickly advanced from the west. Lightning flashed, illuminating several shocked faces in the dark. Before I ducked into the small backpacking tent Niki and I were sharing, I glanced at the Cessna 177 parked next to us. It was snugly tied down, chocked, and ready to weather the storm. The tie-downs. My stomach sank. I forgot to pack the tie-downs!

Beginner’s Luck: Winning my first aerobatics competition

Pitching 20 degrees nose down to build the energy before the first manoeuvre I was ready for the loop. Gently twitching the stick back, 3.5g pushes me into the seat. I subtly relieve back pressure at the top of the loop to ensure a perfect “sky circle” is drawn, the nose gradually dropping back through the horizon and I re-tense my muscles for the bottom of the loop.

Hand-Flying a Category IIIA approach and landing with almost no visibility

At about 175’ AGL, we entered the clouds. As we reached the 50’ AGL point, I announced “Landing”. I retarded the throttles when the flying cues in the HGS called for me to “flare” (ease the power off and pull the nose up for touchdown) and the mains settled-on the runway right where they were supposed to.

Cold weather clarity – staying calm in an emergency

We had eaten up a lot of the 6,600’ runway by the time the airplane was ready to fly, so I rotated and up we went. Barely. The tach bounced between 2100 and 2200rpm, barely into the green arc. I watched the last bit of runway disappear under us at 200 feet per minute.

Returning to the air after a suspended medical

In September 2020, a letter landed on my doorstep inviting me to the Cardiac Surgery Unit to discuss my aortic valve replacement. Time stood still for a few minutes. My most recent scan had determined that, in much the same way it is advisable to change a timing belt before it breaks, it was time to swap put my valve. All routine, I was assured.

Friday photo: Oahu at night from FL380

Oahu, HI and Honolulu International Airport (PHNL) shot from FL380 aboard a B787-9 Dreamliner enroute from Vancouver (CYVR) to Brisbane (YBBN).